Clean Run Magazine - June 2008 - 59

LB: Would you get another dog from a shelter? KN: Certainly. Since I adopted Sydney, I have obtained two dogs from breeders, but the joy and love that Sydney gave me cannot be topped. LB: Your favorite venues? Training Notes Stop Micromanaging Because Karen and Sydney didn’t train foundation skills, they had problems with weave poles and contacts. Sydney’s weave pole problems started as a training issue, but quickly became a stress issue. Sydney would run right by the weave poles as if she didn’t see them, or she would enter correctly, and then pop out in the middle or at pole #10 or #11. Karen began trying to micromanage the poles, but made the problem worse by putting pressure on herself and on Sydney. The problems persisted for two or three years until Karen was finally able to trust Sydney and make it Sydney’s job to execute the poles © KAREN NENOW correctly. When she started handling weave poles in trials the same way as in training, Sydney’s weave-pole performance improved considerably. As the weave poles began to improve, Sydney began to avoid the table. They earned faults for many refusals at the table when she ran by it, or stopped to sniff, or simply stopped in front of it. Karen played games on their table at home and tried to make it a fun place. Of course at home Sydney would eagerly run to it, but the table problem stayed with us at trials until the end of Sydney’s agility career. Finally, contacts cost them many Qs. Karen had not trained specific criterion for contact performance, such as two-on/two-off. Like most people in those days, Karen simply tried to get the dog to run down the contact far enough to hit the yellow. In trials, Sydney’s joy and enthusiasm for agility would override that little bit of training, and she often jumped from above the contact zone. Karen made the mistake of trying to micromanage contacts just as she had the weave poles. Once again, Sydney became more successful when Karen stepped back and allowed her to execute the contacts without pressure. When Karen tried to get in front of Sydney or be close to the A-frame or dogwalk, Sydney would jump off the other side above the contact. When Sydney finally taught Karen to stay out of her way, they were much more successful. KN: We showed most in AKC since that is the most common venue in my area. I also enjoy NADAC, but I’m not fond of the constant changes. I recently started some USDAA and have found it to be a very fun and enjoyable venue, and I plan to continue that as much as possible with my young dog. D Author’s Note: Sadly, Sydney died at age 13 on October 7, 2007, of nasal carcinoma. Lisa Barrett lives in Huntington, Vermont, with three shelter dogs, including NATCH Jenny MAD, SCHBronze, JCH-Bronze. 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. June 08 | Clean Run 61

Clean Run Magazine - June 2008

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