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…
It’s in the Tone!
“It has to do with your tone of voice! Dogs respond to the tone not the words!” How many times have you heard that in the past? I’ve heard it many times. Most often in reference to the way a…
Listen for Stillness
This is starting to look like the season of stays. With stay instruction and training working its way into many lessons. Stays are an integral foundation behavior and a part of nearly all performance sports. And the bare bones basics…
Think about the Dos
When thinking or talking about a behavior your dog does that you want to change, do you think about the dos or the don’ts? The things you do want your dog to do? Or the things you don’t want your…
Formula for Earning Qualifying Scores
I talk with my agility students and students considering competition often about defining what success in the ring means for them, their dog and their team. As I feel that definition can have a huge impact on not only your…
Learning Styles
What’s your dog’s learning style? What’s yours? Do you ever think about those factors before taking a class or training your dog? I’ve learned over the years, many people don’t. I used to ask each and every one of my…
What the Heck?! You Know This!
You know what I mean. The behavior your dog has done thousands of times in many many different places successfully. Then one day you ask for it and instead she throws out this weird string of behavior vomit and you…
Level 2 Run Thru
Zora and I have been hard at work on our Fenzi TEAM Titles level 2 skills. The majority of our training has been on individual skills each session. We are now at the point where I’m starting to put them…