Re-posted as I didn't see it come up in the other thread (may be redundant):

I've just gotten the video from a trial we went to a month ago, and have
uploaded a few of our runs to YouTube if anybody's interested.

http://www.youtube.com/cimawr

Hard to believe that both dogs are Veterans now, but they are...

There are three runs of Bren's - two Elite Jumpers, one Elite Tunnelers -
all of which were qualifying runs, although he IS running in Skilled now,
and in Veterans for Jumpers, so he gets a wee bit more time. It's too bad I
didn't have anybody taping the weekend before, when he ran over 5 YPS in
Tunnelers.
In the Jumpers run that *doesn't* have (2) in the title, the taper got a
nice bit of Bren's startline bounce-and-bay routine - and he's being QUIET
that time :-D. On the same run, he demonstrates his serpentine skills... and
yes, he ran them the same way when he was young and jumping 24" as he does
now at 12". That sort of angling is why he's done so well in Jumpers despite
never being more than moderately fast.


There are also four of Morag's runs: an Elite Jumpers, Elite Weavers, Elite
Chances, and one Elite Regular. (NOTE: at time of posting, the Jumpers video
hasn't loaded yet, it will be up later tonight).
On the Jumpers, it's hard to see unless you watch in slow motion, but she
does one of her classic extended-stride takeoffs just after the serpentine;
in slow motion, it's a bit of a jaw-dropper.
She does this thing where, instead of cutting stride, she takes off WAAAY
back from the jump - 10 feet away or more- sails horizontally until she's
just over it, then drops to the ground only a foot or so in front of it.
IOW, where she would normally put in 2 or 3 strides, she puts in 1 or 2, and
substitutes air time for the last stride on the ground.

The Weavers run isn't a Q because midway through the course, I'm way
freakin' late AND too quiet on a "switch" command, and instead of turning to
the intended tunnel, she shoots straight ahead...but it's fun to watch, and
you can hear her up-in-drive growltalking (which means she's happy!) through
the last set of weaves.
The Chances is notable because the taper caught her after-run bouncing,
talking, and play-biting; the bits to watch in the Regular run are how
nicely she collects and hits the weaves, the verbal "switch" before the
dogwalk, and the contact on the dogwalk - that's the contact that she was
re-trained for at age 7 (she's nine and a half now)

"sionnach" wrote in message
...
Re-posted as I didn't see it come up in the other thread (may be
redundant):

I've just gotten the video from a trial we went to a month ago, and have
uploaded a few of our runs to YouTube if anybody's interested.

http://www.youtube.com/cimawr

Hard to believe that both dogs are Veterans now, but they are...

There are three runs of Bren's - two Elite Jumpers, one Elite Tunnelers -
all of which were qualifying runs, although he IS running in Skilled now,
and in Veterans for Jumpers, so he gets a wee bit more time. It's too bad
I
didn't have anybody taping the weekend before, when he ran over 5 YPS in
Tunnelers.
In the Jumpers run that *doesn't* have (2) in the title, the taper got a
nice bit of Bren's startline bounce-and-bay routine - and he's being QUIET
that time :-D. On the same run, he demonstrates his serpentine skills...
and
yes, he ran them the same way when he was young and jumping 24" as he does
now at 12". That sort of angling is why he's done so well in Jumpers
despite
never being more than moderately fast.


There are also four of Morag's runs: an Elite Jumpers, Elite Weavers,
Elite
Chances, and one Elite Regular. (NOTE: at time of posting, the Jumpers
video
hasn't loaded yet, it will be up later tonight).
On the Jumpers, it's hard to see unless you watch in slow motion, but
she
does one of her classic extended-stride takeoffs just after the
serpentine;
in slow motion, it's a bit of a jaw-dropper.
She does this thing where, instead of cutting stride, she takes off
WAAAY
back from the jump - 10 feet away or more- sails horizontally until she's
just over it, then drops to the ground only a foot or so in front of it.
IOW, where she would normally put in 2 or 3 strides, she puts in 1 or 2,
and
substitutes air time for the last stride on the ground.

The Weavers run isn't a Q because midway through the course, I'm way
freakin' late AND too quiet on a "switch" command, and instead of turning
to
the intended tunnel, she shoots straight ahead...but it's fun to watch,
and
you can hear her up-in-drive growltalking (which means she's happy!)
through
the last set of weaves.
The Chances is notable because the taper caught her after-run bouncing,
talking, and play-biting; the bits to watch in the Regular run are how
nicely she collects and hits the weaves, the verbal "switch" before the
dogwalk, and the contact on the dogwalk - that's the contact that she was
re-trained for at age 7 (she's nine and a half now)
================
Very amazing to watch; I looked at all of them.
I would think you would have to be in good shape to run around like that
with the dog.
The dogs that do this sort of activity must be brilliant dogs to remember
where to go next and also keep focused on you as they run the course at such
speed.
The large dogs that do it seem so "ho hum" about it compared to the small
Poodles, JRT's, Border Collies, and Sheepdogs. I guess Rottweilers also do
agility but I have only seen one on TV. To me that has to be funny since
they are not very fast and not that graceful. But the motivation of those
dogs on the videos is unbelievable.

"pfoley" wrote:

I would think you would have to be in good shape to run around like that
with the dog.

It helps, although I'm not moving particularly fast in the newer videos.
It also helps to have distance handling. In the older video, where Bren & Mw
are younger, it's a more open course, and I'm also running Rocsi, I'm moving
a lot faster.

