OneMind Dogs Coaches Janita Leinonen and Jaakko Suoknuuti had their students practice lead-outs by setting them a challenge.
Janita and Jaakko challenged their students to practice lead-outs in November, after they had been giving many of them the same homework, week after week. Janita tells us:
"Our training courses often begin with a sequence where it would be beneficial to be able to do a lead-out in order to get to a better position for the later part of the course. The first 2-5 obstacles of the course are often important also for finding the rhythm for the whole course. If the rhythm is good all the way from the beginning, it is easier to keep going, but if there are problems with the first few obstacles, it can be difficult to get into sync with your dog later on the course.
We teach the lead-outs to our own dogs already in the basic training. As a basic exercise for the lead-outs we do the offering the jump exercise."
Janita said that she wanted everyone who accepted her challenge to videotape two types of lead-outs of themselves and their dogs: from two different directions (left and right), and with two different approaches (direct approach / diagonal approach).
Examples of a challenge exercise. You can click the picture for a bigger version.
The rules for the challenge:
- the dog needs to be able to see the handler past the obstacle, so make sure your video shows the position of the handler and the dog related to each other
- the lateral distance between the handler and the obstacle that the dog is being sent to, needs to be at least 3 meters
- the distance between the dog and the handler needs to be at least 5 meters
- one of the lead-outs needs to be for obstacle #1, and the second one needs to be for obstacle #2
- when sending the dog to obstacle #1, obstacle #2 can be any type of obstacle
- when you send the dog to obstacle number 2, the obstacle has to be a jump, wall, tyre, long jump or a double jump
- when calling the dog, the handler needs to be standing close to an obstacle that is visible to the dog
- you are not allowed to use any aid equipment (it is ok to have a toy or food in your hand)
- you cannot have anyone holding the dog on the start line
The students of Janita and Jaakko took up on the challenge and have been videotaping their exercises eagerly. You can watch their videos on a YouTube playlist.
Do you want to accept the challenge, too? Videotape two successful performances from your lead-out practise and share the link to your YouTube video on our Facebook page!
