Clean Run - January 2016 - 25

On Course
with Mark

Trainer: Mark Laker
Base: Nottinghamshire, England
Years training in agility: 30
Dogs: Border Collies Devo, age 7,
and Moog, age 1
Favorite treat: "Any tidbits we've got."
Unusual training tool: Garden
chair. "They sit there, they watch,
they catch treats." He is also fond of
video and the stopwatch.
Hero: Richard Branson
Best piece of advice received:
"Susan Garrett made me realize just
how quickly dogs learn things and
that I was wasting valuable time. As
soon as the dog gets it right two or
three times, make it harder."
Wisdom to give: "Be consistent
with your training and have clear
objectives for yourself, even if you
don't achieve them. Don't be like
a ship at sea with engine failure
floating on the tide. Have a deﬁnite
course of action."
Secret passion: Music. "I used
to play the keyboard and piano.
I probably could have been a
musician."
If he wasn't doing agility:
Sled dog racing.
If he wasn't doing dogs: Kayaking.
He used to do a lot of competition
kayaking.
Latest read. Cover to cover,
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.
"Blinkist is an app that allows you
to read the highlights of books in
20 minutes. I read half a dozen
books a week that way."
January 16 | Clean Run

Mark Laker is a lucky man. He loves
his day job, has a gratifying family life,
and is a successful agility trainer and
competitor. But there is more. Mark is
an effective coach who has the privilege
of helping others to work toward their
own agility goals. He is currently manager of Team Great Britain, a post he
has held for three years, and he recently
coached them to a team gold medal at
the FCI Agility World Championships.
Personally, he is most proud of winning
the coveted Crufts agility championship
class in 2010, finishing second in 2011,
and placing fourth at the European
Open in 2009, the highest-placed British
handler on the team that year.

A Dog On The Side
Mark has always had dogs, and can't
imagine life without them. Even when
his job takes him on the road, just the
sight of a dog walking down the street
sparks a longing for his own dogs
at home.
Mark got into agility as many earlier
competitors did, through obedience.
"When members of the club I was working with saw the first agility demonstration at Crufts, in 1978, they said to me,
'Fancy this? We're going to try it.'" They
hobbled together equipment using pallets and broomsticks and whatever else
they could find, and "that was the start
of getting hooked by the agility bug."
Today, as Senior Project Manager for an
energy company, Mark is involved in
delivering projects,
most of them related
to behavioral change.
"I am bringing psychology into the
work place to make
changes." In 2000, a
colleague introduced
him to a new way to
set goals and objectives. He has had a lot
of training in those

Laker
skills, which he applies to his home life,
his work life, agility, and coaching. "It
wakes up your brain to the opportunities, and you decide whether to take
them or not."
Mark's professional career has given him
knowledge of psychology and insight
into the mental game of agility that sets
him apart from others. He coaches his
clients to think with their heads and
with their hearts.

Training His Own
Mark's profession limits his time. "I am
a perfectionist. In order for me to train
Devo to the level I want to, I can only
compete one dog." He has a puppy doing foundation work, and the household
pack also includes a retired dog and a
couple of dogs that belong to Mark's
wife, Karen.
If he isn't traveling or attending meetings, Mark works at home, and tries to
do something for 30 minutes, or more,
with his dogs. That includes walking,
cycling, jogging, tricks, or fitness away
from the equipment. Weekends are
pretty much dedicated to agility competitions, training, or running seminars on
sports psychology, incorporating coaching techniques into that.
"My training is not just about going
around an agility course. It includes
mental training and goal setting, so even
when I am travelling every day I am doing something towards agility."
Goal setting is huge,
and dictates the dayto-day training. Mark
starts with long-term
goals. Then, each autumn, he looks back
at a year's performance. "I take notes at
every competition,
including what I want
to work on, strengths,
things that didn't go
25

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - January 2016