Also, another benefit to writing this in advance - it makes for a bit of a twist on the usual "Here's how they did on today's course..." write-up.
I'll be honest, this course is a partial take-off on another course that was run previously, specifically (obstacles 1-5). Now granted, it was mirrored, but I really liked the beginning and (more honesty), from a judging point of view, it gets two of the 3 contact obstacles out of the way immediately so I get to watch the dogs and admire their athletic ability.
So let's go through the course obstacle by obstacle. First, it's my belief that the start line in the middle of the course is going to throw people off a bit and my guess is, slow things down just a tad. People aren't used to walking into the middle of a course and understandably, they're concerned that they may somehow be a distraction to the dog on-course. However, the dog on course should be well into the opposite side by the time they're needed and the a-frame should act as a nice barrier as well.
I'll be curious to see if handlers will let their dogs stride naturally over the #3 double jump or if they'll pull them in tight due to a concern that their dog will head toward the weave poles. While not intentional, this part of the course is reminiscent of this past week's class course where I setup the triple to the a-frame. For the class course, it is ironic since I did not move either the triple or the a-frame obstacle (and didn't look at this week's trial courses), but simply renumbered from a previous week's creation.
At the #5 jump, I hope folks work that obstacle before thinking of the dog walk so that they don't pull the dog off of the jump itself.
Sequence 7-10 is a simple pinwheel, however it will be interesting to see if handlers over handle due to the tire after the dog walk or the tunnel after #7 (which is not actually counted as a challenge by the AKC because it is over 21' from the #7 jump to either tunnel entrance).
#9-10 may be a challenge depending on how handlers move themselves around the #7 jump.
On the entire course, I'm most interested to see how handlers work through #11-13. This area requires patience and it will be interesting to see if anyone rushes this area because they are concerned about getting around the tunnel and down to the weaves. If I had to guess, I would say that most handlers will opt for a front cross on the front side of the weaves with another front cross on the landing side to guide the dog over the last two jumps.
Just like with the #5 jump, handlers are going to have to focus on #17 and let the dog fully commit to that jump prior to turning their focus on the #18 jump.
Great post, loved reading your thoughts on the course before seeing it run!
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