Clean Run - June 2018 - 20

ConVErsaTions WiTH noViCE a HandLErs
By Tammy Moody, photos by Heather Christenson except where noted

As an instructor for more than 15 years, I
have been lucky enough to work with the
most amazing people and dogs. Some of
my first students are still with me. They've
watched me evolve and helped me become a better instructor. I hope that they
will be with me in the coming years and
we can continue to grow together.
I have students who have goals of being
on a World Team and some that achieved
this. I have students who have goals of
going to nationals or earning championships, and some of them have accomplished these goals. Other students strive
for titles. Some do not compete but have
trained to high performance levels. And
some students come to class just to have
some quality time with their dog. And
here's the point: Each one of my students,
no matter their goals, are all given the
same amount of attention. No goal is too
big or too small. That said, I'm going to
tell a secret; I do have favorites. I know, I
know; we are not supposed to have favorites. But I'm sure most moms have a favorite and my third-grade teacher Mr. Boyle
certainly liked Jason Packman the best of
all the kids in class. It happens.
The other part of the secret is that each
of my students was a favorite at one time
or another, as my favorites are always the
newbies. I love the Novice A handler,
the person who contacts me and says, "I
think agility looks like so much fun, my
dog would be great at it because he has so
much energy."
Yes, these are the people who get me so
excited. These students have few or no
expectations, they're in love with their
dog and have no idea about weaknesses
or pitfalls. These students do the homework and are excited and surprised at how
much it takes to "do agility." They become
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dog trainers as well as agility handlers,
and they never let go of the awe they have
for their dog.
Novice A handlers aren't disappointed
with their timeline. They are amazed that
their dog is now focused and playing in
distracting environments. They ask brilliant questions and soak everything up
like sponges. They are the future of our
sport. What they learn in foundation class
is the future of agility culture. This is huge.
I can't overstate it.
I want to introduce you to three students
who have come to me as Novice A handlers in the past few years and have you
listen to what they have to say about their
experiences.

donna EdMond
Age 65. Not yet competing.

At age 64, Donna got her first puppy. She
was hoping for an adult dog because she had
never raised a puppy, but her husband said
a puppy might be a better choice because of
their elderly cat and Chihuahua. "When he
said the magic words, I was on it and pretty
much lucked into getting my sweet-pea
Rio. My main concern was not to screw
him up. I wanted to do the right things for

him in training, socialization, and keeping him happy and busy. I was responsible
for this new little being in our home, and I
wanted him to have the best life possible."
Donna did her research and read many
books and talked to so many people that
some of the information conflicted. She
was more informed, but still lost at how to
proceed at helping her Australian Shepherd become a good companion. "I took
Rio to a little dog show at a park in Albany, Oregon put on by ASCA, and someone suggested Tammy Moody for agility
classes. I showed up at foundation class
not knowing a thing about agility."
This was true. Donna was a real novice,
not just in agility or to dog training, but
to living with and training a new puppy. I
was, and still am, in awe of Donna picking
up the reigns and learning something new
at age 65. Donna recalls her first class, "As
soon as Rio saw the other dogs and exciting people moving around in the arena,
he shrieked, hollered, and pitched a fit. He
was frustrated. It was almost a year before
he could come from a crate in the back
room to be in a crate in the arena."
Donna and I worked with Rio's joy, enthusiasm, and excitement, being careful
to foster it but also help Rio channel it
into the game instead of into the outside
environment. "I worked with Rio a lot on
that reactive stage he was going through.
I hadn't realized it was such a long process. I just had never thought about it, had
never read about all the foundation work."
Donna continues to work through the
many steps. She is a trooper. Week after
week she comes to class with the best attitude and love for her dog, and with excitement for the successes they have. "For
quite a while what we were doing in class
Clean Run | June 18

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2018