# DF Agility Nerds: How Would You Handle It?



## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

It sounds like a lot of folks are snowed/iced in today, so I thought it might be fun to play a little variant of the "How Would You Handle It?" game. 

Course is the opening of an AKC Excellent JWW course I saw recently at a trial. It's not particularly evil but there are a lot of handling variations one could employ. I included just the part of the course that seemed relevant. Grid is a standard 10x10 

RULES (ish): Try to analyze the map and form your game plan before reading other folks' reply. If you can, please include your reasoning for any decisions. The course was actually laid out pretty true-to-map for the opening section, though (4) was a bit straighter.

This evening I'll post what I did, why, how well or poorly it went for us, as well as what I saw other handlers try and how it went for them. It was a big trial so there's a pretty big sample size. Kim's a 24" dog so we were one of the first in the ring, and most of the teams I was watched were after our run.


*Enjoy!*











Red arrow indicates the direction after 7 -- the next series is counterclockwise pinwheel.


NOTE: There are no wrong answers...it's agility


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Shaina said:


> It sounds like a lot of folks are snowed/iced in today, so I thought it might be fun to play a little variant of the "How Would You Handle It?" game.
> 
> Course is the opening of an AKC Excellent JWW course I saw recently at a trial. It's not particularly evil but there are a lot of handling variations one could employ. I included just the part of the course that seemed relevant. Grid is a standard 10x10
> 
> ...


I could handle this two different ways, first option could be sending into tunnel, then get myself between 2-3 (possible RFP, depending on the angle) with my dog on my right, RC at 5, FC on the landing side of 7. Other option could be starting dog on right, FC dog on left, RC at 4, RC at 5, FC landing side of 7.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Great idea, Shaina! I'd like to see more of this on DF and I hope others will chime in here.

Ok, well my idea was a little different than either of Lynn's, but I have less experience, so am probably as close to wrong as agility allows. I would start with the dog on the right, FC while dog in tunnel so dog on left now, then keep dog on left while pivoting between 5 and 7. Needless to say, we haven't tried anything this tough in class. Now that I look back at Lynn's answers, the second one sounds a lot cleaner than what I thought of. Whats' RFP, by the way?


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## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

I have limited experience so, I would pick up Cherokee on my left at the exit of the tunnel, then front cross on the landing side of 6 to have him on my right to finish. It's a good thing I'm a fast runner!


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## MissMutt (Aug 8, 2008)

My initial plan was dog on left out of tunnel, RC before 4, RC before 5, and then bust a move and and landing side FC after 6.


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

GottaLuvMutts said:


> . Whats' RFP, by the way?


"Reverse Flow Pivot"
It's basically a sort of false abbreviated front cross to change the dog's line by bringing them in to you. How far in they come depends on how hard/long of a RFP it is.
It's easier to show than to explain in words lol...

So if you are running in parallel with your dog, you would start the false turn by initiating your front cross body language (drop inside shoulder, rotate toward the dog, etc.) to bring the dog's line toward you, then reorient in the new direction without completing the cross.

If I'm understanding how LynnI is suggesting using it here, it's almost more like a LOP (Lead Out Pivot) except that the dog is starting in motion leaving the tunnel.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Gatsby doesn't handle very well (and I'm terrible at it) so mine is very simple. Send him in to the tunnel (I'd love to be able to lead out @ (2) but I know Gatz would skip the tunnel if I wasn't right there), FC at the tunnel exit, support him through the jumps, deep into the pocket @ (6) and FC after (7) for the pinwheel. 

It would probably look pretty awful if we ran it, since my plan requires me to be right there with him the whole time, and I don't run that fast. Other than a lead out, I don't see many other options, I feel like anything more would just be overcomplicated.


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Shaina said:


> "Reverse Flow Pivot"
> It's basically a sort of false abbreviated front cross to change the dog's line by bringing them in to you. How far in they come depends on how hard/long of a RFP it is.
> It's easier to show than to explain in words lol...
> 
> ...


Your right I wasn't thinking, lol LOP not RFP 



GottaLuvMutts said:


> Great idea, Shaina! I'd like to see more of this on DF and I hope others will chime in here.
> 
> Ok, well my idea was a little different than either of Lynn's, but I have less experience, so am probably as close to wrong as agility allows. I would start with the dog on the right, FC while dog in tunnel so dog on left now, then keep dog on left while pivoting between 5 and 7. Needless to say, we haven't tried anything this tough in class. Now that I look back at Lynn's answers, the second one sounds a lot cleaner than what I thought of. Whats' RFP, by the way?


There is no wrong way in my opinion, you have to figure out what works best for you and your dog. And lot of what I would do, completely depends on where we would be going after 7. And a lot also depends on how straight the approach is to 5, it could be that no crosses are needed and pushing the dog out for 5 would work


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

LynnI said:


> Your right I wasn't thinking, lol LOP not RFP


Two for one! I didn't know either LOP or RFP.


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

Thanks to all who participated  I'm hoping others can put up some map segments they see around as well. Hurray for agility addition!

As LynnI said, there's no wrong way...so the way I would run Web on this would differ from how I ran Kim...in either case I want to know how I would run my dog and if there are other ways I would want to run by dog on this and what training would be required to be able to do so...if that makes sense.


My initial thought was to start with Lynn's first option which was to send Kim to the tunnel then be on the landing side of 2 w/ a LOP and drive along the line with Kim on my right from 3-4, cross between 4 and 5, then again between 6 & 7.

The problem with this was that I wanted to be fairly close to the tunnel entrance when sending Kim in from a stop, and wasn't sure I'd be able to get to the back side of 2 in time to signal the turn and get myself heading down the line straight.


I've been trying to simplify my handling a bit and utilize my speed more so I decided to handle 4-5 from the landing side of 4 and basically do a LOP/push there over 5 then FX between 6 and 7, since I was already in the pocket of the first pinwheel, to get the counterclockwise pinwheel after. 

So basically as Kim came out of the tunnel I was between 2&3 but indicating 2. I headed down the line supporting 2 (which also gave her warning to hug the inside upright and turn over 2 & 3) until she was committed then hurried to the landing side of 4. Picked her up on the landing side of 4 and pushed 5-6, FX'ing to 7.

I saw a couple other people do it the same way after...it worked for most but one was slow getting to the landing side of 4 and had an awkward near-collision.


A lot of people chose to have the dog on left going over 2 then either Front or Rear Cross between 3 and 4 to get the curve out to 5. This worked for many, but anyone whose timing was off at all (late FX or early RX) ended up pushing their dog over that OC jump. 


The LOP version mentioned above worked well for those who could send their dog to the tunnel from a bit of a distance and set up on the landing side of 2. These folks usually crossed (front or rear depending on relative speeds and how soon they could take off down the line) between 4-5 and again between 6-7. 


A common mistake (with all the handling variations) was to hurry to handle that 3-4-5 series and not fully support 2, resulting in a runout or even an off course/skipped obstacle as 2 was bypassed.


Hopefully that made some semblance of sense lol. No doubt there are more variations but those were the main ones I saw as well as the one I did. Worked out well by the way


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