Clean Run - May 2018 - 26

Shady continues to mature and I'm very happy with his progress. He's
beginning to remind me of my previous highland-working Beardies: big in
the body, light on their feet.
I'm also rethinking Shady's dogwalk
training. All the training for a rear-foot
target has undoubtedly helped him
with proprioception, but looking at
him on the dogwalk itself, I'm not sure
it's safe to encourage him to do it at the
sorts of speeds his sire achieves. He can
now successfully jump onto a low dogwalk and can also turn around on it. He
no longer looks clumsy or worried, but a
12in. board is very narrow for him. While
I mull things over I've started working
up a stop with a different rear-foot target. In the meantime I'm going to put
hoops front and back of a lowered dogwalk and let Shady decide what speed
he wants to perform it at.

Shady doing turns on a 12in. plank.

The seesaw is now propped up at one
end and the dogs are working it to the
ground for a four-on position and being
released forward. The eventual idea is for
them to release themselves as the board
touches the ground. Shady is starting to
kick the board down as he leaves which
is the ideal performance for him. Dexi
needs to ride it down as he doesn't have
the body weight to be able to kick the
board down. He's happily unconcerned
with the movement.

I've had a couple of questions about
weave pole training and when I intend
to start it. To me the weave poles are
the most physically challenging obstacle. Shady is 17 months old and will
have to bend more than most dogs do
to successfully weave; it won't hurt him
to wait a little. I also want a 6-week window in which I can guarantee being
able to train every day. Once I start on
the weave poles I like to continue until
they're finished and the dog can weave
12 poles. So, I'm going to wait a couple
of months before we get started.
Shady continues to mature and I'm
very happy with his progress. He's beginning to remind me of my previous
highland-working Beardies: big in the
body, light on their feet. I'm planning
to have both Dexi and Shady ready for
their first ring experience by the spring.
We have a venue that is 20 minutes
from home. It is a UKA trial (UKI in the
U.S.) in which you can take toys into the
ring and train, so it will be ideal for their
first experiences. D

The seesaw is propped up at one end, which is where the dogs start. With Dexi, I give a physical cue to move forward
when he is looking forward.

I started agility training and competition in the late 1980's, about the same time I started clicker training, and have also competed in working trials and obedience. After all
these years, I still think agility is the best of all dog sports for both dogs and handlers, and clicker training is the best way to teach it. I am a positive trainer because reward
builds behavior so much faster and better than any other method. If the solution to a problem is going to upset my dog, it clearly isn't the right solution. I thoroughly enjoy
training my dogs and teaching others. Over the years I've been privileged to teach all over the world, from Australia to Japan, and across North America and Europe.
I have worked with many talented handlers and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Contact me via my website at www.kissagility.com or via my Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/KISSagility.
26

Clean Run | May 18

http://www.kissagility.com https://www.facebook.com/KISSagility

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