Clean Run - October 2019 - 46

out you can get. Play with it; be brave!
Don't give up if your dog has questions, even if it is for several reps; let
them use their brains. The learning
won't be instantaneous. Notice if you
need to strengthen or create the lateral lead-out skills first.
How many turns will my dog make?
You can't cue a turn you can't identify. The course map can help with
this, so can walking the dog's path.
If identifying the turns is difficult for
you (do you have lots of off-courses?),
you might need to find a mentor to
help you. Many people struggle with
seeing where the turns are on course,
and most of these folks can be helped
pretty easily. I have worked with students who were kind of embarrassed
to admit it. Some people can see it
more easily than others at first; it is not
about handling skills or dog training
ability. I think, at the end of the day, it
is actually geometry. It can be learned!
Once you can easily identify the turns,
you will know how many side changes
and hand/arm changes you will need
to make after you release your dog.
Sometimes it is very difficult to tell if a
line is straight enough to be handled
as a straight line or not. I joke that if
it takes five people ten minutes to
decide, it is straight enough to be
handled as a straight line! It does take
some thin king.
where is my dog's path?
I have to see the path to determine
which side of it I want to be on. One
side is an advantage over the other in
telling my dog where the course goes.
If I must (not my "first choice" handling)
be in the dog's path to have the best
advantage when I release him, I must
plan how and when I will clear his path
before I am in his way. That means
planning precisely when I will start
to move and what direction my first
step will be toward. Lead-out training
improves the timing of turn cues like
nothing else because it has to be right
to work.
is showing forward movement to
my advantage?
I think of the lead-out as the first section of the course. It is taking us to the
46

second section. Those sections are
connected. I either need the dog to
collect or extend to get from the first
to the second section. If I know that,
I know if forward movement will be a
good thing or not.
If I need a tight turn back to me (collection), forward movement won't be
an advantage. If I want my dog to carry
on past where I am (extension), it will
be. I use my movement, or lack of it, to
tell the dog which to expect to do, collect or extend.
I used always to take a step toward the
jump I wanted the dog to take before
I would rotate on a lead-out to a front
cross (often called a lead-out pivot).
These days when I lead out, I decide
if my on-side (dog-side) foot will be
pointing (like a laser beam is coming
out of my toe) at the takeoff area or
forward toward the next obstacle. One
will be an advantage over the other.
If my next move will be a front cross,
then the first step of the front cross is
always toward the on-course obstacle;
I do not take a step forward before I rotate. My handling program is based on
setting the line with the on-side foot
and showing new direction as soon as
possible-every step counts. I try to be
"honest" with every step, as explained
in my "Feet First" DVD.
when will i start moving?
I see folks doing very courageous, wellplanned lead-outs and then it seems
like they forget to move. The lead-out
is an advantage because your dog can
navigate the obstacles and his body as
he sees fit, and this can inspire speed in
many dogs. Often you can take further
advantage-not just by being ahead,
but by staying ahead-if you start moving at the most strategic time.
Plan for this by determining where your
dog will be when you can start to move.
Is it an advantage to "turn and burn" at
your top speed or is it an advantage to
just "steal" a few steps and slowly move
to the next strategic place to avoid
some potential risk. I call this "floating"
or "sneaking" to the next position. The
point is to determine a spot on the
ground in relation to the obstacles, and
then when your dog's paw hits that

spot, make your move-fast or slow-
in a way you have practiced it.
would i be standing here on another
day if i wanted something else?
Sometimes I plan the lead-out that I
think will work best for the on-course
obstacles and then I notice that where
I am positioned could be confusing. I
am close to or at a place I would normally stand to get a different obstacle.
This is usually, but not always, simply a
proximity issue. If I am standing closer
to an off-course obstacle than the oncourse obstacle, I will look for another
option. Often it is a tiny adjustment to
make it much clearer. If I do not have
an option (rare), I will have to plan extra communications to be clear. I avoid
any confusion even if the dog "should
know it" because I want it to be easy
for the dog. If it is easy for them, they
go faster.
am i on the logical side of the course?
I want to stay true to how I generally
handle. To me, being on the "logical"
side means if I chopped an obstacle in
half, I would be on the side of that obstacle that the next on-course obstacle
is on. This is how I would choose to
handle the entire course. I am not a fan
of the lead-out push as a result.
which hand is up or down?
So many handlers lead out and then
can't decide which hand to have up.
Here are several suggestions to rid
yourself of this dilemma.
Go to your lead-out spot and face the
same direction the dog is facing. Look
over each shoulder. Both the dog and
the first obstacle are "more" on one
side than the other. Use the arm on
that side, then position yourself as
needed. On some occasions, your arm
might come across the front of your
body as a result, but not too often.
Still can't tell? Make a note of the
hand you know your dog will end up
on when the lead-out portion is over.
Calculate how many turns you are cueing, meaning how many hand changes
there will be and do the math backward to arrive at which hand starts the
whole thing. If you only have one turn
to indicate, it is very easy; if your dog
Clean Run | October 19
Clean Run - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2019
