🤯A pre-requisite for joining many agility group classes is that your dog must be comfortable learning in close proximity to other dogs and people and must have recall skills. What is unique about agility, as a group training class and as a sport, is that it is an off-leash sport. It becomes increasingly challenging to progress skills in training when the dog has to remain on-leash or on a long-line. This poses challenges in the learning environment. This also happens in competition for teams struggling with engagement, a dog who runs the ring to say hello to the ring crew, instead of running the course with their handler. Truly, staying engaged off-leash in a high-arousal group class or competition environment is a challenging task. Private training can certainly be another avenue for many dogs to remain in a think and learn zone with less distraction, and then transfer those skills to a group or competition setting. However, many students (and coaches) really enjoy the community and camaraderie that comes from group classes and progressing with their peers.  

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🤔I have attempted to tackle what I consider to be a “missing link” with varying degrees of success over the years, starting with how I teach Foundations class: engagement, recall, impulse control, stationing skills, as well as an introduction to wing work, line connection, and handling flatwork. Despite having prerequisites and working on these skills each week, common challenges arise: indoor classes can feel like a lot of pressure for dogs who need more space during movement exercises; starting Foundations indoors can lead to great success for dogs (especially those with prior group class experience) but that success does not translate when we get off-leash at the field; outdoor classes can be overstimulating with several dogs moving in such a larger space and the dog struggles to engage with their handler. Sometimes the handler struggles to find a reward that is appealing enough for the dog, struggling to find a reward strategy that motivates the dog. Sometimes the value for playing with other dogs is much higher than the value for the game, the handler, the work.

😫It becomes very challenging to teach agility when the dog struggles to engage at baseline with the handler in the agility setting, whether a field, indoors, a barn, a seminar, a trial venue. The handler struggles to manage the long-line, the dog is spooked by equipment that falls over caught in the line, the dog interrupts other working dogs/handlers causing stress or tension in the group, handler spends 5 minutes catching their dog, handler can’t focus on the lesson or instructions because they are spending so much effort managing their dog… It is hard to find joy in the sport when we are worried or mentally preoccupied. Sometimes, we spend the 8-week Foundation class working on engagement, leaving the team quite behind on overall skill work.

😏My goal this season is to take the guessing game out of “how will my dog respond in this environment” and to help prepare students to meet the “prerequisite requirements” before they join the Foundations agility class. I want you to have full confidence in your dog and in your connection. This will allow us to truly hit the ground running and start learning the “sexy” parts of agility when the warmer weather allows! I would like to prepare you and your dog to: (1) work in close proximity to other dogs, (2) remain engaged off-leash for short amounts of time, and (3) have recall skills when around other dogs (not simply when in the peace and quiet of your own home), plus (4) build key skills for agility training success.

My goal for each student is to help you:
🐾Train So Well They Can’t Resist You👣