CPE strategies

[SheltieChe]

Whether person who timed us did it correctly or not is very little concern to me.
My particular question was about better strategies for CPE games as my dogs do not run with even speed so putting 1.5 sec per obstacle and calculating 16 obstacles for the course does not work well. I end up having particularly good flowy group run far sooner than I expected and then have to stall with remaining few obstacles to be not to close but not far enough from the end. I would be far more happier if I could make it steady flow with 1 -2 obstacles to give but not more.

[Silaria]

I'm actually at a CPE trial this weekend so I'll post more detail later.

I've been running CPE as one of my primary venues since 2009 and I'm currently a mix of levels 4 & 5. The strategy I use varies with each game. In all cases I try to find the smoothest flow possible because it makes for a better and faster run overall. (Snooker makes this difficult at times.) I do have a number of CPE videos up on my YouTube channel you can watch also.

One of the biggest strategies I use is when a game allows you to use an obstacle more than once for points (usually twice for points) do it! In some games, such as Jackpot or Full House, doing a tunnel or tire twice for points (6 points) is worth more points than doing a contact obstacle once (5 points) and a tunnel is faster time wise.

For Snooker, I work backwards. There are 30 points on the course when you step into the ring (3 1 point Reds and numbers 2-7). Knowing that, I subtract 30 from the number of points I need to Q and find the smoothest course to get those additional points. CPE Snooker is NOT USDAA Snooker - there are no Super Q's to worry about.

For Colors, ALWAYS walk both courses in case the dog takes a color you didn't plan.

Same with Wildcard, walk multiple combinations in case the dog takes an A or B you didn't plan on.

As for figuring out how many obstacles in the time allowed, honestly, I don't know Edan's YPS . What I do know is I can run a 20 obstacle standard course (including 12 weaves and all contacts) in between 40 and 45 seconds so I use that as a litmus for what to do; and I've never NQ'd for being over time.

Not sure how useful this is for you but this is how I approach the CPE games.

[SheltieChe]

Thank you so much! Yes I would love more info and if you can share your youtube clips it would be great.
Am scheduled for for Colors next trial and have done Wild card once in practice will remember to work plan B.
I have done this doubling up on set of obstacles with great results especially if I see good flow my boys are going for it is like circus pony ride going around and around which brings me to a lot of obstacles with excellent speed in very short time.
I've attempted to create courses to practice some tougher stuff at trial like hard entry or BX but I think for now I will just stick with looking for smoothest flow to get our momentum going.
Also how far is too far to be from table or gamble after the whistle? I know boys can pick up good speed if we running straight so how much punishment I am going to take if I am 2-3-4 obstacles away from the gamble on the whistle? It probably irrelevant now as we started from ground up but curious for higher levels.

[SheltieChe]

Found something that had yards mentioned Standard run 113 yards 22.59.
It was not Che's best effort, I know he added extra stride on DW because I am still babysitting it, also he had a lot of "air" on DW so was not putting his best and on 2 points I was late with cues because he clearly was asking for directions. But it was one of My best runs as I did not mess up my handling too much besides being late.
We have started running carpet and am hoping I will get him to glide over that DW just as he should.

[Silaria]

Originally Posted by SheltieChe

Thank you so much! Yes I would love more info and if you can share your youtube clips it would be great.
Am scheduled for for Colors next trial and have done Wild card once in practice will remember to work plan B.

I need to re-catalog my YouTube videos into new playlists anyway so this will be a really good excuse to sit and work on that. As soon as I have the play lists together (Edan's and CJ's) I'll send you the link to the list. Hopefully I'll have time to upload the video from this past weekend as well.

Also how far is too far to be from table or gamble after the whistle? I know boys can pick up good speed if we running straight so how much punishment I am going to take if I am 2-3-4 obstacles away from the gamble on the whistle? It probably irrelevant now as we started from ground up but curious for higher levels.

Keeping in mind that Edan is a moderate speed dog the majority of the time, I try to plan my courses so I start at the back and work toward the front. I don't like being more than one or two obstacles away from the table when the buzzer sounds. Those seconds go by VERY quickly when you are on course.

I've seen a NUMBER of people, even those with wicked fast BC's, get caught far from the table (mostly because they were really pushing for super high points) and not make it back before the time expired on them. Edan's actually beaten faster dogs on points because (1) he didn't loose points for being over time - Full House; (2) didn't NQ because of being over time (Jackpot)

Honestly, the 'most correct answer' is how far is to far really depends on your dog and only experience is going to truly answer that question.

[k9kreationz]

Since I don't run CPE but once a year, I tend to keep my strategies clean, fast, and simple. So, when I plan out a course, I look for the most flowy easy course. Then I count points. Then I redo the course to get minimum amount of points.

IF the game is one where it's get as many points in X amount of seconds, THEN do XYZ at the end, I also plan out "extra stuff" in case I'm under time. Which, btw, for me, I'm ALWAYS under time and I give myself 1 second per jump, 2-4 for weaves/contacts, depending what it is. So, I'm creating a course with more obstacles than I should be able to finish. And yet, I seem to always finish before my time is up. AUGH!

So, I am a pro at making up a course all the while, making sure that it makes sense so Koji doesn't get frustrated. I learned fast that in games like these, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. My weakness is that I finish early and need to play it by ear until the buzzer goes off. My strengths is that as long as I'm not jerking Koji around, he doesn't care where I go AND if he goes somewhere else, I dont' care, I just create something new.

For games where you need points then hit the table to stop the timer.....I create a flowy course, get my points, and get off the course. I don't care if I am in last place, as long as I Q'd and did it correctly.

For something like Gamblers when you can take the Gamble at any time....oh wait, is it called Jackpot? Sorry. I create a nice set-up with as few obstacles as possible to get Koji to the gamble. I want him to do it first, so I know what I need after. Once he's done, I go accumulate my points then finish once I get them.

Like I said. I like to be in and out of there. Flowy, fast, simple course. I'm not there to accumulate 100 points, I'm there to get my points, get out, get my Q. ;)

good luck. I love their games. Always makes me think, which is fun most of the time. lol.