Workshop 2-27-10

Here are my notes from the Laura Manchester-Derrett Advanced Double Box Workshop, held at Jump 'n' Java on February 27, 2010.

In the seminar, Laura assumed that you had a good foundation in Derrett basics, such as:

• Front cross footwork
• Significance of the reinforcement zone and the blind cross body line
• New front cross and rear cross system

Disclaimer: in the course maps in this document, I just guessed at the distance between jumps. My primary goal was to capture the sequences, not the course dimensions.

Intro

Laura started the seminar by saying that the most important concept was the reinforcement zone, and all that that implies. The whole system revolves around getting the dog oriented to your reward zone.

She reviewed the importance of maintaining the integrity of the blind cross body line. Never let your dog reward himself by going behind your back.

Three main rules of agility

1. Keep your eye on your dog. Keep the connection, including when your dog is on the start line.
1. Use your arm and leg closest to the dog to direct him or her.
   1. Face the direction you want the dog to go until commitment. Commitment is lift-off.

Other rules

• One cue = one behavior.
• Front cross:
  • Be at the next obstacle.
  • Only use a front cross when there is a change of direction (i.e., not on a straight line).
  • If you can't get into position for a front cross, do a rear cross.
• Rear cross:
  • What cues the turn on a rear cross? The handler cutting behind the dog.
  • A rear cross is always a turn towards you. If the dog turns away from you, it's a flick.
• Serp
  • In a sequence where there are 2 front crosses, you can combine them and use a serp instead.
• Threadle
  • A threadle is a direction change.
• Rules:
  • You only use arm changes for TWO direction changes.
  • With serps and threadles, it's essential to be disciplined about only raising one hand at a time. That is how you signal the direction change. Two hands is ambiguous. The dog needs to see the arm change to read the turn.
  • Angela: "One really interesting thing that she also said re serps and double fronts is that the timing of your arm change is essentially the same no matter which one you choose."

Decision Making

Decision making: turn right or left over a jump? Criteria:

• Where you're coming from.
• Where you're going to.
• Shortest path.

Stand at the wing where you have to make a decision and look for the straightest line.

NOT in the equation:

• Avoiding traps.
• What's easier for your handling.

This was the first exercise:

Laura made everyone run twice and try a right turn over #2 and a left turn over #2. She timed each team to see which was faster. The result:

• Right turn
  • A lot of dogs back-jumped. Laura said this was for 2 reasons:
    • Handlers shape turns, which they shouldn't.
    • Handler was late on front cross.
  • More awkward since dogs naturally carried out to the left turn.
• Left turn
  • Dog is already angled in that direction
  • It was 2 strides for a left turn, vs. 4 strides for a right turn. Every stride adds time.
  • Even though the dogs took wider turns on the left, their times were faster.
• Result
  • Every dog except for one was faster turning left.
  • Laura said that even so, we should be able to train our dogs to the point that the times are very close, since the distance is the same.
• Random
  • When one of the handlers led out past the take-off side of #2, her dog face-planted trying to make the left turn. This is because her position beyond the jump made the dog think he was supposed to go straight. This was not the only time that Laura stressed that when a turn follows a lead out, the handler should be slightly behind the jump, not in front of it.

Double Box Exercise #1

Our first double box exercise:

Notes:

• Always lead out in the direction the dog is going.
• On a pinwheel, remember that the dog is chasing your blind cross body line and accelerating towards the reinforcement zone.
• For a front cross, if you get to your handling position early, great! Just wait for your dog. Do NOT rotate early. "Just treat it as a lead out pivot." If you get to your handling position early, that lets you give an even stronger decel cue.
• When your dog ignores your handling, they're effectively blind-crossing you. Forbidden!
• In all your training, it's important to observe the rule that one cue = one behavior. It's also important to enforce "do what I say when I say it."
• Have a trained line up on both sides so that you can always leave the start line with the dog on the correct side.

Comments Laura made while people were running:

• Keep moving to support the pinwheel.
• The dogs weren't reading the positional cues--they were jumping straight and then turning towards the handler rather than taking the jumps at the correct angle.
• Since we are teaching our dogs this new system, we should be heavily rewarding our front crosses.
• When handlers rotated early, they effectively pushed their dogs into the blind cross zone.
• Don't hold your arm out dramatically when you do a lead out pivot--your body language on a LOP should be similar to what it would be if you were simply running that part of the course. It's all about consistency.
• Try to trust your dog. Don't babysit. See what they understand.

Double Box Exercise #2

Our second double box exercise:

Threadles

Laura talked about threadles in relation to this course:

• See the dotted line next to #6--the jump plus the refusal plane constitutes the "active line."
• We have taught our dogs automatic 270s, which is good. That means with a shoulder pull coming over #4, the dog should reflexively take the back side of #5. To cue the correct side, we need a threadle here.
• #4 to #5 is actually 2 turns. It's subtle, but that's what it is. Hence, we use a threadle (2 arm changes) to indicate the direction change.
• This is how to execute the threadle:
  1. Turn towards the dog--this entails stepping back on the right foot.
  2. Raise opposite arm (left arm, in this case).
  3. Take ONE step back with left foot. Just one step. Don't back up with multiple steps. Note that you do NOT step back until the dog responds to your raised opposite hand by driving towards the reinforcement zone.
  4. Then turn parallel to where you're going (#5).
• Don't over-rotate on your threadles.
• On this course, do the threadle right after your front cross to #4--don't wait until after the dog lands.

Rear Cross

Laura talked about rear crosses in relation to this course:

• There is no front cross between 6 and 7. It's a straight line.
• The front cross is between 5 and 6. If you were going to front cross it would be behind 6, but it's doubtful you could get there. Consequently, you must rear cross.
• Rule: A rear cross should take care of the next turn on course after your theoretical front cross ("theoretical front cross" is a front cross you can't do because you can't get there).
• In this course, you have to hang back in the 270 pocket (#5 - #6) and drive the diagonal rear cross line to #7.

Double Box Exercise #3

Our third double box exercise:

Notes:

• You might think that you could do a leadout pivot and have the dog on your right going from #3 to #4. But that would be illegal since #3 - #4 is a straight line. You lead out to between #3 and #4 with the dog on your left, and front cross at #4.
• You have to rear cross from #5 to #6, but the middle jump is a big trap. So you have to hang back to get the dog looking the right way and then drive them on the rear cross diagonal.

Double Box Exercise #4

Our fourth double box exercise:

Notes:

• Lead out pivot between #2 and #3. Do NOT step forward on a front cross. People who did this on their lead out pivot sent their dogs over the off-course middle jump.
• Front cross footwork: as dog lifts off, shift your weight to your right foot, pivot back on left (?), step forward.
• We experimented with leading out closer to #2 vs. #3. We found that leading out closer to #2 got a tighter line.
• Again, don't step in the wrong direction. Always think about the line you're on.
• Serp #5 - #6. A serp here is much tighter than 2 front crosses.

Double Box Exercise #5

Our 5th double box exercise:

Notes:

• Serp #8 -#9.

Double Box Exercise #6

Our 6th double box exercise:

Notes:

• Serp #8 - #9. Have to get behind #8 jump. You could do 2 front crosses instead of a serp, but you have to have perfect footwork and timing.
• Recurring theme: when you lead out to a jump that is followed by a turn, do NOT go past the jump you're leading out to. Hang back from it a bit. Otherwise, you're cuing your dog to drive ahead of you instead of turn.

Double Box Exercise #7

Our 7th double box exercise:

Notes:

• On this course, handlers did a lead out pivot to serp position. The handler lead out pivot position was the X.
• Resist the urge to step back. Don't even move your feet.
• As soon as the dog commits to #3, rotate your feet to turn towards the left stantion of #4 (i.e., in the direction you're going to run).

Double Box Exercise #8

Our 8th double box exercise:

Notes:

• Where are your 2 front crosses on this course?
  • #6 - #7.
  • #7 - #8.
• You can turn these 2 FCs into a serp. This would entail serping your dog around the outside of the #8 jump.
  • Angela: "if you did a serp around the outside of 7 and 8 that you have to hold your dog on your serp arm all the way around the corner and that this exercise tests whether the dog truly understands the serp arm cue"
• She doesn't believe in starting baby dogs out with serps. It's better to get them solid on one arm change (i.e., front cross) first.