Friday, October 30, 2009

Running or not...Hmmmmm.....

So as the girls get older I am thinking about what kind of A-frame I would like them to have...a running or a 2o2o...

While I said for a long time I want a running A-frame, running Crackers today made me realize there ARE some negatives to the running A-frame...mainly me getting my a$$ into position for certain course challenges :-))

That dog isn't even 12 inches and he FLIES over that...put that same situation with a BC and holy S**T!!

I am not worried about missed contacts...but rather just knowing there are times it is going to be a HUGE disadvantage on course. Now the question IS...how often is there a disadvantage of a running A-frame? Would love feedback about this particular question :)

I see dogs even in the top levels of agility that do just fine with a 2o2o contact with no issues...quick releasing to make basically a running...but I know it has to be slower...

I have many months until I have to worry about this, but it is good to get pros and cons to the different ways...any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated :)

3 comments:

Monique said...

I teach both. At the apex a "touch-stay" cue means 2o2o - a "touch" means run-through.

I teach 2o2o first, then once those are solid, teach running release (ie they are thinking 2o2o and I release early). Then I fade the stay.

It sure is nice to be able to confidently push for speed when I want it, or have a stay when I know there is something tricky coming up.

See - you don't have to choose just one :)

manymuddypaws said...

i really waffled for pixel too- i am not a fast runner, and use my 2on2off a lot with my other dogs.

in the end I've decided to teach a 2on2off to start, and then teach a seperate "run" cue like I have recently for Wicca.

Wicca did a 2on2off for years, and just recently has been taught a running contact- which in reality is just a quick release.

I think that for gambles, and for lots of masters courses you need to either have rock solid directionals for your running contacts, or stopped.

either way it is just a matter of how much, and what you want to train.

Barbara said...

I plan on teaching Meri running dog walk (Sylvia Trkman's method) and get the Aframe. I may or may not put a stop on the dog walk then. (I will teach a 2o/2o on a practice board in the mean time.)

We are just starting the running dog walk, and it's going well.