14 February 2012

David Bowie Spirit Animal USDAA Grand Prix course explainorama of the day.


Click-n-print for you to enlarge so you can print if you want to set this up.

Not sure if there is universal agreement on this in the agility world or not, but I am pretty sure that if David Bowie had a signature agility move, it would be rear crossing his poles.

In Judge Evelyn Robertson's Sunday Grand Prix course, there was this little bit that seemed really easy, but actually not. Once you stuck your dog in that tunnel, you had to know 2 things.

One, that your dog would go to the backside of the jump coming out of the tunnel, and two, that you could get to the right side of the poles. There was a jump out there requiring probably almost everybody to do a front cross before the teeter totter immediately following.

Right about at Otterpop's nose on my diagram.

I totally know how to use Clean Run Course Designer but I like drawing courses this way. So just picture a teeter totter going across Otterpop's mouth. The opening of the course that was a little tricky because a lot of dogs wanted to go to the backside instead of a frontside is located under David Bowie is our Spirit Animal.

If you could just point at your poles (don't forget to point straighter) and then rear cross them, EXACTLY like David Bowie would, piece of cake.

Also if you pretended you were wearing satin pants and humongous sparkle platform shoes, then it was a shoe in.

I always prefer to channel '70's David Bowie. But I suppose any era would do.

Luckily, this is the kind of thing we practice. And we like David Bowie. We do a bunch of weird shit to proof poles, so rear crossing doesn't much bat either Gustavo or Otterpop's eyelashes. Astronaut twirls while hula hooping wearing platform shoes and singing "Fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame whats yer na-eeme whats yer na-eeme what's yer na-eeme," eliminates any worry of not being able to do this part of the Grand Prix course.

If you see Evelyn, you can ask her if that's what she was thinking when she designed this part of the Grand Prix course. Thanks Evelyn!

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