Agility 2 Week 12

Discriminations between the tunnel and A-frame are often encountered at the startline of courses. To indicate the tunnel, stand facing the line toward the tunnel, release the dog and take one step toward the dog's line with your hand held up like a stop sign and your elbow straight, to indicate to Jackie to take the line to the tunnel while saying "Break! Out! Tunnel, tunnel tunnel!" To indicate the A-frame, begin facing with your feet and shoulders forward in the direction of the dog's line, and your driving arm straight out to the side. Release the dog and drop your straight arm down to your hip indicating her to come in toward you to her line and say "Break! In! Feet!"

Jackie's cue for barrel wraps is "Round, round, round!" Jackie's cue for looping around the barrel is "Loop, loop, loop!" The handler points their right arm and foot to indicate the dog's line when the barrel is to the left of the handler, and the handler points their left arm and foot to indicate the dog's line when the barrel is to the right of the handler.

Pearls:

• Allow Jackie to completely settle into a sit, and only then ask her to "Wait!" (stay) at the startline.
• Keep forward momentum, and run as fast as possible. The faster my forward momentum, the faster Jackie runs.
• When cueing barrel loops, keep your driving arm low and your eyes down indicating the dog's line, and be sure to turn very sharply and obviously, almost like a pivot, to indicate to Jackie that she is going to be making a tight turn while verbally cueing "Loop, loop, loop!"

Barrel loop foundations, obstacle discrimination, and barrels, tunnels, hoops mini-courses: