"Pick-Up" Handling Maneuver

The "PICK-UP" is another maneuver I sort of made up myself.  It is very reliable at getting D past a wrong choice, particularly on green dogs.  It's an exaggerated "Here" (includes both arms), with the addition of a running/throwing action towards the next obstacle.  Not quite a post turn. Not quite a pull through or a lead out pivot. A pick-up is when, while running a course, you need to guide D through a tricky turn sequence, so you lean forward with both hands extended, as if grabbing the dog's head, only you are 3 feet away, "pick up" the dog and throw them into the path of the next obstacle.


Sounds violent, but of course it isn't.  You are just exaggerating your motions a bit, in a way D clearly understands and responds to. 

I am teaching this maneuver using the diagrams below, and after the students do it it a few times, it improves their performance.  It feels graceful, like a dance, and makes the run more fluid.

  No flatwork needed.  It is so intuitive for D that when they see both your arms outstretched together, and you inscribing an arc, they just follow it.  It's a very powerful signal.  It is intuitive enough for H that it only takes a few times to master, and once practiced a bit, everyone's performance becomes more fluid.

TRAINING:

Upwards and onward,