Clean Run - August 2010 - 49

Our next challenge was his comfort zone. Because Maka’s foundation training taught him obstacle independence and distance skills, he is very happy to work away from his handler. I would step into Maka’s path for an obstacle cue and end up sending him out 15' or more to the wrong obstacle. I had to learn when and where to apply pressure to his line and when to relieve that pressure to bring him into me. Because I wanted to be able to cue tight turns, we spent time training obstacle wraps and converging lines. By rewarding him for coming into position by my side (read ankle) I adjusted Maka’s comfort zone to accommodate close work as well as distance handling. I balanced tight work with distance training; I didn’t want to lose those distance skills Jean had trained so well. If you’ve been doing agility for more than 30 seconds you know to pay attention to where your feet are pointed. Because our feet tell the dog which direction we are going, they are an important handling tool. Apparently most people have feet that point forward when they run. I was a duck in a former life and have feet that point out to the sides when I run. Maka took the obstacle my foot was inadvertently pointing toward instead of the obstacle my arm was indicating. Besides being a lot harder to keep in my peripheral vision, Maka was also much more aware of my feet than my dogs. I learned quickly how to pull in my feet and point them where I wanted Maka to go. Having sorted out the basics on our home turf, I had to take my new teammate out of the training yard and see how our skills held up in the real world. So Jean and I took our show on the road to participate in some fun runs. I was happy to discover that most skills held up on the new agility field. Maka’s contacts were great, he held his start-line stay, and he ran with speed and confidence. The new distracting sights and sounds offered a chance to work around things that gave Maka pause and gave me some insight into what this little guy noticed in his world that I hadn’t considered. Practicing in a new location revealed other things we needed to work on in
August 10 | Clean Run

training. Obstacles lying unused around the edges of the ring captured Maka’s attention and more than once he attempted to perform these obstacles. Sometimes he just gave them a quick look-see as he ran by, but even this caused several off-courses I hadn’t anticipated. Noises we don’t have near our secluded desert yard, such as the ice cream man pushing his cart up the street and ringing bells, were something Maka needed more exposure to so the strange sounds around trials wouldn’t worry him. And grass was a new surface for us since our training yard in the desert is, you guessed it, sand. My previous dogs all ran a little slower on the grass fields at trials, but Maka found grass exhilarating and ran faster. His new speed meant I had to adjust my timing and be in better position on course, give verbal and body cues much sooner, and take advantage of every lateral shortcut I could find. Front crosses became almost impossible so I needed to work on better cueing with rear crosses.

point to sit down with Jean and talk to her about the ego crush and jealousy that can occur when your dog enjoys playing agility with someone other than his owner. I let her know while I really enjoyed training Maka, I wanted her to be free to tell me, at any point, if this arrangement was no longer working for her. I told her that our friendship was more important to me than the chance to trial again. Jean said she was very secure in her relationship with Maka and knows that while I have formed a bond with him, it is different from the connection they have in their daily lives together. Jean is overjoyed that Maka has adjusted to working with his two moms and she knows that as much fun as Maka and I have running agility, at the end of the day, he goes home with her. After several months of training together I thought we were ready to start trialing. I was chomping at the bit to get back in the ring with my new little rocket dog but I wanted to make sure Maka was ready for the challenges of trials. Running him at fun runs and practice matches gave me the information I needed to adjust our training sessions and focus on the skills I needed to run my surrogate agility dog. Jean and I wanted to make sure we did everything correctly so she re-registered Maka with the agility venues and added me as co-owner. While ribbons and certificates are meaningful reinforcers for a job well done, for me trialing is not just about how many 1st-place ribbons my dog gets or how quickly he can earn his titles. It’s about the time with friends, the joy of running with a dog that loves the game, and the challenge of figuring out the best way around a course. So while I still plan to have a dog of my own to run in agility someday, I am truly grateful for everything Maka has helped me learn, for Jean’s grace and kindness in letting me run Maka, and for the enjoyment I feel from my time in the ring with my surrogate agility dog. D

Some people are very sensitive when it comes to anything concerning their dog and the idea that another person can run the dog, and run him well, is more than their egos can handle. They like to think their dog only runs agility because of his undying sense of loyalty and love for them. That dream is shattered when they see their dog having just as much fun running with another person. Over the years, I have seen this scenario transpire more than once, and I have even seen it ruin friendships. With that in mind, I made a

Deanna Adams lives in Hesperia, California, with her husband Anthony and their dogs Jacob (a.k.a. MAD dog Jake), Ronin, and Terra and the occasional litter of foster kittens. She has been an agility instructor with Paw Prints Dog Club for 14 years. Contact her through her club’s website: www.pawprintsdogclub.com. 49

http://www.pawprintsdogclub.com

Clean Run - August 2010

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