Practice With Directional Handling/CR Course Designer

Today I rearranged my course's equipment so each obstacle is at least 15' apart, realizing since trialing, that the obstacles are really placed much farther apart than I sometimes practice at. We have to practice covering greater distances.  Using my Clean Run Course Designer program, I will try to illustrate some of the sequence training techniques Maxie and I are practicing. 

Last April I designed this little sequence, which is fast-paced and really gets the dog focused while getting the trainer focused on their body movements. Let's see if I can post it as a bitmap image:

Okay, so it's a bit fuzzy.  I'll have to try some other file types.

Here's another directional exercise I worked up in 2009:

It's fun to map out what you're doing.  Makes you think about it.  And like any ballet dancer needs to practice in front of a mirror and develop a muscular memory of how high to raise an arm or leg, how far to bend, we need to do that too.  Practice in front of a mirror, I mean.  And repeat each movement often.  In agility, we never actually see what we are doing.  And ones fellow agility pals are not usually going to critique your moves.  Perhaps they don't want to hurt your feelings, and perhaps they don't want to be criticized themselves.  One thing is for sure, it's easier to tell what other people are doing wrong than to recognize what you are doing wrong.  It's all part of what makes the game so intriguing.