At jump #1, most handlers started with their dog on the left and did a front cross on the landing side of #3 which set them up nicely for the correct end of the #5 tunnel.
On the #6 landing side, most handlers did another front cross to set themselves up on the inside (dog on their right) for the long line of jumps leading to the weaves. I have to admit, I was proud to have gotten such a nice open running space in this smaller sized ring.
After the weaves, most handlers did another front cross (so the dog was on their left), heading for #14. The surprise on this course was that quite a few dogs missed the #15 jump. As you can see from the dog path (the red line drawn on the course), handlers who picked their dog up at the end of the weaves and assumed a straight path from the end of the weaves through #15 were shocked when their dog curled in and bypassed #15. I have to admit, I was equally as surprised!
The #17 jump required a bit of patience and most handlers did great in this area.
Next we have Saturday's Excellent Standard course.
The surprise on this course was the number of dogs who, after jump #7, took the off-course #15 tunnel exit. It was like dogs were possessed and even when handlers were standing still, dogs gleefully accelerated while handlers tried to call their dogs back.
There didn't seem to be an overabundance of Qualifiers and I'll have to take an unofficial survey on what people thought of the course. I do know the 24" dogs didn't fare well, while the 20" dogs did much better!
Next came Excellent Jumpers with Weaves. Luckily for me, the course seemed more popular with handlers and the Qualifying rate was higher - yeah!!!!
Most handlers started the course with the dog on their left side which allowed them to 'pull' their dog to the correct end of the #4 tunnel.
Next handlers did a front cross either before or after the #5 jump which set them up for the inside path as dogs headed through the tunnel and up to the weaves. Most handlers then did a front cross after the weaves.
For the serpentine, handlers were split as to who handled it on the right side of the course and who handled it on the left side of the course. Either way, the surprise on this course (get the feeling there were surprises on all of the courses so far?) was that several dogs weren't pushed far enough out to the take-off side of #12 and would end up on the landing side of #12 without having come full around to the take-off side.
When landing from the #13 jump, quite a few of the dogs were pointed down toward the bottom of the course toward the #6 jump. On the other hand, some handlers did a beautiful job of turning the dog's head so they would land heading toward the top of the course and toward the correct #14 jump.
After #17 quite a few dogs were wide turning toward #18. Again, in contrast, some handlers did an incredible job of working the #17 jump to gain the advantage of a tight turn to #18.
Over all, these courses were different than some of the designs I've done in this building in the past and I liked that. We'll have to see what tomorrow's courses bring in terms of challenges.
Have a great night everyone, I'm off to bed!
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