Rear Cross Challenge 2022
Dogs with *no* rear cross experience should begin with teaching the rear cross.
Please do work through those Rear Cross lessons, especially if rear crossing is new to your dog, and then come choose an appropriate challenge from this list:
1. Puppies (8 months & younger/no jumping experience): Rear Cross Zig-Zag
GOAL: 5 wings in a row.
Space your wings 15-20 feet apart (faster the puppy, more space you need), and rear cross each wing, attempting to keep your puppy on a very straight path forward.
This is an extension of the teaching phase for rear crosses. If you don't have enough space for 5 wings, do as many as you can :)
2. Puppies/Young dogs: Rear Cross on a Tunnel
This can be done with wings instead of jumps to accommodate dogs without jump skills and accommodate a small space/minimal equipment.
Begin with your dog on your left side. Use a rear cross for #2. Connect with your dog on your right side as they exit the tunnel. Use a backside send to front cross for #3. Be patient so that you can send your dog ahead of you to the #4 tunnel and use a rear cross to cue the turn to #5.
You can also do the mirror image of the rear cross on a tunnel setup.
Here is the copy with coordinates for the next two challenge options:
This setup can also be broken down into smaller pieces to accommodate smaller spaces/less equipment.
3. Young Dogs/Dogs new to rear crossing: Sequencing for Skills Acquisition
The setup below is suited for teams that are sequencing but may still be new to using the rear cross with a lot of speed.
Generally, at this stage of learning, I am backchaining longer sequences. For example:
8-11, then 4-11, then 1-11.
If you run this 1-11 correctly the first time through, move on to the next challenge option & break that down via backchaining.
4. Seasoned Teams: Trial-like Coursework, up to 12 in a row!
NEW: rear cross + front cross to cue a wrap. As the dog commits to #6 and you cross behind their line to cue a left turn, start turning to your right in a front cross movement. You will maintain the left arm as the guiding arm to maintain support of the correct line.
If you'd like to break this one down, I'd suggest training the RC pieces separately: 1-4, 5-7, 7-9, 9-12.
Then, if you'd also like to backchain the full course together, a suggested break down would be:
10-13, 7-13, 4-13, 1-13.
Bonus: This course can be connected 1-13 + 1-13 and run twice in a row (details on map). I like doing this for teams that did not need to break down any skills or backchain it together. If you ran this correctly the first try - now it's time to do it twice in a row. 💪🏻
Feedback Videos:
Below are two videos that include feedback given to students that participated in this challenge!
Challenge Week 2:
Continue where you left off - keep going!
Check out the Whiskey Cross in your kajabi lessons under Handling Techniques. & here are two new exercises you can try to start practicing the Whiskey Cross at speed.
Exercise 1: