Hi..............
Interesting discussion.................
ALL of our dogs, with the exception of Gael, have "banked" tunnels, especially curved ones....................and WITHOUT "encouragement for more speed" from us....................they just LOVED tunnels..................and needed no more motivation than that!!!!!!!!!!! We would have LOVED IT if they took their paw off of the accelerator a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that there are also many other considerations beyond pure speed causing slips and falls......................
The following is not a complete list; but will perhaps provide "food for thought"...............
Hairy paw pads
Toe nail length
Humidity
Ground moisture being transferred into the tunnel via the dogs' paws
Surface material in the tunnels (sand, sawdust, dirt, etc.)
Interior tunnel "health", such as the presence of any mold, mildew or algae (all are very slippery)
Distance between the tunnel's support "rings"
Uneven/irregular ring surfaces
ALL of our tunnel-driven kids are and have been "semi-suicidal" and TOTALLY OVER THE TOP when it came to HAVING FUN doing something that they enjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!
........................and sometimes that resulted in injuries.........................and that kind of "came with the territory" given their personalities...................
It would have been TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE and UNFORGIVEABLE on our part to push our already reckless, speed demons for more speed.............................yet, unfortunately, we have seen it done all to often........................and for what?
? A "time" that is 20 seconds under SCT instead of 15?
What's the prize?
?? A different color placement ribbon?
I guess that I just don't understand...........................
Up to now, all of our agility kids have been Border Collies.........................our "new addition" is a Long-haired miniature dachshund, Chow chow, Siberian husky, Rottweiler & German shepherd dog mix..........................
Neither I nor my wife "push for speed"...........................OH!.................well, we did encourage Gael to pick up the pace every now and then when she got into her "royal highness, princess trot" <G>....................because it's been said soooooooooooooooooooooo often in sports........................one can NOT train or teach speed.........................it's either "there" or it "isn't"...............................the only thing that trainers/coaches can successfully do is INHIBIT the speed that is there naturally.......................
Our driven dogs would have tried to run through a brick wall if we had asked them to try..................that's just how devoted they were.......................and how strong their "work ethic" was.....................but what would have been the point?
If you ask, I won't be able to tell you exactly how we did this; but our dogs have learned to "trust their paws".....................in other words, to adapt and ADJUST to the footing that they feel........................and because we've NEVER paid attention to "yards per second" or stuff like that, we were always happy to "take" all that our kids "gave" us.....................knowing that it was their best effort under the circumstances.....................
OK............I know...................some folks need to know how to train..........................some need seek the "Holy Grail" of perfectly safe equipment........................and like the "Holy Grail", it doesn't exist.................and I'm talking a "philosophical approach" that gives the dog the ability to adjust to conditions as the dog sees fit..........................
Our dogs KNOW and UNDERSTAND all that we'd LIKE them to do for us..........................we need to ACKNOWLEDGE that.............................and TRUST that our dogs will do their best to that end.
It's an old song................some of you may still remember Bobby McFerrin.................
"Don't worry........................be happy......................."
Hugs & wags,
Al, Barb, Gael, Pelli and The Gr8 K8 (Caitlin), aka Castle Camelot