The dogs that do this sort of activity must be brilliant dogs to remember
where to go next

But they don't remember where to go next. :-) The course is different every
time, and the handler is the only one who knows the pattern. Incompetition,
handlers are given 5-10 minutes to walk the course, memorize it, and plan
handling strategy; the dogs have never seen the course before. (Once in a
while, in NADAC, you'll end up running a course again at another trial - but
it's never set quite the same, and it's never close enough in time for the
dog to remember the pattern.)


The large dogs that do it seem so "ho hum" about it compared to the small
Poodles, JRT's, Border Collies, and Sheepdogs.

It really depends on the individual dog and handler; I know plenty of
small dogs who are ho-hum, and plenty large ones who tear up the course.
Robin's dobes come to mind, as does my friend Nicole's Dobe Mojo... and I
know some Labs who routinely match or outrun Border Collies.


But the motivation of those
dogs on the videos is unbelievable.

With my guys, it's all about pack and prey drive - the trick, particularly
with Morag, is to arouse the same drives that they would use hunting and/or
playhunting in concert with other dogs, then channel it.

--
Sarah wrote:
my friend Nicole's Dobe Mojo...

Who, I just remembered, is also on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB-Y_W2iKeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYADPF_Db6c

"sionnach" wrote in message
...

"pfoley" wrote:

I would think you would have to be in good shape to run around like that
with the dog.

It helps, although I'm not moving particularly fast in the newer videos.
It also helps to have distance handling. In the older video, where Bren &
Mw
are younger, it's a more open course, and I'm also running Rocsi, I'm
moving
a lot faster.

The dogs that do this sort of activity must be brilliant dogs to
remember
where to go next

But they don't remember where to go next. :-) The course is different
every
time, and the handler is the only one who knows the pattern.
Incompetition,
handlers are given 5-10 minutes to walk the course, memorize it, and plan
handling strategy; the dogs have never seen the course before. (Once in a
while, in NADAC, you'll end up running a course again at another trial -
but
it's never set quite the same, and it's never close enough in time for the
dog to remember the pattern.)
===========
That even makes them more amazing to me, that they don't even know the
course but can maintain their focus on the handler without missing an
obstacle at that speed. They have to be highly motivated intelligent dogs.
They are quite comical when they are first learning like that bulldog video
we saw a week or so ago. I would think these dogs would also do good in
lure chasing like the Whippets do, if they have such a strong prey drive
with such speed.
How can you memorize the course in that short amount of time? You would
think they wou ld mail you a layout of the course so you could strategize
how you will handle it. The courses look pretty tricky to me. So are you
calling out commands or giving hand signals to the dogs?

"pfoley" wrote:

That even makes them more amazing to me, that they don't even know the
course but can maintain their focus on the handler

Agility is all about communication & relationship.

without missing an
obstacle at that speed.

Heh. Missing obstacles, or taking the wrong one, is quite common -
although it normally happens because the handler mistimes or miscues
something.

Which you can see a good example of that in the Weavers video I posted:
In the middle of the course, facing the camera, there's a straight dark
green tunnel. If you watch & listen carefully, the first time Morag comes
out of it you hear me say "switch", she then shoots straight ahead into the
yellow tunnel, and you can hear me say "Whoo!" and then call her back to the
next tunnel.
The second time she comes out of it, I say "switch", and she makes a
sharp change of direction away from me, towards the left of the camera view.
That's what was *supposed* to happen the first time, except that she should
have turned sharply to the right of the camera view; "switch" - along with a
hand/body signal- tells the dog to change leads and turn away from the
handler, and that the handler will then cross behind the dog.

IOW, the first time through, she actually wasn't supposed to take the
yellow tunnel, but to turn away from me and take the one that's almost
behind us and to our left - the one she took after the yellow. But I was too
far behind her *and* too late with the "switch" cue - she never heard it,
nor saw the accompanying physical signal. The "whoo!" was my reaction to my
own mistake. G You will note, also, that I did NOT make any correction to
the dog - she did nothing wrong, the mistake was mine, so I just continued
with the flow of the way she was going & got back on course.

I was actually a bit late with the second "switch", as well, but that time
I was at least in the right place for her to see the physical signal, and
not too late for her to make the turn.

For much better timed & executed "switches", see the Regular and Jumpers
videos.


I would think these dogs would also do good in
lure chasing like the Whippets do, if they have such a strong prey drive
with such speed.

It really depends on the dog. Neither of my two in those videos, despite
being avid hunters, are interested in lure coursing because they know the
lure isn't alive. Morag, who IS part sighthound, ran out and got to the lure
once, then disgustedly refused to even look at it once she realized what it
was.
My Jack Russell, on the other hand, adored lure coursing - she knew it
wasn't alive, but she didn't care.

How can you memorize the course in that short amount of time?

Practice, and looking for sequences.

You would
think they wou ld mail you a layout of the course so you could strategize
how you will handle it.

Nope. The challenge - and the fun - is in the on-the-spot learning. Also,
unfortunately, some people would try to cheat by setting up courses at home
or in practice.


. So are you
calling out commands or giving hand signals to the dogs?

Both in concert, although it's more a matter of body and arm signals than
hand signals. The movement of my entire body is giving direction, as is the
amount of space between us. There are specific arm/hand signals, as well -
for example, in the Regular video, when I'm directing her to the dogwalk,
you can see that I'm signaling with my shoulder, as well as pulling with my
entire body to indicate the sharp curve in.