european handling systems

uhm let's not be so harsh, sheeesh, this went to hell in a handbasket kinda fast, lol. That's NOT the decorum we normally display here, my agility friends, even on occasions when we disagree! Most of us know one another so I know we are safe with one another when we get a little heated, but lets not forget we are here for the love of our Shelties and the sport, all over the world!!! Not everyone knows all our quirks yet!

My experience has been and I am convinced we ALL do best we can with where we are in our agility journey, what we have learned, what our opinions are and most importantly what works for us and our dogs. Let's try to keep an open mind and defensiveness at a minimum.
 
Differences of opinion

I just wanted to chime in as well and echo Irene's sentiments. We all know that there are many, many different approaches to agility.

I am sorry that if anything I said came across as being the one true approach. I was simply stating that I was surprised that I am able to get in as many FCs as I do even though I have a fast dog. This doesn't work for every dog, or every person.

We all need to understand that there is truly no one right way to do things, and one great benefit of a forum is the ability to learn about differing viewpoints, options, and methodologies. Let's all try to be more respectful of different opinions. We don't have to agree--but we should remain respectful.

Thanks!
 
Snark is not acceptable!

Do you all remember the rules you all agreed to when you became members here? It seems to me that they are slipping some people's minds.

Understand that sniping comments are RUDE, unproductive and inflammatory. Nothing gets a thread off topic faster.

Check your attitue and measure your response. If you can't be polite and respectful then don't respond!
 
Kelly said:
Do you all remember the rules you all agreed to when you became members here? It seems to me that they are slipping some people's minds.

Understand that sniping comments are RUDE, unproductive and inflammatory. Nothing gets a thread off topic faster.

Check your attitue and measure your response. If you can't be polite and respectful then don't respond!
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Aearoniel - I have a lot of respect for you. Who cares what type of cross you're using - the fact that you're out there, training, despite having greater challenges than most of us face, is extremely admirable.

Agility isn't about a following a particular handling system or judging a person's ability to compete/train based on what cross they choose to use - it's about the partnership with your dog, and how you work together to be the strongest team possible. I don't care if someone does agility in their living room or on the international stage - the desire to work in partnership with your dog should ALWAYS be celebrated and encouraged.

Depending on the circumstances, I'll use front, blind, and rear crosses. I don't prefer one over the other - they're all tools in my toolbox, and they all have equal value.
 
Yes, your circumstances are different, and I can see why it may be harder for you to get there... However, for the average handler, I still do stand by what I said. In reality, the majority of people don't have a physical issue that is keeping them from being able to do a cross. I read a lot of that from newer handlers... On here, and elsewhere. People who have no excuse not to be able to front cross if they would just train it and work on it. They believe they really can't get there when with a little bit of a send, and a decent amount of work on balancing obstacle and handler focus, they can manage to do it.
I'm not saying someone has to use only front crosses. What I am saying is speed of the dog has little to do with most being able to front cross. And it annoys me that there are 'trainers' out there who shouldn't be teaching for lack of understanding how to work faster dogs and help their students to learn to work with and be successful with these dogs. Someone who is told the only way to handle their dog is by rear crosses because it's fast is being held back by not being allowed to learn to work their dog in as many successful ways as possible.
I do truly feel most who would put in the work to learn to front cross with their fast dogs would greatly benefit from having more options. A rear cross is not often the most efficient option or the safest on course.
 
Last edited:
I think I can talk about European style of handling a bit. Though, I don't know a lot about handling in US and UK, so maybe it's similar/same.... BUT I've taught my sheltie some tricks from "One mind" handling system from Jaakko and Janita. They're so fast and smooth with their dogs, it's amazing. From my experience, it's very demanding style of handling especially on handler's part. You need to be precise, right movement, right position, looking in right direction.... which is kind of hard to do at my and my dog's speed :lol: I even got a DVD from my trainer, because they visited Finnish seminar in Czech Republic. In general, I really do quite a lot of blind crosses - oh I know, very unpopular lol - and always try to stay ahead of my dog. I'm a beginner, so we still make a lot of mistakes, but it's getting better.
And here you can check out Finnish handling in action :biggrin2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3gwOWwI-AA
 
Thank you for that, helps, it was very interesting.

I found a website on OneMind, http://www.koiranomi.com/onemind.htm, and read a little more about the handling method. It feels a lot like Awesome Paws Handling System (APHS), because it handles in front and uses motion and body position cues. OneMind seems to take this a step further. I'll have to look around and see what additional information might be out there on this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top