2011 WCA Nationals Agility Trial - Day 3 - Trixie

Cueing Trixie for a front cross

These are the two purchased photos of Trixie from the 3rd and final day of agility during the 2011 Weimaraner Club of America Nationals Week and this was at the Weimaraner Club of America Agility Specialty Trial.  Trixie began the day with a gorgeous Exc Standard run...a perfect run until she knocked the bar on the last jump!  These shots are from her Open Jumpers with Weaves run, again another terrific run until she missed the weaves and when I called her back to do them again, which is allowed in Open, she backweaved...which isn't allowed.  That was due to a handler error where I should have carefully called her to me around the weaves, oh well, live and learn.  I am still so proud of how well she ran the entire three days, earning two 1st places and a 3rd place. 

One of the my goals in improving my handling has been to master front crosses and I am happy to say that I successfully included front crosses in many of our runs where appropriate.  Timing and knowing your dog are critical in doing these and we nailed them.

Executing the front cross, as you can see, I am turning into Trixie and showing her the path she should go on and she has turned her body in mid-air to follow through to the next obstacle.

Here is an excellent explanation of the Front Cross from the AgilityNerd blog. This blog is chock full of information on all things agility and includes pictures and videos to help understand the concepts.

Front Cross

03 Apr 2005

The Front Cross is a handling maneuver that, like all crosses, is used to allow the handler to change from one side of the dog to the other or to initiate/maintain a turn in the dog's path. The Front Cross has the following properties:

• The handler must be ahead of dog
• The handler remains even with or ahead of the dog afterwards
• The handler needs to perform their movement and stay out of the dog's way
• By engaging the dog's desire to chase the handler it can be motivating to the dog
• The dog is visible to the handler through the cross
• Can be used to tighten the dog's turn around a jump stanchion
• When used close to the dog, it can strongly effect the dog's path (for better or worse)
• When performed incorrectly and the handler doesn't get out of the dog's way a collision can occur
• When performed slowly (aka late) and correctly it can be forgiving because the handler can hold their ground and wrap the dog back around their body and back onto the correct path