Clean Run Magazine - November 2009 - 65

You don’t have to let your physical problems keep you from the sport you and your dog love. cues can you not perform due to your limitations, and how can you train your dog to overcome them? When you have developed a plan of action, then you can begin training your dog to fit your needs. Develop your own handling system; don’t borrow someone else’s. Your physical needs can vary greatly from other handlers, and you need a system that fits your team. Your handling system should be as unique to your team as your fingerprint. You don’t have to let your physical problems keep you from the sport you and your dog love. With the proper training and the correct execution of verbal cues and any physical cues you can give, you can train your dog to do agility. You can join the ranks of handlers across the world who successfully compete on crutches, in wheelchairs, with cancer, or with any host of physical problems. You can inspire yourself and others, and find you can climb mountains you had no idea were scalable, both in agility and in life. D There is much debate in handling systems concerning which arm to use in a rear cross. I personally like using the arm opposite the dog to signal a rear cross by raising my opposite arm upward in a large swooping motion. Others prefer to use the arm closest to the dog to signal the rear cross by moving the right arm into a “C” position or the left arm into an inverted “C” position. I find the “C” arm to be just fine if you are going to be working near your dog, but if you are going to be working at a distance from your dog, the “C” arm doesn’t provide the visual impact that the swooping opposite arm creates. Examine your handling system to see if using the opposite arm might be to your advantage. When examining your system, make sure to see if using the opposite arm could cause other cues to deteriorate, such as front-cross or turning cues. Many handlers with physical limitations find it helpful to train their dogs to Left and Right cues instead of a general side-switch cue. Left and Right are much more detailed, and I recommend those with physical problems seriously examine this possibility. The addition of a rear cross signaled with Left/Right can open up many more handling options. With my Sheltie Aslan, I have gone with a general sideswitch cue Back. He knows to turn either left or right based on my physical position, my cues, and his lead. With my new dog Asher, I am strongly considering training a Left/Right signal for a rear cross. Conclusion Before beginning distance and directional cue training, handlers with physical limitations should first sit down and think about their own physical problems and how those problems, now and in the future, may affect their ability to run an agility course. Be honest with yourself. Don’t be afraid to face your current limitations or possible future limitations. Once you understand what you are facing physically, look at directional cues and decide what your dog needs to know to help you get around a course. How much distance will you need? How detailed will you need to be when training your directional cues? Do you want a Straight cue that indicates a straight line for the dog, or will a general Go cue (meaning take the most obvious obstacle ahead of your dog) work? How about Left and Right cues? What about physical cues? What Kristin Kaldahl owns City Dogs Agility School in Oklahoma City. She and her Sheltie MACH2 Aslan have qualified four times for the AKC Agility National Championships and have competed twice. Kristin’s other agility dogs include Laika (12-year-old American Eskimo), Jericho (six-yearold Sheltie) and Asher (one-year-old Sheltie). Kristin received her second kidney transplant in December 2008 and is doing well. BULLSTICK! Bully Sticks & Natural Chews Grass-fed, free-range, antibiotic-free & hormone-free Brazilian beef Air dried to remove odor No smoke flavoring or chemical additives Does your dog have ALL-WAYS weaves? 2x2, channel, WAM, regulation… on one set! www.waytoweave.com www.cleanrun.com 866.814.4DOG PATENT PENDING AKC, USDAA, NADAC Compliant November 09 | Clean Run

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Clean Run Magazine - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - November 2009