Clean Run - January 2014 - 40

Conversely, handlers with poor plans
only looked at where the obstacles
were situated and made a handling
plan for themselves, not for their dogs.
My clean run rate with my dog Hitti is
close to 90% in competition. The most
important factor for consistent runs is
to take the course walk-through with a
virtual dog, according to the real speed
of your dog. It helps you to master your
timing and choose the best handling
solutions for every sequence.

Connect, Commit, Cue
The foundations of OMD are connect,
commit and cue (CCC). These are the
most important base factors when
practicing agility and if you don't pay
attention to them, the following circuit
will take place:
1. If you fail to maintain the connection between you and your dog,
your dog tries desperately to reconnect with you. Without a functional
connection between the two of
you, your dog is not ready to commit to the next obstacle and you'll
get refusals, even if you are running
very close to the obstacle.
2. Without commitment, your dog is
focused on you and this easily results in a refusal.

3. If you don't cue early enough
where to go next, your dog can
drop a bar, make a wide turn, or
face disqualification for approaching the wrong obstacle.

of view and you can enjoy seamless
cooperation with your dog right from
the beginning.

All of these three CCCs are interconnected and the handler needs to pay
attention to each one between every
obstacle during the run.

Trust Your Dog, It's Worth It
One thing that always surprises students is how little training is needed
to get good results with the OMD
methodology. We start basic training at an early age with our puppies,
but our dogs train agility on obstacles
only around once a week throughout
their agility career. In general, if you
have to teach the dog something with
hundreds of repetitions, there is either
something wrong with your training method or you are trying to teach
against the dog's natural reaction.
When the timing of the reward is correct, your dog needs only five to seven
repetitions to learn a new thing. Within a couple of months, you can teach
your dog everything needed in agility.
Handlers need training; dogs are natural talents in this sport. Learn to understand agility from the dog's point

Agility Performance
Needs Solid Building Blocks
You need a strong foundation on
which to build your agility competence. Even the nicest villa will fall
down, if it's built on mud. Do the basic
work properly and you will have solid
ground for your house.
The more techniques you master, the
more elegant the house you can build
on your foundation. The house is made
using all the skills I discussed earlier.
The more skills you master, the nicer
your home will be.
The roof of your house represents your
mental capabilities. As you know, you
don't do much with a house without a
roof. Most of us need mental training in
order to enjoy the full experience agility can offer you.
You have to be ready to exit your
comfort zone. For exiting, you need
windows and doors to your house.
Outside your house, you can find the
agility world waiting with all of its
wonders! D

Janita Leinonen has been working as a professional dog trainer since 2000. She has coached handlers competing in all heights to be FCI Agility World Championship (WC) medalists. Many of her students are now teaching agility for their living. Janita won the European Open Individual in 2013 and the EO Team
in 2010 and 2011 with teams formed only with dogs from her kennel Decathlete's. She has been twice among the top ten in the FCI Agility WC with different dogs and won the Nordic Championships three times in a row. Her clean run percentage in competition has been over 80% with four different dogs.
Jaakko Suoknuuti has been working as a professional dog trainer since 2006. He has coached several people to the international top level in all height
categories. Jaakko was the first person in Finland who got results for a Havanese to compete in Finnish Championships. He has spent seven years
on the FCI WC Finnish Agility Team. He won the EO Team in 2010 and 2011. Jaakko also won the FCI Agility WC Jumping course in 2008. He has several championships and medals from Finnish and Nordic Championships. He has earned four top ten placements in EO and WC individual competitions.
Contact them via their website at www.oneminddogs.com.

Tuff n Up
Your Dog's Feet

Day 1

Protect your
dog's feet or
heal injured
pads quickly

Day 2

Clean Run | January 14

http://www.oneminddogs.com

Clean Run - January 2014

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