Too slow for your dog?
There was a discussion on Facebook recently, about the European style course that somebody posted, with tons of people commenting on how impossible the course is to run for 1. big dogs, 2. short handlers, 3. old handlers. It sounded like in order to get the World Champion, the best would be to measure the dogs&handlers and let the tallest handler with the smallest dog win as everybody seemed to think that big dogs can't turn tight and short handlers can't get to places.
I guess you guessed that I disagreed. 🙂
I've heard it a million times already: "I'm not fast enough for my dog!" And they were right: they were not fast enough - because they were not moving!!! The length of their legs and their age never had anything to do with it: no legs and no youth will help you be in time if you're not moving, but instead stare at the dog or follow some rules on only being allowed to turn after the dog lands... - Baby, by the time my dogs land, I'm not only turned, but already way ahead, probably at the next obstacle already! And no legs will help you catch me 🙂
So no, it's not about the length of the legs. It's about trusting your dog, teaching him a good commitment, sends and distance skills and then just showing him a jump, trusting them they will take it and RUN at the next spot you're needed. Landing is not your problem. If you saw your dog taking off, then don't worry: s/he will land, no dog ever got stuck in the air. Seeing your dog's take off point also tells you exactly where s/he will be landing, so there is really no reason to stay there and stare: landing is not your problem - take off is. So take care of that take off and then take off to help with the next take off - your job there is finished as soon as you see the dog is committed. At that point, he should also already know where the next obstacle after that one is, so you're really not needed there anymore.
It's also not about the youth. I was 15 years younger 15 years ago (go figure! 🙂 ) and was running slower dogs as I do today and on easier courses as today and yet I was never able to get anywhere. The picture below will show you why. But being addicted to learning, I've learned some important lessons in those almost-20 years I do agility - and they allow me to be faster every next year. I might be older, but I'm smarter 🙂
 |
 |
1994 Can you see the difference? 🙂 2010
When I started, we only knew rear crosses: we handled everything from behind. Handling from behind is still the easiest for me and I can handle everything from behind. But I handle 99% from in front now. - Because I learned that it's faster, clearer and more efficient that way. I saw my first front cross ever on my first World Championships in 1997, went home to set that exact situation at home and executed first front cross in Slovenia 🙂 Front crosses made me much faster as a rear cross automatically puts you behind the dog - and that's exactly why I don't like them.
Then, I learned about a blind cross and how bad it is - but then observed handlers in my seminars and learned it's just another myth as those who though that blind cross will take you to hell had more problems with having their dogs come to the correct hand after tunnels for example (you can do as many front crosses as you want when the dog is in a tunnel - he won't see you - so you can just do a blind cross 🙂 ) while those who were doing blind crosses too had dogs with much better understanding of hands and had less confusion. So we mastered the blind crosses too and guess what - it made me even faster! And even more: it taught me how much faster I can get to places if I don't need to circle my feet around and every since, I'm a big "no feet, just hand" fan and hey - it put me in a completely another gear again! You can't believe how much faster you can run if your feet are facing the right direction!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Together with teaching cik&cap and the commitment and distance skills that come with it, feet turned in the right direction all the time will definitely take you to places soon enough IF of course you trust your dog and run instead of stare. Oh, speaking of myths: never take your eyes off of a dog??? Yeah right. If you trust your dog enough and know where he will be landing and he knows where he is going next, you can of course take your eyes off of your dog! It's all a question of training your dog to the degree that you can trust him and knowing exactly where he is without staring at him. Staring and babysitting will never get you anywhere, no matter how long or not your legs are or how young or not you are.
Never take your eyes off the dog? Why not, I know exactly where she is landing on her ciks. And she knows exactly A-frame is her next obstacle to take. And I know she knows it.
And oh: big dogs can't turn tight??? 🙂 I won't even comment that as since you are on this website, I guess you saw enough of tall BCs and Malinois doing cik&cap to know that tightness has nothing to do with how big or small the dog is.
Bu, WC Lievin 2011, photo by Jaume Llibre Leon
Big dogs can't turn tight? Bu says: watch me 🙂 -
She is 53cm (almost 21") and is turning MUCH tighter as Le who is 37cm (14 1/2")
(And note my eyes are off her again: looks like I never watch my dogs after 1994 anymore! The more I trust them, the less I stare :))
To learn more about how to be fast enough for your dog, you're welcome to audit or take part in Handling classes - we have people of all ages there, doing a really great job on getting to places on MUCH more complicated courses as the one that started this debate was.
Awesome article. As an older handler still being competitive is very important to me. Excellent insights about trusting your dog once they have been trained.
I guess that the major reason I love agility so much is because experience is more important as youth and that it’s not just another sport, but a mental game too 🙂
Wow love this article. This has been my philosophy for a very long time and I try to teach my students the same thing. Like you I have evolved over the past 18 years of doing agility and I was 50 pounds lighter 18 years younger and had slower dogs and easier course. I find I am always ahead now. I hope everyone reads this and discovers what took me years to learn. :0) Awesome article, keep them coming!
I know, I keep yelling at my students “Don’t stare, RUN!” -- I sure did my share of staring 🙂 -- but running is so much more fun!
