Clean Run - August 2018 - 37

S

TRENGTHEN
YOUR ABILITY
TO MEMORIZE
COURSES

© ISTOCK

By Tammy Moody

When I was a small child one of my favorite games to play on rainy days was
Memory. Memory consists of many pairs
of matched tiles all laid face down with
two tiles flipped face up on each turn. The
object of the game is to turn over pairs
of matching tiles. There were matching
pairs of lions, pencils, horses, cherries,
bees, strawberries and all were drawn in
80's style with browns, reds, and oranges.
I would flip over a tile of a horse and could
remember from five turns prior where the
match was. I was fantastic at this game,
certainly my glory days. I wish I could still
say my memory for things was as strong
as it was when I was seven years old, but
the only tiles I use now are the ones with
apps that help me find my keys. I know
of a few handlers who wish their memories were as strong as they were when they
were younger.
In more than 15 years of teaching, I have
had some students who have a difficult
time remembering the course. Many of
these students are amazing dog trainers
and handlers but for one reason or another cannot remember a course-even
when given a significant amount of time
to walk. Memorization is a large part of
coursework. Some handlers take their
ability to remember a 20-obstacle course
for granted, but for a good percentage of
handlers, it is a struggle.
It is not until the past few years that I
have focused on helping my students develop plans and strategies to help them
memorize courses. I noted that many
"distracted" dogs only become distracted
when they are not being given directional
information. A lost handler cannot focus
August 18 | Clean Run

and engage with their dog if they are so
intent on looking for the numbers on a
course. Thinking of this problem brings
a student, Kathy Rost, to mind. Kathy is
a fantastic trainer, handler, and person,
but not a natural at memorizing courses.
Kathy says, "I think because I am a bit of a
worrier I always fret about remembering
the course. I have had trouble with this
from the beginning. I've tried all sorts
of techniques (walking the dog's path,
touching each obstacle, trying to visualize the course) but I still wasn't confident
that I could retain the course. This always
showed up in my runs, and my dog got
so tired of how I played the game she almost always checked out as if to say, 'go
figure out what we are supposed to be
doing and let me know.' Then I would get
frustrated with her and blame her for not
staying in touch with me instead of looking at what I was doing that didn't keep
her in the game."
It took Kathy some time to truly see that
her dog was not leaving her on course
because she did not want to play the
game, but because Kathy wasn't clear
with direction. It's true, Kathy tried all
sorts of things to help herself remember
the course. She tried memorizing patterns, tried to remember the course in a
series of side changes and deceleration
vs. acceleration. She tried to remember
it in a series of verbals. Then Kathy tried
to visualize her and her dog running
the course perfectly. She tried walking
the dog's path, but none of these things
seemed to help and usually only made
her more nervous as it was one more
thing that could go wrong.

Kathy mentions "I feel comfortable
that my dog and I know the mechanics
of agility. My dog learns quickly and is
fun to train. Where we both lose confidence is in the ring when we are facing a
course. My dog can sense my nerves and
when I am nervous she isn't that interested in the game. I recently just really
realized how that impacts her not only in
agility but in all our interactions. If I am
cool, calm, and happy, she responds in a
very positive way. It is hard to break old
habits though. I know that confidence
comes from being prepared. My dog and
I know this stuff but trying to figure out
how to build my confidence and keeping
my dog's focus was a challenge for me. I
really wanted to be a better partner with
my dog."
Almost any of my students have a goal, in
some form or another, to be a better partner for their dog. For Kathy, this meant
digging deep and getting dirty. She had
to be honest with herself and stop trying
to change her dog. She had to look within herself to implement the change that
could be the most helpful for her team.
Kathy discovered that no amount of time
spent walking the course was going to
help her memorize it. Walking it three
times versus ten times made no difference. Visualizing running the course in
her head was almost impossible. It wasn't
until I asked Kathy to draw the course
out on the whiteboard that she found a
way to memorize them.
Kathy said, "I was pushed out of my comfort zone-big time. When you started
asking me to visualize the course in my
mind and when I told you I wasn't very
37



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

Contents
Clean Run - August 2018 - Cover1
Clean Run - August 2018 - Cover2
Clean Run - August 2018 - Contents
Clean Run - August 2018 - 4
Clean Run - August 2018 - 5
Clean Run - August 2018 - 6
Clean Run - August 2018 - 7
Clean Run - August 2018 - 8
Clean Run - August 2018 - 9
Clean Run - August 2018 - 10
Clean Run - August 2018 - 11
Clean Run - August 2018 - 12
Clean Run - August 2018 - 13
Clean Run - August 2018 - 14
Clean Run - August 2018 - 15
Clean Run - August 2018 - 16
Clean Run - August 2018 - 17
Clean Run - August 2018 - 18
Clean Run - August 2018 - 19
Clean Run - August 2018 - 20
Clean Run - August 2018 - 21
Clean Run - August 2018 - 22
Clean Run - August 2018 - 23
Clean Run - August 2018 - 24
Clean Run - August 2018 - 25
Clean Run - August 2018 - 26
Clean Run - August 2018 - 27
Clean Run - August 2018 - 28
Clean Run - August 2018 - 29
Clean Run - August 2018 - 30
Clean Run - August 2018 - 31
Clean Run - August 2018 - 32
Clean Run - August 2018 - 33
Clean Run - August 2018 - 34
Clean Run - August 2018 - 35
Clean Run - August 2018 - 36
Clean Run - August 2018 - 37
Clean Run - August 2018 - 38
Clean Run - August 2018 - 39
Clean Run - August 2018 - 40
Clean Run - August 2018 - 41
Clean Run - August 2018 - 42
Clean Run - August 2018 - 43
Clean Run - August 2018 - 44
Clean Run - August 2018 - 45
Clean Run - August 2018 - 46
Clean Run - August 2018 - 47
Clean Run - August 2018 - 48
Clean Run - August 2018 - 49
Clean Run - August 2018 - 50
Clean Run - August 2018 - Cover3
Clean Run - August 2018 - Cover4
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