About Turns and Finishes - Page 1

Regarding about turns:  Some do German abouts (dog crosses behind) and some do FCI or Military abouts (dog stays on left side and pivots).  Which about turn do you utilize with your dogs, and why?  With my current dog, since he is not a real big heavy dog, and is also very agile,  I do the FCI style about turn, because he can pivot cleanly and quickly.

Regarding finishes:  Some do German finishes (again, dog crosses behind) and some do Military/Flip finish.  Which do you do and why?   With my current dog I do the flip finish, for the same reasons I do the FCI about. 

Also, obviously you must perform the same about turn and finish with each individual dog in a trial, you can't do a flip finish in one OB exercise then an around the back finish in another OB exercise, BUT do you use the different options with different dogs or do you like to stick with one type (like the around the back finish) with all your dogs?  Can you tell us the reasoning behind why or why not?

I think the German one is easier if you have a dog that is forging and or a dog that is big/long, and the military is easier if you have a dog that is correct or lagging and/or a dog that is not as long.  I train both with my dogs because they also get rally titles and you will have to do them all, often on the same course.  So when we go into a BH or dog sport trial I just kind of feel it out and do whichever one works that day.  I know you have to be consistent as far as turns matching turns and finishes matching finishes but when given a choice I also like to be consistent between the two.  At my last trial I did the German turn with my dog so when commanding the finish we did it around the back. 

German style for me.....my Eich daughter is long and forges at times...(we're working on that) My Jimbeam son is just beginning and we will do the same. It works better for me because I have a balance problem because of a ruptured achilles.

ron

I do German turns. I have a female now who does go around behind, but most times she prefers going to the left. Not quite a "flip'" finish, but she is consistant and I am not willing to create a problem right now trying to change it to going around. She's young and we have time to polish it into a flip, but she is a bit long, while very agile.

I absolutely prefer a flip finish. I can see what the is dog is doing at all times. I dislike the dog getting behind me. I will only use a right/rear finish if the sport I am doing calls for it, and in AKC I use it after the broad jump, so my dog does not tick the board flipping in. Otherwise, I prefer to see what my dog is looking at.

Liesjers, I guess I'm the opposite of you, I do like to show that my dog can do both. I have used both on a schutzhund field and also in AKC open and utility. Should I be more concerned with uniformity in schutzhund than showing my dogs' ability to perform both equally?

Now, I do prefer a flip, but my problem with rear finishes is the WAY people teach it, by dragging the dog around behind them. I break it down into very small steps, and find it keeps the dog from taking a "scenic detour" behind the handler, a direct cross behind the back of the handlers legs, NOT a wide circle.

my problem with rear finishes is the WAY people teach it, by dragging the dog around behind them.


I have never had a problem with the dog lagging behind or taking the scenic route....I also have never had to drag a dog around. Now coming around tooooo fast, yes!

ron

I have a very long, tall dog, yet I decided to teach him the FCI about turn and the flip finish. It seemed that he was never very fast on the German finish and really took the about turn way too wide. After quite a bit of work, trying to teach and motivate him to be faster and tighter on these exercises with no real improvement I switched over.

It's taken some time for the about turn to look good but when he's paying attention and working well, his about turns are very graceful and quick. I did a lot of pivoting, worked a lot on his foot work and it paid off nicely.

I should have clairified, the way many people teach it.

I do not like FCI for  the reason that dog may get tired and waste too much energy by jumping and do turns and less jumping will be less chance of  dog back and joints problem