Imagine you’re on a hike with a friend. It’s your first time on this mountain. You and your friend are hiking along and the trail now brings you to a cliff. Your friend keeps walking toward it, you slow down…
Get Earth Friendly with Your Dog!
It’s Earth day and seems an opportune time to bring up a subject I love chatting with people about: eco or carbon footprints. Footprints are something left behind after you’ve traveled through. So an eco footprint refers to the impact…
Buy In
Last night I taught an agility workshop, kicking off the start of agility lessons here. It was a nice small group of competitors preparing for this weekend’s trial. I had a lovely time with them all and we had good…
How to Be Bored
Often times life for dogs involves a fair amount of “hurry up and wait.” Waiting for meals to get prepared, walks to happen, car rides to end, owners to return home, balls to be thrown, for neighbors to stop chatting…
More than One Way
In any activity humans are passionate or invested in you’re going to get strong opinions. Expressions of the way things have, or should, or must be done. Dog agility is no different. Yet many, likely majority, of those expressions are…
Alternative Agility equipment descriptions
Inspired by this awesome think outside the box exchange: “That waffle thing” Me, with confusion, “I have no idea what you are talking about…” “That waffle thing on the stand, there are two of them with a stick across…” A…
Connection
Connection: the relationship of a person, thing or behavior to something or someone else. Connection is an all the rage buzz word in the current world of dog training. In years past the word instead was “Attention”. Attention: the act…
He’s in My Spot
By Tom Doesn’t he know he’s in my spot? The guy human who lives with us. Doesn’t he know? Why is he still home!? And still in my spot?! I tried to shove him out. I tried to sit on…
Showing up to class
I’m always impressed when week after week, reliably, people and their dogs show up for classes. Have practiced homework. Have even just managed to get themselves out the door to come to lessons. Let alone to be on time, to…
Teaching Dogs ‘The Basics’
The other day during a lesson with a long time client who has a new puppy she asked me, so when do we start teaching The Basics and how long will they take? I looked at her blankly. The Basics?…