Feelgood Dog Sports Blog

photo, again, by infinite exposures

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These are from posts on various yahoogroups and listservs re. obstacle performance times. These figures are taken from Kathy Keats.
Dogwalk – fastest times are getting down to 1.5 seconds (big dogs). Fast 2o/2o are just under 2 seconds. You would ideally like your dogwalk under 2.5 to be competitive but under 3.0 for the average competitor is still decent.
Teeter (variance due to equipment) – fastest times are just under 1 second. Very good is around 1.2. To be competitive you want it under 1.5. Less than 2.0 is good for the average competitor. Small dogs there is a huge variance due to equipment.
A-frame - fastest times are around 1.3. Very good times are under 1.5. Less than 1.8 to be competitive. Less than 2.2 is good for the average competitor.
Weave poles (huge variance due to surface and spacing) – fastest times on grass are between 2.2 – 2.4. Very good under 2.7 on grass. Definitely want to be less than 3.0 to be competitive. Average competitor is doing well to have 3.3 or less. Carpet can add over half a second depending on traction.

Even more recently posted:
From notes taken at Clean Run /Power Paws Camp in Kathy Keats class. She recomended using the times to decide where you wanted to devote your training time.
Good – Very Fast
Teeter    1.5 sec. – 1 sec.
12 Poles 3 sec – 2.8 or 2.3 to 2.5 (size of dog)
Dogwalk 2.5 – 1.4
A-Frame 1.8 – 1.3
Table     1 sec. – 1/2 sec.

Of all the “rules” and “tips” pages…these ones are by far my favorite.
Speedoggie.com – Do you know the Rules of The Road?
There are hundreds of ways to handle an agility course. Things that work for one team may not work for another. These rules are meant to give you a baseline to follow and some thoughts to keep in mind when considering a handling plan. The end goal is to be consistent, so that your dog(s) can read your cues. These rules are not, however, carved in stone. This list originally started off with about 5 rules, over the years I continue to add more. Use your imagination and creativity as a dog trainer to add your own “Road Rules” to this list.

Train your dog to do his job, then, you do yours!
When you try to do your dog’s job for him, you end up not doing your own. Do yourself, and your dog a favor “Train Hard, Show Easy”. Train your dog to do his job independent from you (i.e. no micro-managing). Train yourself to do your job independent from your dog (your dog’s speed should have no effect on your ability to handle… no matter how SLOW or FAST he might be running…COMPENSATE!). Then go into the competition ring confident that you BOTH know your jobs and are completely capable of doing them.

Don’t use the same command for different behaviors!
And don’t give the same behavior different names!!! How will your dog discriminate between each command and each behavior?

When your mouth is shouting, your body is whispering!
Handlers, who yell their verbal cues, usually whisper their body cues. It should be the other way around, since dogs watch where our bodies are going far more than they listen to our audible commands. Keep your verbal commands at a normal volume, and your body commands LOUD!

Call early!!!
Don’t wait until YOU’RE in position to direct your dog, or verbally cue an obstacle. Once your dog is committed to an obstacle, you need to give him the information for the next obstacle or sequence. Don’t be afraid to call out the next obstacle/direction before you have completed your handling move, as long as it’s the next obstacle in your dog’s path. Don’t make your dog scan the field looking for the obstacles. Give him a verbal road map instead by telling him WHERE to go first (direction), then, if needed, tell him what to go to (obstacle). The two verbal commands should be very close together as if spoken as one word (i.e. “HereJump”, “OutTeeter”, etc.)

“I gotta name, don’t wear it out”
Avoid OVER using your dog’s name on course. It should only be used to change your dog’s focus from obstacle focus to handler focus. Never use your dogs name to acknowledge a mistake.

Don’t repeat yourself, dogs have great hearing!
Unless your dog needs the verbal information prior to commitment to an obstacle, there is no reason to continue to repeat a command that your dog is already performing (ie “Walk it, Walk it, Walk it” when your dog is already walking it!).

Do not call your dog “Here” if your turning him away from you.
Calling “here” means “turn in my direction”, when you are trying to get him to take an obstacle that is in a direction away from you, teach an “Out” and/or “Back” command to get your dog to turn away from you.

Handle from the inside of the path/curve.
Dogs naturally tend to bend in towards the handler, so by handling from inside the curve you will be using your dog’s natural tendencies to your advantage, not to mention putting your dog on the correct lead foot! Dogs also tend to move towards their handler faster than they move away from thire handler.

