Clean Run Magazine - May 2009 - 76

a two-on/two-off position, drill this contact performance daily. Another thing to consider is the judge who is officiating at the trial. Oftentimes I cater my training plan the week before the show to whoever is judging. Many judges have a very specific course design strategy and I tailor my week-of-trial training to incorporate sequences from previous trials judged by that person. If you don’t have courses from a particular judge, some judges’ courses have been profiled in past issues of Clean Run so you can check there. Or, ask friends to see if they have copies of courses from past shows. For example, you may notice some judges tend to use the dogwalk/tunnel discrimination quite often; if that’s the case, incorporate this discrimination into your training plan the week before the trial. Even if the judge doesn’t present this challenge, at least you’ve come away with a skill you can use in the future. Your final goal should be to keep going with your current training program. But before a show, the focus should shift to those skills you’d like to pinpoint or enhance while there. We all train and drill many different skills, yet we all come away from a show with a list of things we need to work on. For me, it’s gambles; for someone else it might be stays at the start. Regardless, drilling the areas where you have had specific problems during a previous show should be emphasized the week before the trial. But remember, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it! Elise Paffrath My advice for the week leading up to a trial is not to change anything too much. This goes for the dog’s daily routine and the training regimen. Try not to work your dog any harder or longer than you do in a typical practice or training session. In fact, if anything, I might err on the side of “less is more.” Spend time proofing any behaviors that have been at all shaky in recent practices or at trials. Perhaps you’re bothered by some weave entries you feel your dog shouldn’t have missed. Then set up a few exercises to focus specifically on nailing challenging weave pole entries. If some of your front crosses have felt awkward or poorly timed in recent runs, devise some sequences aimed at smoothing out the execution of your front crosses. The emphasis should be on fine-tuning obstacle performance and handling skills your team has already mastered so you and your dog are tightly in sync on course. It certainly is not the time to begin training any major new skills or variations of already solid behaviors that might be unfamiliar to your dog or that might potentially confuse him. For example, if you’ve been teaching a two-on/two-off contact performance to your novice dog and have so far required him to wait at least several seconds before being released, the days leading up to an event are not the time to suddenly introduce an instant release. Similarly, if you have always stayed very close to your dog in the weave poles but Elise’s shelter-adopted dogs, Breeze, Scout, and Spryte, have earned top titles and competed in many agility Championships. In 2004, Scout and Spryte were USDAA Grand Prix World Championship finalists, and in 2005, Spryte achieved LAA-Bronze and ranked #2, #3, and #7, respectively, in Jumpers, Gamblers, and Tournament Top Ten. Elise puts on trials, teaches, and writes about agility in Guilford, Vermont. want to work up to more distance from the obstacle, the day before the show is not the best time to begin training for this goal since it’s possible (and even probable) that along the learning curve of this new skill the dog may pop out of the poles. By all means you should work on the skills that are components of your overall training goals, but I don’t advocate introducing them to the dog immediately before a trial. If there are ongoing skills you’ve been practicing for a while but don’t feel your team is totally proficient, it makes sense to include these in your regular practices the week before a trial. In addition to not changing too much in your training sessions, I also recommend keeping your dog’s feeding, daily activity, and exercise routine as normal as possible. This goes for you, the handler, as well. If you’re used to walking a mile or two several times a week but decide to take your dog on a 15-mile, steep mountain hike several days before your agility trial, you both may end up paying for it with sore or stiff muscles when the weekend rolls around. In the weeks or days leading up to big events such as a national championship, I have actually kept my training very simple— practicing such things as speed across the dogwalk or tight turns with my dog. Sometimes, if time is short, I have actually opted to walk or swim my dog rather than train on equipment. Keeping your dog and you relaxed and fresh may benefit you more than drilling specific exercises. In the end it’s the connection and teamwork you and your dog share that will carry you successfully across the finish line. D Brenna Fender is a freelance writer with an undergraduate degree in mass communications and a masters degree in elementary education. She lives with her husband, two young children, a Whippet, and a rescued BC puppy. Over the years, Brenna and her dogs have earned titles in agility, obedience, conformation, hunting, rally, and lure coursing. The husband and children are far less impressively titled. Contact her at BrennaFender@gmail.com. 76 Clean Run | May 09

Clean Run Magazine - May 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - May 2009