The Lead Leg
The lead leg is NOT the leg that's fartherest forward at a given moment. It's the last front leg the dog lands on in a single stride. Turns out, it’s the leg easiest for the dog to turn into.
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| Maxie |
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| Lucky Lucy |
Halliliulih! So, the significance of the lead leg is about balance and direction. The dog landing on the wrong lead leg in a turn tends to spin away to regain balance, or turn wide as they add an additional stride or two to change leads. Changing leads requires a skill just like when a kid gallops along like a horse, then adds in an extra hop to change lead legs.
Giving turn cues before D takes off over a jump helps D change lead legs before the jump and land ready for a tighter turn.
I'm making further notes as I read through this "required reading" book in conjunction with Daisy Peele's Online "Agility Foundation" class, which I am auditing this winter. I will post my book and class notes when I've completed them, or maybe break it down into different topics like this one.
Upwards and onward!
4 comments:
I am enjoying your blog very much. It is refreshing to find an agility blog that breaks down the information so clearly and concisely! Thank You.
This can be a hard thing to 'see' until you understand it! I struggled with this when I was into horses. I was able to indentify the lead if I was watching a team, but in 10 years I never was able to tell while I was the one riding the horse.
Is this something you will bring up in your classes at all? I'm always conflicted about whether it's helpful in putting together the big picture of handling or if it's an extra piece that the students don't need to know to do well. I don't want to overwhelm them!
Kristen, I don't think one can "teach" the lead leg. But if your dog spins a lot or makes wide turns, you can watch the videos in slo mo to determine the lead leg over an obstacle, and learn to give your cues a wee bit earlier. It's about improving the handler's timing more than the dog's. And no, I would not introduce this to beginner students, but as handlers become more proficient some will become more interested in the fine details.
I should have clarified - teaching the human students to be able to identify leads. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that. I've been adding it into a lesson for intermediate students where we spend a night looking at motion and gait through different sets of agility activities. It's fun to see how they relate back to those learning moments later on.
I have seen dogs taught to move on a specific lead, mostly just in freestyle (and then the dogs can be cued to change leads every other stride, it looks like skipping!).
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