1. Develop a firm, trusting relationship with your dog.
2. Properly condition your dog (2 hrs off leash running in woods / day, 1 a-day hike / week in mtns)
3. Teach your dog tricks - achieves total body awareness
4. Teach your dog obedience. Teaches you about motivation.
5. Boost your dog's confidence. Always let her know she's a champion.
6. Don't be afraid to do it your way. Trust your intuition on what is best for your dog.
7. If something goes wrong, remember it is always your fault - your training or your handling.
8. Never forget that results don't count.
9. Dog's work best when they work for themselves.
10. Go out and have fun with your dog.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Training for Speed - Silvia Trkman
'Speed is certainly my major focus right from the beginning and I won’t do anything until a dog is showing the attitude I want. Many people choose to do things slowly first to let a dog understand the job and then try to add speed: those with good drivey dogs with no problems – but an average drive dog might never add speed. And even if he does, very often adding speed to the picture changes that picture that much that a dog can’t do the job correctly anymore, then a handler re-does the exercise before rewarding and by that, gives a dog a message that going fast is not good."
"A dog can be slow if they worry too much about being right and their handler fails to give them a clear message that they ARE right."
"Forget about that start line stay. Run with your dog. You should reward right away when a dog shows more speed. I know it’s hard because it’s just so much fun to run a fast dog, but if you reward anyway, this will happen again. If not, it might never happen again. Rewarding is your only way to give a dog an information that fast is good. If you keep running and then even comment the possible mistakes that more speed brought, you’re giving your dog an information that speed is bad."
1. Make sure your dog understand agility is about running, not about doing obstacles. To beginners, I teach running first and then we include an obstacle or two that are on their way.
2. Keep agility training short and fun. Do all the necessary drilling outside agility field – no drilling allowed on agility filed.
3. If you want a fast dog, put is as your priority and act like it. Be happy and reward enthusiastically everything that is fast or at least faster as usual. Don’t worry about skipped or additional jumps.
"A dog can be slow if they worry too much about being right and their handler fails to give them a clear message that they ARE right."
"Forget about that start line stay. Run with your dog. You should reward right away when a dog shows more speed. I know it’s hard because it’s just so much fun to run a fast dog, but if you reward anyway, this will happen again. If not, it might never happen again. Rewarding is your only way to give a dog an information that fast is good. If you keep running and then even comment the possible mistakes that more speed brought, you’re giving your dog an information that speed is bad."
1. Make sure your dog understand agility is about running, not about doing obstacles. To beginners, I teach running first and then we include an obstacle or two that are on their way.
2. Keep agility training short and fun. Do all the necessary drilling outside agility field – no drilling allowed on agility filed.
3. If you want a fast dog, put is as your priority and act like it. Be happy and reward enthusiastically everything that is fast or at least faster as usual. Don’t worry about skipped or additional jumps.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Picking the Agility Puppy with the Tippy Board Test
Article by: Justine Merrill - The Dog Lady of Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Portland Oregon
When considering a youngster, do not be in a rush to take home a puppy under twelve or fourteen weeks of age. All previous written advice in the 70’s and 80’s has advised the opposite. We were encouraged to take puppies home at six, seven and eight weeks. “So they bond to us”. I have never taken a sheltie home that did not want to bond, no matter the age. If we still believe that old myth why do so many nice agility dogs come from rescue?
Keeping youngsters in the puppy pen for a few extra weeks does no harm: they learn dog manners, and grow up just a bit. Sheltie babies are such babies at ten weeks. Constantly I advise people that a fifteen week show grow out youngster can be the best possible agility or pet pick, they have had lots of attention, are ready to learn, and the temperament is more on display.
Since the biggest issue that arises in agility shelties is stuff and noise sensitivity, I want to test puppies when they have a little more brains under that cute fluff. I like to test after twelve weeks, I am not sure that results with a tippy board under ten or twelve weeks are accurate. This is just based on working puppies and having a puppy or two that did well at eight weeks, which did not test so well, or poorly at seventeen weeks.
http://justineleo.net/articles/picking%20the%20agility%20puppDy.htm
When considering a youngster, do not be in a rush to take home a puppy under twelve or fourteen weeks of age. All previous written advice in the 70’s and 80’s has advised the opposite. We were encouraged to take puppies home at six, seven and eight weeks. “So they bond to us”. I have never taken a sheltie home that did not want to bond, no matter the age. If we still believe that old myth why do so many nice agility dogs come from rescue?
Keeping youngsters in the puppy pen for a few extra weeks does no harm: they learn dog manners, and grow up just a bit. Sheltie babies are such babies at ten weeks. Constantly I advise people that a fifteen week show grow out youngster can be the best possible agility or pet pick, they have had lots of attention, are ready to learn, and the temperament is more on display.
Since the biggest issue that arises in agility shelties is stuff and noise sensitivity, I want to test puppies when they have a little more brains under that cute fluff. I like to test after twelve weeks, I am not sure that results with a tippy board under ten or twelve weeks are accurate. This is just based on working puppies and having a puppy or two that did well at eight weeks, which did not test so well, or poorly at seventeen weeks.
http://justineleo.net/articles/picking%20the%20agility%20puppDy.htm
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