Clean Run - February 2014 - 48

Extension (Basic Forced
Front Cross)

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When I cue with a forced front cross, I
am cueing the dog to slice the jump. If I
want the dog to jump in extension, I will
complete the forced front cross by rotating 180°. My rotation and motion out of
the front cross cue the dog to jump extended, and go forward after the jump.
My cues are as follows:

* Motion: I move forward toward the
next obstacle.
* Shoulders: My shoulders are facing
forward; i.e., the direction the dog is
traveling.
* Location: I should be ahead of my
dog, but I am usually still on the takeoff side of the jump.

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* Eye contact: My eye contact with the
dog is indirect; I am looking in the
direction he is traveling.
* Hand signal: I am using an inside
arm (arm closest to the dog).
* Verbal: If appropriate, I will cue the
name of the next obstacle.
See Figure 3 (http://youtu.be/WNzJ2AJeJDQ).

Collection/Wrap (Forced
Front Cross to a Front or Blind)
When I am cueing with a forced front
cross, I am cueing the dog to slice the
jump. If I want the dog to come around
the wing, I will cue the jump with collection cues rather than extension cues. I will
not complete the front cross, but rather will
cue the jump with my shoulders primarily
facing the dog. Note: these collection cues
may not be appropriate for all dogs, such as
short-strided or less motivated dogs.
My cues are as follows:

* Motion: My inside leg (leg closest
to the dog as well as the jump) steps
backward toward the far wing of the
jump. This is forward motion to the
dog and helps indicate that I want
him to jump on a slice.

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* Shoulders: My shoulders are primarily facing the dog, although I will
open up slightly toward the jump. For
a highly motivated, long-strided dog,

my shoulders will rotate only slightly.
For a smaller strided or less motivated dog, I will turn my shoulders more
toward the jump. I imagine that there
is a laser pointer coming out from my
sternum and my laser is guiding the
dog where to jump and land.

* Location: I remain on the takeoff
side of the jump
* Eye contact: My eye contact is generally indirect or I might cause a refusal. I should be looking toward the
dog's landing spot.
* Hand signal: I use what may be
referred to as an "outside arm," although it is the arm closest to the dog
as well as the jump. Since I am facing
the dog, my arm cues are in reverse.
This arm helps cue collection to the
dog and is also the arm that I used
to draw the dog to the correct side
of the jump. Since the dog is already
focused on this hand cue, I continue
to cue the jump with this hand. My
hand and leg move in tandem toward
the far wing of the jump to cue the
jump and the direction of the turn.
Some people prefer to employ an arm
change to cue this jump using what
would be the inside arm if I completed the rotation. I find the arm cues
are not critical in this instance, as
long as the handler uses the arm well.
It is a matter of personal preference.
* Verbal: I will use a verbal Jump cue.
After I cue the dog to wrap the wing, I
can either complete another front cross
or a blind cross, depending on which
side I want the dog on after he comes
around the wing:

* If I want the dog on my left side, I
will simply look over my left shoulder and have my left arm out as he
comes around, a forced front cross
to a front cross as shown in Figure 4
(http://youtu.be/L3dhUE0viNY).
* If I want the dog on my right side, I
will simply look over my right shoulder and have my right arm out as the
dog comes around the wing, a forced
front cross to a blind cross as shown
in Figure 5 (http://youtu.be/WNG5ivB_tXc).
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Clean Run - February 2014

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