Handle your dog’s path, not obstacle to obstacle.
Showing your dog WHERE to go is more important than showing WHAT to go to. It is much more difficult to set all your turn cues up properly if you are running to each obstacle with no concern about the direction of the dog before, during and after the obstacle. Keep your hand signals low so dog can see them and point your hand along your dogs’ path. It not only helps your dog cue direction quickly, it keeps your hands from going over your head and “cueing the pigeons”.

Control dogs path before, over, and after each jump.
I refer to it as “Line In – Apex – Line Out Trajectory”. Example: For a turn over a jump, set your dogs direction before he leaves the ground so he lands going in the direction of the next obstacle. Turning your dog on the ground after a jump puts unnecessary force on his front end, thus breaking his momentum and wasting valuable time. For landing side front crosses: set dog’s line before you perform your cross, so he is heading in the direction of the next obstacle and you are just crossing in front of him without changing his direction or momentum. Remember, YOU are the one crossing… your dog’s path and rhythm should never be interrupted by a landing side front cross. If it is… you were late!

Stay out of your dog’s flight path.
A jump consists of the ENTIRE obstacle, wing and all. A tunnel consists of the ENTIRE obstacle. When a handler tries to signal the middle of a jump, and the jump is 5 feet wide then some part of the handler is now caught behind the wing! When a handler signals the tunnel by sticking a hand in front of the opening, how is the dog supposed to get in? If you train your dog properly for obstacle independence, not only is it unnecessary to handle so close, but you’re also getting in your dog’s way … what I refer to as being in the dog’s “flight path”.

There’s more than one way to give a hand signal
Using different visual cues is as important as using different verbal cues. I use different hand signals for different obstacles and handling options to help my dogs discriminate.

Where are you REALLY going?
Point your shoulders AND your feet in the direction you want your dog to go next.

Work upright to upright
Set your dogs line from upright to upright, not from the center of jumps. Jumps are 5 feet wide, dogs, usually, are much narrower than that. There’s lots of yardage to save and a much smoother path to be found if you work your dogs path along the uprights of the jumps instead of putting them thru the middle of every jump.

The first obstacle on the course is the start line!
Sometimes it’s the gate steward!
The last obstacle on the course is the finish line!
Or if you’re competing in AKC, it’s the ring exit!

Signal the invisible pole
The invisible pole is an imaginary weavepole in front of the weaves. By cuing that spot, you help your dog to break stride early enough to make the entry at speed. When we rush up to the poles and try to point our dogs into the entry, we actually interfere with the dog’s performance.

Stand Up!
Don’t bend over when trying to turn or call your dog to you on course. I refer to this as looking like your “Tying your shoes”. People, who bend over when they call their dog, usually bend towards the dog, which is usually not in the direction of the next obstacle. I tell my students “Point to your heel!” and call your dog into the back of your leg. They find out quickly that you cannot bend over AND point to their heel at the same time. By focusing on pointing to their heel, they not only stand up, but they also usually point themselves in the direction of the next obstacle! So I solve two problems at once J

If you’re going to lead out… STAY OUT!
Unless your lead out is directing a hard turn in the first few jumps, there is no sense working so hard for that start line stay and lead out, if you’re going to call your dog and then just stand there until he catches up to you before you start moving. My suggestion is to lead out, turn your body in the direction of the next obstacle, and release your dog from his start line stay. Once he is up and moving…GO! Maybe move slowly at first if your dog is a bar knocker, but get up to speed before he catches you.

Don’t hang back! aka “MOVE!”
“I can’t get there” usually means you haven’t trained some obstacle independence and your caught up micro-managing some part of some obstacle prior to the area you think you cant get to! Can’t means won’t!

Tight turns happen upon takeoff!
Dog’s can not change direction in the air, the decision to turn happens on the ground before or after an obstacle. Jumping trajectory and angle of approach dictate how the turn will be executed. A round trajectory will result in a tight turn, a flat trajectory in a wider turn. Your dog should be able to perform both trajectories! For a fast, flat trajectory jumper, you must cue a tight turn BEFORE the dog reaches the takeoff point for a flat trajectory jump in order for him to “Chip into the jump” and change his trajectory from flat to round. Rule of thumb is: flat trajectory takeoff point is usually 2x the height of the jump, round trajectory takeoff point is usually 1x the height of the jump.

