On Thursday in class, we got to choose a sequence for our first run. I chose a relatively pedestrian sequence that only had a tricky weave entry and not much else, thinking that it would be a good warm-up for us. Well, Archie and I were out there doing some agility, but not really doing it together. I just wasn't connecting with him. My instructor said, at least you know this: he is a honest dog. If he takes an off-course, it's because you didn't give him the right information or timely information. I completely agree with this. He is exquisitely responsive to my movement and body position, even down to where my feet are pointing. I have a horrible habit of stopping or slowing down to check in with him, and it confuses him and causes him to slow down. In that brief moment, he makes decisions on his own, trying to figure out what I want him to do. Bam, there he goes off course. He is very consistent in taking off-course obstacles that are reasonable in the context (he is not running around taking random obstacles). This is my problem, not his.
So for our next sequence, I chose a segment of an international-style course and decided to handle it very aggressively. I walked it and made my plans. Ironically, it included the very same tricky weave entry that we never were able to get on the first sequence.
Here's a map of the first half of the sequence that I made the next day from memory. I've drawn in Archie's path (solid line) and made a couple of notations about my handling choices (more on that below). The obstacles are numbered in order. The position of the number indicates the side that the dog needs to approach the jump from. So you can see that jumps 5 and 7 are "backsides" in which the dog has to take the side opposite of the one that he is directly approaching.
The sequence started with a tunnel then into the weaves. I told him tunnel then turned and took off for the weaves. I had Archie on my right in the weaves and as he reached the last poles, I pulled laterally into a front cross at 3. As I completed that turn, I was pulling laterally again and did another front cross for 4. So Archie was on my right side again as he went over 4. There were some more sophisticated options involving a blind cross at 4. But I chose front crosses because I'm old school and feel more comfortable with them. I knew that I could execute the two back-to-back crosses smoothly. Plus they send very clear information to the dog, useful with an "honest" baby dog like Archie. And finally, he is not quite able to hang in the weaves when I make a strong lateral pull before he has finished them. This is a training issue that I know that I will resolve this summer once it stops raining and I can train outside again. Since I needed to be with him to the end of the weaves, the two front crosses worked best for us.
I pushed him to the backside of 5 by saying "back back back WRAP". Archie has a very strong, reliable wrap (it means do a very tight turn around the vertical of the jump). He also had to move across my path in front of me (he was on my right) to get to the backside, but I knew that he works very well with rear crosses. A more sophisticated move would be to have him slice 5 and turn around the far vertical instead. It is a smoother path for the dog requiring much less deceleration. Again, I went with the option that I thought would make the most sense to him. On the whole, speed is not our issue. He is demonstrating a lot more sophistication at knowing when to collect and when to extend for jumps, so even though he did have to slow down to wrap, it wasn't much of a slow down for him.
As he was wrapping around 5, I was already driving to 6. As I approached 7, I was saying "back back" and already turning laterally. He neatly sliced 7 and headed for the tunnel that my body position and movement were indicating. I began to pull away from him before he even entered the tunnel but he remained committed to the correct entrance. I sprinted, literally sprinted, to complete a blind cross before he exited the tunnel (the dashed line on the course map). It is no surprise that Archie is a lot faster than I am. This was a risky move--the chance of collision was high. And this was exactly the tricky weave entry that we were not able to get earlier in class.
A blind cross is where the handler crosses in front of the dog but doesn't turn or face the dog. You just step from one side to the other, changing leads. I sprinted to the other side of the tunnel exit, dropped my right shoulder and arm towards the weaves, and said "WEAVE!". I barely made it in time but he had the info he needed.
He hit those weave poles so hot I was sure that he would pop out. But he managed to stay in for the turn from pole 1 to poles 2-3, the hardest turn in that situation. When I saw that he managed his entry, I just took off, yelling "weave weave weave".
He nailed them.
I tossed him his precious bunny fur tug, which he proceeded to open on his own to eat all the treats inside. I was jumping up and down, yelling for joy. My classmates gave me a standing ovation. They told me later it was the best they had ever seen me handle. My instructor was laughing and said, well, I think we can also say that Archie prefers the more difficult courses! She pointed out that even though he has fantastic ability to read rear crosses, my aggressive handling kept me up front, kept me moving, and kept up a constant flow of info for him.
It was terrifying. No time to ponder, no time or space to make a mistake. I felt like I was on the edge of losing it for the entire sequence. But it was exhilarating too. He and I were running like we were connected by a string. It was perfect agility.
I hope this is a lesson learned for me. Archie is an incredibly smart little dog. I love doing agility with him. The burden is on me to step up my game.
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