Right, I have been watching the agility on Crufts tv via internet over the past 4 days
I have watched the dogs competing in the internationals, the senior and the champ final watching some of the best dog and handler combinations in the world. I have come to an conundrum
The one that is fresh in my memory is the champ final from this evening. Everyone in that final ran the dog walk contact, I know the handlers and dogs that ran in the final and I know for a fact that all of there dogs are trained to stop at the end. But off course I understand that in a final you want to go for it and you don’t want to be there just to make up numbers so you release the dog earlier than you would normally.
So I have had a few theory’s running through my (small but efficient) brain (I won’t displace them on here) but i am wondering what if you trained your dog to run the dog walk all the time. In theory this should shave vital time of your overall round BUT……………….
The question is
Is the RISK worth the REWARD?
What I am on about is,
Is the risk of training running contacts worth the reward of winning?
Running Contacts Risks
Can sometimes be inconsistent
Alot of judges cant mark them properly
You have to be mentally on the ball as the dog is always driving on to next obstacle and in more cases than not is in front of you. (How Quick Are You)
Rewards
There is only one main reward for doing this and that is you increases your chances of winning
I know a lot of English judges are aware of fast running contacts, so they tend to only mark the down contact neglecting the up. They don’t do this so much in Scotland (but Its only a matter of time).
I know this for a fact as I already have a dog that runs contacts.
And I know there is no way on earth that the judge is going to get a good clear view of both my up and down marks unless the judge is standing well back and has the hole contact in there peripheral vision as its over in a matter of 1.2 seconds so what happens when they cant get a clear view you get 5 faults because the judge doesn’t believe you could get a contact going that fast.
It has took me over ten years with that dog to prove to people that he gets the contact every time.
These are the risks that you have to take so the question still is………………
Is the RISK worth the REWARD?
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The RISK is worth the REWARD depending on how consistent or inconsistent you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteHow many do you hit before you miss one? I know that Susan Garret has a running A-Frame and in 4 yeasr with that dog she has missed one, that would suit me fine. But there is a risk with our lack of knowledge in training the running contact that we may end up with 1 in every 9 - 10 missed and thats a lot.
I think we have to look at theory in the training first and then cover all of the potentials for missing before you even apply the training.
I wouldn't rule a running contact out becuase I do think one day you will only win if we have them and that day is coming.
Funny I was just thinking that unless people are willing to take the risk and fail )or not fail) we will never learn to develop the technique after all only practice makes perfect!