Don’t move upon your release command
Avoid releasing your dog from a stay/wait with lots of body English (arms up in the air, etc). The dogs learn to release on the handler’s movement, which of course causes a lot of problems with contacts, start lines and tables. Releasing on verbal commands only will eliminate any confusion on the dog’s part to when they are released from their stay.

Blocking doesn’t work
If you don’t want your dog to take something… DON’T STAND BY IT! When you stand in front of something you don’t want your dog to take, you draw his attention directly to it! A great rule of thumb with traps is to pretend that you actually wanted your dog to actually take the trap. Decide what your handling maneuver be if you actually wanted your dog to take the trap. Then DON’T DO IT!! Don’t use the same handling maneuver to keep him off an obstacle as you would to get him on it! How will your dog know the difference?

Be predictable… Handle repeatable sequences similarly
Repeatable sequences are things like 180’s, 270’s, pull thrus/threadles, serpentines, tunnel under contacts discriminations, etc. Handling the same way, or close to the same way, every time helps your dog recognize repeatable sequences faster and execute the turns needed with more confidence and speed.

Never cross behind a dog that you are not turning
Agility courses are a sequence of clockwise and counter clockwise rotations, with obstacles in between. Everywhere the course changes from clockwise to counter clockwise there is usually a need for a crossing maneuver to change your dogs direction and lead foot. Crosses cue turns!

You cant cross behind a dog your in front of!
By trying to do so, you end up stopping all your forward motion and thus slowing your dog down dramatically… sometime enough to cause a refusal. If you’re in front… front cross!

You cant cross in front of a dog your behind!
Look at your dog’s path, if your behind where he needs to go and you need to change sides, a rear cross may be your only option. Walking your courses realistically, and knowing your and your dogs speed helps!

Don’t Make Wine!
When performing a front cross, cover as much ground in the direction of the course as possible. Stopping your forward momentum, standing in one spot and pivoting with tiny baby steps while waiting for your dog to rotate around you is what I refer to as “Making Wine”. The same style of turning with baby steps would be very effective in crushing grapes! My method of performing front crosses consists of only three steps, thus covering maximum ground in the shortest amount of time. How many steps you want to take is up to you, but you should try to do the exact same footwork on each cross so the dog learns to time the rhythm of the cross. And don’t wait around for your dog to catch up to you, TURN AND GO!!!

Location, Location, Location!
Cross in the correct spot! Don’t cross in front of your dog and make him move out of your way! Line up the side of the obstacle your handling next to prior to your planned cross, and the side of the obstacle you want to get to after you cross. Now draw a straight line between those two points. Your feet should stay on that line ALL THE WAY THRU YOUR CROSS. Stepping to the left or the right of that line will give your dog incorrect directional information.

Don’t drive your dog off course!
For a landing side front crosses, every step you take past an upright or obstacle, your dog will take approximately 1-2 additional strides into that pocket. If there is an off course obstacle within that distance, or a run out plane, you might want to reconsider the location of your front cross.

Cross behind contacts only when there is no other option
It not only slows down contact performance and interferes with the dog’s balance, but it also puts you out of position for the other side of the contact. If a change of sides is needed, try a front cross after or before obstacle.

Teach your dog NOT to over rotate.
One of the last places you want your agility dog on course, in directly in front of you looking up at you! It can be hard to run with Fido directly in front of your feet (although I’ve seen some people try)! Keep your dog along side of you as much as possible to avoid spins, and interference. Most dogs over rotate because their handlers give their dog rewards from in front of their legs, unknowingly teaching the dogs to over rotate. Feed your dog his treat along side your leg, or what I call “Behind your knee”. Directionals are almost useless with a dog that is over rotated.

Teach yourself NOT to over rotate.
When executing a shoulder pull (and sometimes a front cross) remember to keep your dog along side of you and not to turn out too quickly or at least support your dog with a hand signal so he knows which side of your body to work off of. Turning too quickly puts your dog directly behind you, at which time the dog usually crosses behind the handler to the wrong side. I call this “keeping your dog off your six”. Using a clock face as a guide, and assuming that directly ahead of you is 12:00, you want to keep your dog at 9:00 or 3:00 or anywhere in between.

Cavaletti Calculator: Trigonometry meets Dog Agility.