Please Explain Strategic Pairs And Gamblers

[Yacket's Mum]

We are thinking of entering our first Strategic Pairs and Gamblers if we can work out how they are run.

So any help would be greatly appericated please.

[staffylover81]

Hi Yackets Mum I am currently competing with my older dog in Strategic Pairs and Gamblers as well as Snooker, I just got my Novice Pairs title last year and am still working on Gamblers and Snooker.

Here is a link to the rules etc of all the Games ie Pairs, Gamblers, Snooker. I am currently looking for a new Partner for Pairs for Excellent. I hope this helps you.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~timabi/acwa/ANKCGamesRules.pdf

[Yacket's Mum]

Thankyou. I am wanting to enter to give my greyhound more exposure to the ring enviroment and to have some fun....heheheheh I don't think he would be able to join with you we have to jump 600!

Good luck it looks like heaps of fun if you can work it all out!

[staffylover81]

No Worries it is so much fun i love doing the games as it is something to break up just the normal agility and jumping it is a bit hard to work out if you have never seen it before I went to a few trials where they had the games going and watched what was going on and asked other people how it worked and then once i understood how it worked i entered.

I do believe there is a trial coming up in March at Mt Gravatt in which they will be running Strategic Pairs and maybe Gamblers.

[Yacket's Mum]

Yes I know what you mean I have watched a few but got very confused so thought the rules might help alittle.

We are thinking of entering the Mt Gravatt one that is why we need to find out what on earth we are doing first...

We have a pair if I can get my greyhound to leave the poor border collie alone......He just loves him and wants to play so focus is an issue and hoping we can get that under control before March!

Are you doing Jumpers at Redlands on sat?

[staffylover81]

I will be entering the Mt Gravatt trial but won't be entering the pairs unless i can find someone that has a dog that can jump 400 and has there novice title so i can go in Excellent. I am not going to Redlands on the weekend totally forgot that it was on the next trial i am looking at doing is Caboolture.

The rules are pretty easy to understand but when you get out there and do it that is a different story the first time i entered the games i had no idea what i was doing and i just watched the other people ahead of me to see what they were doing and followed them thank dog i was not first in the ring

The hardest thing to do is get your dog to focus on you when they are more interested in the other dog than you i would keep working on that focus and with any luck you will be entering the pairs at Mt Gravatt.

[Yacket's Mum]

We have enterend Caboolture so we will see you up there.

We will have a brindle greyhound 2 black and white border collies a sheltie x and a red cattle dog.... Interesting bunch we are.

Yes focus will require lots of work and today we did a bit with another greyhound doing a course and we were doing other things and he stayed with me most of the time so great outcome.

[smisch]

I just had the strange thought if Den could jump 600 (which he can no sweat lol the border with bounce lol) He and biscuit could run pairs haaha the hilarity of that . . I dont plan on putting Den in pairs for a while though cos its just waaaaay to insane for my already insane Bc that likes a good chase and i thin biscuit would do better with a slightly more expierenced partner lol

I think they may be doing snooker at that Trial so you guys could always try that. I have plans on doing games with Den to get him more ring time and just to enjoy it cos I love the games so your welcome to come join us in the snooker ring lol.. Jock will be running excellent but den and I will have a play

Gamblers is great for distance work.. lets see if Jock can actually get it.. He missed his first Q by 2 points BAD MUMMY!! and he missed his 2nd Q by 2 sec cos mum was and idiot and pulled him away from the gamble to do other obsticals!

[Vickie]

Some basic tips for Gamblers:

THE OPENING SEQUENCE

ALWAYS plan an EXACT course in the opening sequence, practice how you will handle it & try to stick to it. Many people have a basic idea in their head but not an exact course. This can be very confusing for the dog as the handling tends to be half hearted and there is no consequence for not following the handling. With an exact course, as handlers we tend to move with a lot more purpose, making the course clear to the dog.

I prefer not to do back to back obstacles (although lots of people do it well). My dogs tend to do better (and so do I) if I choose a large flowing lines.

It may take a couple of runs to work out how many obstacles you can typically do at each level. We aim to complete all contacts & weaves twice & then take whatever jumps are in between them. It seems to have worked out for us in each of the levels, although sometimes we are missing a contact or weaves in Masters with tighter times.

Work out where you need to finish to be close to the start of the Gamble when the buzzer goes. I find this easier to do with large flowing lines/loops.

If you have a major training issue in general, expect it to be intensified in Gamblers. If your dog constantly misses contacts or weaves, they will do this in Gambers too. I am always amazed at people who only do jumping as they are (re)/training contacts & yet they seem happy to let their dogs leap off them in Gamblers.

THE GAMBLE

Once the buzzer goes, make sure your dog safely completes the obstacle it is on before proceeding to the start of the Gamble.

Take your time setting them up for the start of the Gamble. Novice times are very generous so there is plenty of time to make sure you give them a good line into the gamble.

Some dogs do distance naturally, but many need to be trained to do it. Make sure the first time they do obstacles at that distance is not a trial. They (and you) need to practise it in training.

If your dog is struggling...step over the line & help them. You can gradually increase the distance they will work away from you in training.

If you need to move them away from you during the gamble, don't start on the line as you will have nowhere to go with your feet. Try to start a bit further away so you have some room to push laterally.

Try to resist the temptation to turn towards & watch them during the gamble. They need your shoulders to be pointing in the direction they should be heading.

Hope this helps, there is heaps more but these are some of my opinions & things I have learnt.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Vickie

[Yacket's Mum]

Thankyou ever so much that was really helpful.

I think we will be giving Gamblers a miss for a few more months as we have to work on distance and we have only just started Jumpers so learning all the way.

We might give Pairs ago but I am wondering if it will be to stimulating for my greyhound! Don't want to encourge him to play zoomies so will do some work and make a decission on the day. Not fussed if we lose our $5 entrance fee just want the best for the dog.

[Vickie]

I didn't mean to put you off.

It is certainly possible to run both Gamblers & Pairs successfully (meaning it benefits you as a team as opposed to necessarily qualifying) before you are really ready.

So long as you are aware of your limitations and plan (AND RUN) your course accordingly, there can be enormous & rewarding benefits to having a go. For instance it is possible to run Gamblers & avoid the contacts or weaves. A well designed course will have a natural progression from one obstacle to another.

Sometimes in Novice the distance is about the same as you would naturally be away from your dog anyway & the dog doesn't even notice. You could just make your own Novice jumping course & step over the line if you need to. It can give you an extra run & extra ring experience.

Same for pairs. It is possible to run it in a very controlled manner & not let bad habits develop.

My young dog started pairs before she was ready and we ran it with another dog who was also not ready. Both are highly driven & stimulated by each other. Our partner & I agreed that qualifying was not nearly as important as the control we wanted in the ring. We spent extra time on each changeover & made sure the dogs were fully settled & focussed on us before the other dog was released. It worked brilliantly & despite the time we spent, we ended up placing in each run. After all it isn't really any different to training where another dog is running a small sequence next to you.

PS Wish our runs were $5!!!

Edited January 29, 2010 by Vickie

[Yacket's Mum]

No you did not put me off...

I have not done any distance work with him and you are right I could enter him for the experience as well as for me.

I am not focused on qualifiying just getting him to stay with me and learning how to do it right. We have only entered one jumpers trial so far and we have our second tomorrow but we are having a ball and I wanted him to have more runs so there is a gamblers and pairs event in march that we were thinking of entering but I also dont want to waste anyones time if he is to excited by another dog in the ring with him.

? Can you hold the dog in pairs awaiting your next go?

[staffylover81]

I shall see you at Caboolture Yacketts Mum i shall look for you and all your dogs i shall have an 8 month old Sable Border Collie and a 11 year old Staffy X who by the way does not look or act like she is 13 with me.

Yacketts Mum i would enter all the games at Mt Gravatt just to have a go so you know what all the games are and also it is great fun to. I will be going in all the games at Mt Gravatt with the exception of Pairs if i do not find a partner before then I am still in the Novice classes for Snooker and Gamblers.

I missed my first Q in Gamblers cause i forgot to go to the Gamble when the whistle went and continued doing jumps but i shall do better this time and hopefully come away with a Q if not it will be a good laugh for everyone and myself on not what to do in a Gamblers course.

Edited January 29, 2010 by staffylover81

[Yacket's Mum]

Fantastic. Will see you there.... All those dogs are not mine they are the people who are car pooling with me. I have 1 greyhound and he is enough to handle.....

I think I will enter everything he is allowed in as we are just a novice and my friends border collie is also a novice so we will play together. What is the worst thing that could happen! we might not qually.....Not worried. This is ment to be fun and while we are having fun we will be doing it or I die from being unfit

No one will be laughing as hard as we will be if we do the course wrong

[staffylover81]

You can hold onto your dog while your partner is running there half of the course in pairs and walk them over to where you need to be for your turn but do watch your partner and their dog for any dropped bars as you do need to go and send your dog over that jump before continuing.

When i run pairs i make sure that i walk my section/s as well as my partners just in case i do need to go and do there section if they do drop a bar etc.

[staffylover81]

I do wrong courses all the time in a trial at the Gold Coast i went to i totally forgot to do 2 jumps in the jumpers and it wasn't until i crossed the finish line and the judge looked at me that he said you forgot to do 2 jumps and i asked him which one's they were and he pointed them out i could of almost died and wanted to crawl into a hole so don't feel bad if you do a wrong course people do it all the time it just makes for funner moments.

Edited January 29, 2010 by staffylover81

[Yacket's Mum]

That will be me even though they have numbers on them!

Did you go to the Mt Gravatt one last weekend that was held at Oxley?

We were there and on our first time out we did a clear round but not in time. Course 36sec we did 44 and I called him back to me 4 times to keep him under control so I was very proud of him. He has not had that lightbulb moment where he knows the next few jumps he sees he is ment to do he waits for instructions.

[smisch]

Thanks Vickie for the awesome Description! I understand the concept of the games but explaining them is always a challenge.

Yacketsmum I think that Biscuit and Cooper would do well together Cos cooper is calm and reliable (mostly as any dog is) but I'm sure we'll talk more tomorrow... And you and Biscuit will keep getting better.. I can't stress it enough that you guys had such a great time and it showed... and Biscuit will keep enjoying himself if you do!!

As Shirley said at training "I love that dog he has such attitude!!"