Clean Run - October 2010 - 44

the placement in space where the cross behind the dog occurs, and the handler’s direction of travel following the rear cross.
4

9 7

10 6

Susan Salo describes an “information highway” that occurs between handlers and their dogs. She reminds us that it is a two-way street: “We are so accustomed to being the one who gives the information that we, when running, fail to realize the dogs are giving the information back at the same rate of speed we’re giving it to them.” Off-courses, spins, headchecks, and knocked bars are sources of information that often indicate our cues were not clear or that certain foundation skills need reviewing and more reinforcement needs to be given for the behaviors we are trying to achieve. My original intent for the setup shown in Figure 1 was to create a series of drills that practice cueing different turns and directing the dog’s path after rear crosses. Figure 2 presents one of the warmup drills I use. The turns in the exercise become progressively tighter, requiring more collection before the turning jump. For some handlers, cueing extension out of the rear cross to #7a will be hardest. For others, cueing collection and having the dog drive a tight path out of the rear cross to #7d will be the most difficult. The handler must take responsibility for giving the dog turning information on commitment to the middle jump.
6

Ultimately, this setup proved extremely versatile and had a long shelf life in the training center at Clean Run. The setup is a valuable storehouse for not only rearcross drills but also a multitude of other foundation and masters-level drills. The arrangement of jumps permits practicing a variety of lead-out pivots, shoulder turns, and transitions into and out of front crosses. The middle jump can be replaced with another obstacle or two-obstacle discrimination and then worked around the clock until fluent. Also nested into the setup are Nancy Gyes’ Alphabet Drills for letters I (CR November 2005) and K (CR January 2006). If you find your rear-cross skills deficient and need practice, try handling the drills in Figures 3 through 15 with mostly rear crosses. Within each exercise are two sequences that are mirror images of each other. Work the white- and black-numbered sequences individually or try running them in succession. Start with the white numbers and finish by running the dog directly into the black numbers. When running the sequences back to back, the handler loses the luxury of a lead-out. This creates a new set of challenges that might require some different handling choices. D
7

11 2 5 3 3

11 2 5

12 1

4 1

Lead out with the dog on the left. Do a lead-out pivot close to the right stanchion of #3. Do a rear cross before #6 and #7. Send the dog forward to #8 and do a front cross between #9 and #10. Finish with a rear cross before #11.
5

7 4 5

5 9 6 6

5 9 4 4

8 3

11 4

10 3

11 4

7 3 9 6 6 9 3

10 9 2 9 2

12 2

12 2 8

10 8

Do a lead-out pivot at the left wing of #2. Do a front cross between #2 and #3, a rear cross before #5, and a front cross between #7 and #8. Turn the dog right over #10 and finish with the dog on the right.
44

Do a LOP at the left wing of #3 and a front cross between #3-#4. Do a rear cross before #6, and a front cross at #9-#10, and #10#11. Threadle to #12; finish with the dog on the right. Not in position to cue collection for #4 and #11? Do rear crosses.

Do a lead-out pivot at the left wing of #2. Do a front cross between #5 and #6, and between #8 and #9. Some dogs may need a false turn to pull them off the back side of #5 and get to #10. Finish with the dog on the right.
Clean Run | October 10

Clean Run - October 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2010