Clean Run - July 2020 - 39

Less course running, more specific
skill training.
According to Ira, at one point, there
was way too much course running
during training. But, in general, she
says that has decreased, at least in
Finland. Instead, skills are trained a
lot. "When we put effort into agility
skills, in the long term, it leads to
very good results."
Ira has noticed that in coaching,
however, we often still do a lot of
course training. Not necessarily
because the coaches want to, but
because their students still ask for it.
"I think, in coaching, there can be a
longer course, but it would be more
beneficial if it contained sequences
that were planned for each individual partnership. And that is possible
only in long-term coaching."
"We should really benchmark other
dog sports, in which training is
split into smaller entities and more
logical. And, we should also look
at sports like soccer: you can also
learn by playing, but exercises are
not only about that. Even the most
experienced players put effort into
both sport-specific exercises and developing the characteristics that are
important for the sport.

whole career of the dog. There are endless possibilities to add variation
to small exercises."
2. Your training is more efficient, and you get better results.
Ira thinks it's important to keep in mind how to get results from training:
How does my dog learn the best? "I believe that short, well thought out
exercises are the most efficient way to get a dog to learn because then you
get to affect the things that are essential for your dog. You get to reward the
things you planned and communicate to the dog what it is that you want
from him."
"Quite often on courses, I see that dogs are asked to do things they haven't
yet mastered. Like the German turn, for example. Then the handler needs
to compensate for the skills lacking in the dog. In the German turn, the dog
needs to master "out," and he needs to be able to cope with movement
disruption, and, quite often, one of these skills isn't yet at the needed level.
And, this kind of training (not breaking things down) isn't very efficient."
3. You don't put as much physical strain on the dog.
"Short exercises around a specific skill don't strain the dog as much, IF you
plan the training session carefully. For me, it's essential that the number of
repetitions is planned beforehand so that there won't be unnecessary strain
on my dog. And, for me, the first repetition counts the most, so if we succeed
with the first repetition, there's no reason to continue with that exercise."
Ira plans her training so that she has a course map with a few obstacles, and
on that same course map, there are three to four different exercises to practice. This way, when the dog succeeds, she is prepared to move on to the
next exercise.

Ira shared three reasons for emphasizing skill-based short exercises.
1. Every course is built on good
specific skills.
Ira wants to make sure her dogs
really understand what she asks
of them. She doesn't want to
compete if she can't trust their understanding in training. "For me,
it's very important that I can trust
my dog and her skills. And, for this
reason, small details matter. The
best way to get to your goals is to
split skill sets and create small exercises around them."
"When you build specific skills
carefully, everything becomes
easier on long courses as well.
And you need to maintain and
challenge the skills during the
July 20 | Clean Run

Agility training challenge:
Ins, outs, German turns

Ira's training challenge: obstacle focus
combined with movement distraction

What is the role of course training in agility?
Ira thinks that even though course training should not be the norm in training,
it has its purpose: "If a handler is inexperienced, course training is necessary
for learning how to remember a course and keep things together. And, when
the dog is close to starting to compete, you need to train so that all of the
contacts are in the same sequence. But, training long courses is not necessary
every week. Instead, it should be seen as a way to test if your current training
themes can be done at high speed and as part of a course."

Ira's tips for agility clubs to better meet handler's individual needs.
Many of us train in a club, and so does Ira. The practices of our clubs define our
possibilities to train. Ira has done a lot of work with her own club to develop a
mode of operation so that it supports the individual needs of each team. Here
are her tips on how other clubs can work to support their teams better.
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Clean Run - July 2020

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