Clean Run - September 2012 - 65

Letters to the Editor
While Dawn Weaver has some good points in her last 2 articles “Knowledge Equals Speed”, I found it disappointing that she recommends keeping toys exclusively as a reward for agility training. While I understand her reasoning to increase motivation, I believe that most of us are in this sport because we thoroughly enjoy the time spent training our dogs, attending trials and spending time with friends with the same interest. First and foremost, my dogs are my pets and yes, I have a basket of toys in my living room, and yes, my dogs have lots of “access to me at home”- I dote on them a lot. They are free to choose a toy to invite play with me or each other or, as if often the case, I grab a toy and have a play session particularly if we haven’t gotten to go out for a walk or training or if the weather is bad. I use a separate set of toys in training-often the ones with Velcro openings for food-and I feel my dogs are very motivated in agility. I personally would not take away the time I enjoy playing with them at home and restricting toys to agility training only in order to build more motivation. Kathryn Hawkins DVM Hi Kathryn, My dogs also are ﬁrst and foremost my best friends and, as I am self-employed, follow me round all day, have long off-lead walks and sleep in my bedroom. Instead of toys they have things like empty coke bottles etc to play with while out with me in my paddocks. However my dogs have been taught play drive right from the start which a lot of people don’t realize is important. The start of the article on Motivation says that the ideas listed are for people whose dogs won’t play with them and are having problems with motivation which fortunately you say you don’t have so therefore incorporating these ideas would be unnecessary for you. I do note however that you have to use toys with food available rather than just toys to do your agility training. Not a problem however as long as your dogs enjoy the game. The points listed in my articles are designed to give people hope and things to try who are having problems getting a close relationship with their dog and allowing both dog and handler to enjoy the sport of agility. If the handler is nagging the dog because he is slow and doesn’t want to participate then that is enjoyable for neither of them. In this instance building value for the rewards we use would be beneﬁcial. Dawn

Dear Clean Run, I love seeing all different breeds performing in agility. It is fun to see handlers who have found what motivates their dog, and really showcase their breed. I like to see how different teams approach and handle a course (sometimes it is different depending on the breed). I overheard a comment at a trial recently that surprised me. The comment was, “Wow your Cavalier runs like a Border Collie!” I’m sure this was meant to be a compliment—or maybe a backhanded compliment? Why can’t we just appreciate a good performance from any breed? Why couldn’t the person have just said, “Wow, what an awesome run—that’s a great dog,” or something along these lines? It seems like many breeds are now considered an “off breed” or “not your normal agility dog.” Why is that?
September 12 | Clean Run 65

I thought this was a sport for all breeds? It is true that some breeds have traits that are well suited to the sport of agility. But, that doesn’t mean they are the only breeds that can do well at this sport! I went to a dock diving event recently and found out that some of the best jumpers around here are Pit Bulls. I assumed it would be the Labs that would be the best at this sport. I caught myself doing the same thing I see in agility—assuming one breed (or breeds) will be the best at a certain sport. You know what they say about assuming. Here’s to celebrating diversity in our agility dogs! Lori Westling

Clean Run - September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2012