Clean Run Magazine - December 2008 - 55

One book I used was Jumping from A to Z, by Christine Zink, DVM, PhD and Julie Daniels. I wanted to teach Kesä to perform an arc over the jumps. Once she was jumping full height, I purchased five industrial barrels (they can be found at most horse feed stores). I cut the ends off and placed them on the top jump bar.The barrels were nearly 24” in diameter, the height I needed. Then I created a jump chute—four to five jumps placed equally apart, so that between jumps my dog takes only two steps, equivalent to one stride length. The jump chute teaches the correct jumping style and helps reinforce it. Once you think your dog is jumping correctly and consistently, lower the bar and remove the barrels to avoid training too often at competition height. I thought a lot about how to train contacts and went through many phases. Early on I was taught to place a board on the ground, have my dog walk across it, and tell her to stop with my Wait command. The idea was to find out where she likes to stop on the board, such as the two-on/two-off or fouron position. When she consistently stopped in the four-on position that became our performance standard. Later, I realized the criteria were too vague. She would stop too high on the board to be released, wasting valuable seconds. So, I experimented with the two-on/two-off position, and then running contacts using stride regulators. I found she was too excited in a trial to know when to jump off, so I settled on the two-on/ two-off method as best for us. I used a quick release in the big events. For weaving, I taught my pup to enter correctly from all angles using two stick-inthe-ground poles. Then I used the channel method with 4, 6, and finally 12 poles. For Kesä, the guide wires were simply a challenge to break through, so we eliminated them from our repertoire. But it didn’t matter—Kesä learned to weave in only three weeks! December 08 | Clean Run Mark Dillemuth, an agility competitor for over nine years, wrote this article about Sprite’s Epic Tergosa, Kesä. Starting at age 22 months, she earned her AX, AXJ, and AAD within six months. By winning several USDAA Tournaments, she became the youngest Tervuren to earn a TM title. She also placed 3rd in the 2006 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge Western Regional Large Dog Agility. Now, at age four, she has achieved the highest agility standings of all Tervuren at the USDAA World Cynosport Games and participated in the 2007 AKC Invitational. You can contact Mark at tergosa@yahoo.com. 55 We played catch and retrieve constantly to build drive. Ready for Success Depending on your chosen venue, your dog will be old enough to begin running courses in fun runs and practice between 15 and 18 months of age. You and your dog should be able to successfully navigate a beginner course before you enter the Novice/Starter level of competition. If you have followed our recipe for agility success, you and your partner are ready to consider competition. I encourage others who are serious about achieving agility stardom to consider this outline of our training journey. Agility is a very personal sport. Handlers and their dogs have their own unique way of learning and being motivated. This plan worked for me and I hope it can help you. Good luck—see you in the finals! D

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Clean Run Magazine - December 2008

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