Comments on: Leading out at the Start Line

By: Phillips Suzette

Phillips Suzette — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:40:00 +0000

I lead out in practice alot more than at trials, if the dog doesn’t take that first jump and you are 3-4 jumps down the line you just donated your entry fee to the school of “Lessons Learnt by Mistakes”.

By: jeannekins

jeannekins — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:54:44 +0000

i lead out depending on the first few obstacles of a course. if it’s a tire or a tunnel i’ll usually stay with him to be sure he does it. if it’s a regular jump, i’ll lead out a little, but not too far. go too far and they’re going o fast to get to you that they drop bars.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:11:34 +0000

Oh, almost forgot. To answer Pam’s question, the instructions on how to make a picture show up for your comments if found in the FAQ’s page. The link is at the top of the blog. It’s really easy, and it’s universally applied to all your comments in all blogs/websites/etc that use these little images (called “avitars”).

By: Pamela

Pamela — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:08:15 +0000

go4it, stress at the starting line is a common problem. We’ll deal with it more in following blogs. But meanwhile, playing with (and being alongside) your dog right up to the point of take-off will help. Early in my agility competitive career I used to wonder why so many seasoned competitors wouldn’t go ahead. Some did, but others didn’t. I can see now that many of them were in tune with their dogs, and that is actually why they stayed by their side. Sometimes even if you normally lead out, your dog may have an off-day, and you may want to think about switching gears for a particular run. Just many of the wonderful, always-evolving facets of the agility-dance!