Clean Run - February 2014 - 20

First have fun, then the results will come.
It is advice that was given to Nicola Giraudi early on,
and it's still the mantra he passes on to his students.

half years before I could understand how
to handle her. She was so good, and so
fast, and I got her to be consistent."

His Own Training
Much of what he brought into the agility ring he had to ﬁgure out on his own,
something he says has made him a better
handler and trainer. "I would go to seminars, watch people run, and analyze their
handling to 'steal' some secrets. Then
I started trying things. I knew when I
wanted to do something better and I
would go into the ﬁeld and try things until I could get it better."
Though agility is deﬁnitely growing in
Italy and the level of competition getting
much higher, Nicola laments the fact that
there is still a big difference between the
upper- and the lower-level handlers. "It
is not just because they are beginners. It
is because of poor training. They are just
doing the obstacles."
More and more, Italian handlers are
switching to positive training. "They understand that they are getting better systems, that it is better for the dogs." For
himself, he has developed a system that

is very similar to that used in Finland.
"I see a lot of people who don't have any
system at all. They know some moves
but they are not connected into a full
handling system. This confuses the dog
because the cues are not consistent. The
dog doesn't understand what he is being
asked to do and then the handler can't
trust the dog."
A good example, he says, is the Ketschker turn. "People are using this for many
things. For me, in a 180, the dog has to
turn back around the wing and come
back to me. He is collected and comes
through the gap. I see people using this
and then allowing the dog to take the
second jump. The handler will never
know which option the dog will take!"

A More Than Full-Time Job
Nicola now spends most of his time
helping others ﬁgure out the best way to
train their own dogs. "I actually work a
little bit too much at the moment. I have
group lessons from morning to evening,
ﬁve days a week, with some private lessons as well." His hours typically run
from 8 am to 10 pm. "I try to get some
time for my dogs, too."

Nicola is working with his partner at Oh
My Dog! in two ﬁelds in northern Italy,
near the border of Switzerland. "We are
trying to ﬁgure out a way to have an indoor place." They also breed Border
Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs.

His Own Dogs
"I like to go into the training field before my lessons so that I am fresh and
my dogs get the best of me." Sometimes
he will bring the dogs out between lessons to work or take one into a group
lesson because it is a more exciting environment. Other times he will share
time with a student who has a private
lesson but can't work the full hour. "It's
especially important for my Sheltie," he
says. "When he is alone, he is perfect,
but not high drive. He needs to learn to
cope when other dogs are around, like in
a competition."
He normally has a plan before he starts
to train. It may be a single skill, such as
weave poles, or it might be course work,
utilizing the kind of courses he might
encounter in competition. "It depends on
the dog and the day."

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Clean Run | February 14

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Clean Run - February 2014

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