Clean Run - July 2018 - 32

If you
build it...
they can
run!

The key to success in your agility training is to have clear criteria
broken down into incremental steps, with meaningful rewards,
progressing through a gradual increase in difficulty and distraction,
using a system which you like and believe in.

The Fix
Compete like you train, and train like
you compete!
You need to bridge the gap. In training,
strike a balance by training fast releases-
use a fast release as one of your rewards
for performance of the contact criteria.
In a show environment, ensure that
you occasionally ask your dog for a full
performance of his contact criteria with
actual stops.
The Secret to Success
Each dog and handler team is different.
The secret to success is to choose what
works for you and your dog. Is a motionbased handling system or a verbal system
better for you and your dog? What about
contacts? Running or stopped? Everything has pros and cons; it's about finding
what's best for you.

Jump cup strips
Clip-on jump cups
PVC ttings: 3-way,
4-way, and 5-way
connectors

Agility training is always evolving and
improving. It's an exciting time to be in
dog training because of all the advances
in the understanding of canine cognition-that's one of the things I love about
dog training. But that doesn't mean that
you should throw away something that is
tried and tested and working well for you
and your dog. What's that old saying?
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Fashions in
handling come and go. If your dog has
excellent, super-fast stopped contacts
why change to running contacts just because you have heard lots of other people
using them?

1" and 2" vinyl tape
1" and 11/4" PVC pipe
in red, yellow, blue,
violet, and white

www.cleanrun.com

The fun of agility training is pushing for
that little extra out of your team; there is
always scope for improvement, but there

is a difference between polishing up your
performance and trying to work with criteria that isn't gelling for you or your dog.
Before you ditch your current training
plan for something new, ask if you have
invested enough into the present method
for your dog to truly understand and develop confidence. If you have consistently
trained a method for your handling or
your dog's obstacle criteria and you do not
see the performance you had expected,
then it's time to re-evaluate and see if there
is a more suitable training method and
plan on how you will implement changes.
A final tip is to be clear on your criteria.
Find a handling system that you like.
You can take the best for you and your
dog from different systems, just make
sure you have clarity for both of you. The
same applies to a new method of training
obstacle performance.
How can you do that? Simple, write it
down! Make a list. What does the perfect
performance of the behavior look like?
What are your cues? Momentum, pressure, feet, hands, etc.? This isn't new advice; I think it was one of the first things
I learnt from a Clean Run article in the
early 2000s.
The key to success in your agility training is to have clear criteria broken down
into incremental steps, with meaningful
rewards, progressing through a gradual
increase in difficulty and distraction, using a system which you like and believe
in. And you must be mindful of what
your dog is learning-always keep asking
yourself is your dog learning what you
think you are teaching? D

Tig Stephenson has been involved in agility for 20 years. She runs her own agility club near London, England, also
guest instructing and teaching workshops mentoring agility instructors. A trainer first, and a competitor second,
Tig's priority is her student's achievements. Tig's Tervuerens share her passion for agility, but she only competes
occasionally. Her most prestigious agility achievement is winning second place in Agility Finals at Crufts. Contact
her at Tig@ridinghood.co.uk.
32

Clean Run | June 18

http://www.cleanrun.com

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