Clean Run Magazine - March 2008 - 60

Training Notes Distance Skills Get Started With Our 4-Jump Kit includes all necessary pipe, fittings and jump cups to build 4 jumps that adjust from 3" to 35" in height All the PVC You Need to Build It Yourself Karen trained Sadie to work at a distance using the following techniques: • Send the dog to a target (food or toy) on the other side of a jump. • Linda Mecklenburg’s “pillbug” exercise: Make the tunnel into a complete circle so it looks like a giant pillbug. Place a target on the left side of the pillbug. Send the dog to the target, while the handler goes to the right (counterclockwise) around the pillbug. Gradually move the target farther around to the left until you can send the dog all the way around the pillbug. • Send the dog through a U-shaped tunnel. Praise and treat lavishly on exit. • Work at increasing distance by just inches at a time with a variety of obstacles and sequences. • Make sure to look at the obstacle you want the dog to take, not at the dog. • Always support the obstacle with your arm/hand pointing toward it, especially if you are moving away from it. • Reward at a distance by placing the reinforcer at a distance. • Work contacts at a distance with food or toy targets. to my emotions and my body language. She is apt to shut down if I show any disappointment, so it was important that I didn’t care if we qualified. LB: When did you realize Sadie could be a champion? very happy girl whenever she is working with me. LB: What other dogs do you have? KS: Our MAD, in many ways, holds more meaning to me than our ADCH or our NATCH. Once we overcame that gamble curse, I knew the ADCH would come. Until the MAD, we had barely missed getting a Masters Gamble so many times that I had begun to wonder if we would ever be able to actually get one. At 10 years old, Sadie can still hold her own, and just earned her NATCH as well as her Bronze ADCH. I’m probably just blinded by my love for her, but I think she had the potential to accomplish a lot more, if she had a better handler/trainer. Sadie loves the sport, but she runs for the joy of running with me. My favorite compliments are when people tell me she is so much fun to watch because she so obviously enjoys agility. What more could I ask for? LB: Does Sadie do any sport other than agility? KS: Just a few months ago, I found Speagle #2, Dreamboat Annie. She has some big shoes to fill! Annie is also a shelter dog. I believe rescue dogs somehow know they have gotten a second chance at life. It seems they have just a little extra zest for things. Also, I strongly believe in the saying, “Don’t breed or buy while millions die.” LB: How does Sadie fit in your household? KS: She is the perfect dog. She is ready to play on a moment’s notice and is just as ready to cuddle up on the couch for a nap with me. It saddens me that life for dogs is so short. I see the brown on Sadie’s face becoming noticeably whiter and know that this amazing journey I have had with her is limited. It is more than I can bear to think about. LB: What do you think are the advantages of adopting a shelter dog? PatiosToGo.com Furniture Grade PVC Low Minimum Order · Box Quantity Discounts 352.243.3220 KS: Sadie does have her CGC/TDI and has done some nursing home visits, but she prefers to work with children. They giggle when she licks them! We have recently discovered APDT Rally-O and St. Hubert’s CDSP (Companion Dog Sports Program), and her enthusiasm has earned her some impressive scores in these venues. She is a KS: You save a life. You get a chance to turn someone else’s throwaway into an unbelievable companion and achiever. You will be rewarded a thousand times over by the love that awaits you. You never know what potential awaits you! LB: Disadvantages? KS: You’re going to get baggage… but sometimes that baggage opens a whole new world for you, as it did for us! D Lisa Barrett lives in Huntington, Vermont with three shelter dogs, including NATCH Jenny MAD, SCH-Bronze, JCHBronze. She has competed in agility since 1995, when she founded NOMAD, northern Vermont’s agility club. She teaches agility classes at The Dog School in Williston and Huntington, Vermont. She also teaches an introduction to agility class at her local shelter. She has been a USDAA judge since 2001. Contact her at mytmutts@yahoo.com. 60 Clean Run | March 08

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Clean Run Magazine - March 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - March 2008