Can You Handle a Running Dog Walk?
07 Mar 2010
I got a kind email from Gary at www.running-contacts.com alerting me to his article Are You Fast Enough to Handle a Running Dogwalk? and his spreadsheet for calculating a handler’s speed with respect to the dog’s dog walk time. He has some nice diagrams and discussions of how his calculator and measurements can be used. So if you are contemplating a running dog walk you’ll want to take a look.
I chose a 2o2o for Meeker to make certain I could control his direction to the next obstacle after the dog walk. I’d have to check my videos but I think I am often ahead or even with him at the end of the dog walk. But probably not as frequently as I’d want to be if he didn’t stop.
As running dog walks have become more common I’ve also seen judges place more off course obstacles directly in line the end of the dog walk. So the unwary trainer will be punished :^)
There are a couple solutions. You can train directionals with verbal cues. You can arrange to be with or ahead of your dog at the end of the dog walk and then you can use any of your cues for the next obstacle. Or take a look at the courses you are seeing in your venue of choice and maybe the off course obstacle where you can’t be in position doesn’t happen too often; then you can just gamble! You’ll win some and you’ll loose some.
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