When the dogs are in the tunnels, just about to come out, they are looking straight ahead, so they don't know yet in which direction to turn, once they emerge. Once they come out, they have to quickly find their handler and turn in that direction.
This beautiful Brittany Spaniel illustrates just how quickly they can do that and how driven they are to perform. I'm amazed that he was able to keep his footing after such an extreme turn, but the image below, the next in the series, taken about 1/10th of a second later, proves that he did. I'm also amazed at how much movement occurs in only 1/10th of a second.
Because of a last-minute change of venue, due to rain damage at the original one, the rings were smaller than desirable. This tunnel had an A-frame straddling it, just a few feet away from the opening, which proved to be challenging for many of the dogs. Some of the handlers recognized the confusion and swung wide to make the choice easier for their dog, but they over-compensated and the dogs chose to take a jump to the right of the A-frame and were disqualified as a result. Other dogs chose the tunnel and went through it from the wrong direction, disqualifying them, too. At least one of the dogs didn't have time to compose himself for the A-frame and turned around (the dog equivalent of falling) after climbing only about 1/3 of the front side. All-in-all, it was a disappointing run for most of the dogs and only a few qualified.
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