Clean Run - July 2017 - 66

© Sean DaviS

Each of Dyck's class sessions is
set up so that students may participate in the lesson at their own
level. For example, "I teach targeting to accomplish forward focus for
both the handler and the dog. So,
there may be someone in class that
is just learning targeting to others
who have learned it and are now
applying it to a straight line of obstacles.... The newest student will
be working on just targeting when it
is their turn while the students who
can target the entire line will be doing that," she says.

© leSley mattuchio

© DoghouSe artS

ent experiences levels and goals,
to progress and enjoy their agility
training. The program is structured
on a monthly payment system, with
all levels of classes having the same
cost. "My classes are on-going.
I do not have an end date. Each
student moves out of a level when
they are ready. 'Ready' depends
on certain criteria," Dyck says, and
each student is aware of the criteria
from the beginning. Students are
also welcome to backtrack, stepping
into a lower level class if a problem
develops or after an absence or
injury. Some students stay in one
level even longer than necessary,
perhaps simply because they do not
plan to compete. Without having a
set class session, Dyck avoids upset from students who feel like they
didn't "pass" the class, or that there
is some shame in taking a class
more than once.

When striving to keep the interest of
all types of students, many instructors have found that using stations
to keep many students busy at
the same time with little down time
works well. You can mix students
at the stations so that more experienced handlers provide an example
for newbies or you can group them
by ability level and adjust the exercises to suit.
It's easy for certain handlers to unintentionally monopolize your time in
class, either because they have deficits in certain areas or because they
desire a very high level of mastery.
Dyck says, "I use a timer if the class
is full and I need to really manage
my time to ensure that in a group
class, each team gets equal time.
If any student is having a particular
problem that needs more attention
I encourage them to schedule a private lesson." Private lessons are a
great way to fill in training voids for
all types of students.

Tips
Working with students with a wide
range of experiences, skills, and interests can be tough. Here are a few
extra tips.

*

Pay attention to each student's
goals. Melanie Miller, who teaches private agility lessons, says "In
general, I'm very sensitive to the
individual goals for each team.
I solicit that information from
each handler before we get too

involved in our training together. I
want to know what a person's aspirations are, and what motivates
them. Once I know these details,
I believe it's my job to help them
meet those goals, while maintaining a high rate of reinforcement
for the dog and the handler. I try
very hard not to impose my own
goals onto a particular team,
although I will happily offer guidance if asked."

*

Do not pressure students to
compete. A former agility student, who wishes to stay anonymous, says, "Knowing what I
know about the agility classes I
took, I wouldn't go back and take
them again. I knew going in I
wasn't going to compete....
I just wanted to teach my dog the
equipment and find a fun place to
practice. I felt nothing but pressure in class to compete no matter how many times I told people
I wasn't going to do that."

*

Keep good records. Dyck says,
"I keep notes on each student so
I can stay on top of where each
student is in the process and
teach to their level."

Next month we'll look at mixing new
handlers and experienced ones
in upper level classes, as well as
trial preparation and more in Agility
Classes: Are We Meeting the Needs
of All Types of Students? Part 2. D

Brenna Fender is a freelance writer and editor who works for Clean Run. She lives in Florida with her husband, two children, a Papillon (Spark), a Beagle (Wrigley), a
Border Collie (Tessa), her daughter's Chihuahua (Chase), and a variety of other creatures. Tessa has agility titles, UpDog Challenge disc achievements, and a Trick Dog
Champion Title. Over the years, Brenna's dogs have been titled in conformation, agility, Junior Hunter, Junior Courser, rally, obedience, and Canine Good Citizen. Brenna
can be reached at brennafender@gmail.com and you can visit her website at brennafender.com.
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