Yup me too! I think sometimes they think I nag to much but I find they are getting the message and it shows in their performance. :0)
The funniest thing is that I always have a feeling I need to say it again and again and again -- but every time I get a new class, I see what previous class was like and how much better they got. Have to say that my “old” students are pretty amazing at getting to places by now, many got better from their teacher 🙂 and often give me an idea how else to try to run that course with my dogs -- because if they can, I can, right! 🙂
Brilliant artcle! Many greetings from Croatia 🙂
Thanks! It was fun writing it! 🙂
Love it!! Logical!!
🙂 I always loved logical things 🙂
Good article. But, there is a difference between a 21″ BC and say a 27″ GSD (which is what I consider a big dog) when it comes to turning- no?
Not much bigger as between my 14″ PyrShep and 21″ BC… All the GSDs I had in classes were extremely flexible and turned BEAUTIFULLY and it was actually much easier for them as for my BCs as they jump the same height here (26″). I noticed a huge difference in tightness between flexible and not flexible dogs, but I sincerely never noticed any correlation between their size and their turns (if those were trained of course: when you let them jump in extension, GSD will of course land further as a Maltese -- but not further as my Bi though 🙂 )
Hi Silvia,
Loved the article, and I agree about not needing to watch the dog so much.
But I still think there are important differences between AKC and FCI courses. FCI has almost constant post-turns (wrapping; cik & cap), where AKC has many wide-open stretches (esp. in Novice) of 4+ jumps in a row where a fast dog can get VERY far ahead. Another difference is that AKC jump heights are as little as 50% of the FCI heights, and that allows AKC dogs to run much faster than FCI dogs.
When I look at FCI videos, I’m astonished to see top handlers leave the start line together with their dogs (no lead-outs) and never be more than 2 m away from the dog during the entire course. I do not think it’s possible to stay next to a 5 mps AKC dog without being an Olympic gold medal sprinter.
Jenny Damm came to Turkey (where I now live) this year and hinted we had to train as sprinters to do FCI agility. She herself is a marathon runner. That really made me nervous. I’m a very typical American handler: 47, fat, and have had knee surgery. I can’t even run 20m without stopping for breath. But I started U.S. agility in 1988, and have never needed to go faster than a slow jog there. I hope I can find a way to handle the FCI courses with my new Pap without having to get as skinny and fast as you are!
I was not saying you need to be right in front of the nose of the dog all the time. I’m not. Sends are of course essential for being in front. I also don’t find US dogs faster, those that I saw didn’t jump 50% less as they would in Europe and well, my dogs are 5 mps too 🙂 You would be amazed at how many typical American handlers I have in Handling class and how well they’re doing after they start trusting their dog! The point of the article was exactly that you do NOT need to be skinny and fast to get to places! That there are more important things than that!
Thanks for clarifying! I hope to be one of those American handlers who will be training with you next summer, and am sure to learn tons!
About the jump heights, the height difference between AKC & FCI is more obvious at low heights. For instance, my Papillon would jump 20 cm in AKC (and only 10 cm in the “preferred” class), but will have to jump 35 cm in FCI. That’s a 75% taller jump height.
My Border Collie is 48 cm tall and jumped 50 cm in America. Now that he lives in Turkey, he would have to jump 65 cm--a 30% taller jump height. He’s almost 10 years old, lives in a city apartment (nowhere for off-leash exercise) and there’s no way he could physically do those jumps on a competitive basis.
I’m amazed that FCI dogs are still getting 5 mps times on those huge jumps!
Right, I didn’t take Preferred into consideration. Many FCI countries have veterans class where dogs jump one category lower (large 45, medium 35 and small 25cm). Personally, I do wish FCI would lower the height some, 55 or 60cm still shows all the nice jumping skills and would allow dogs to be competitive longer.
Great article, I’m still learning to run and trust in my dog, in south america most of the handlers think diferent 🙂 I started toheard about this about 2 years ago in a semminar with Jenny Damm when my border collie Samba was 18 months. I love how european people thinks about agility, I’m learning a lot in your handling class, I love it.
i have a dog with a high speed, i can not wait for her otherwise i’m already lost. I!m not the youngest one but i run for live !
I run to be in front of her and she is, to catch me 🙂
I saw many movies of you and one thing was clear, you are always moving so i did it also and it works.
I do also blind crosses, i have to do that with my little maniac 🙂
I think also that dogs are having more fun and are so much faster if you keep moving, it is like a game and that is agility, a game.
so great article 🙂
.
Great article! It describes what my problem was and a little bit still is with my very fast kelpie :)) But I really try to run now. But soon I will put his running contacts from the plank to a real a dogwalk, and I think then I will have to learn the whole thing again :DD (at least my trainer sad so)
Ah, it only makes things easier as you don’t have an option then: you really do need to run then! 🙂
LOVE this! I also remember you saying one time, in a video I think, something about rear crosses and how you shouldn’t have to train them because the dog should just know and I agree 100%! It also bugs me when people blame knocked bars on their handling.. your location shouldn’t affect the dog taking an obstacle like that!
Well, yes, I actually don’t teach rear, front OR blind crosses -- they just know them 🙂 But well, I do think that late rear, front or blind cross (or any other too-late information) can cause a knocked bar and that’s another reason why I think early information is so important.