Entries by Stephanie

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My Perfect Agility Dog?

What does it take, you ask yourself? More practice, more training, more videos, seminars, equipment? Which aspect of agility training are you missing right now in order to boost your skills to the next level? Well, that’s a question only you can ask and answer.

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What we learned at the UKI Texas Cup

I have to admit I did think, “OMG, what have I gotten us into?”.  And the other aspect, sharing the ring with expert handler teams might have been more intimidating had I actually known who any of them were…LOL. But I had my ‘agility music’ preloaded ..

A Year of Agility Challenges

Reflection about this last year in competition. How many times have you watched a team struggle with table performance, weaves, contacts only to hear them later say their dog does these things perfectly at practice.

2017 World Agility Championship

Have you dreamed of you and your dog competing on an international level? Do you enjoy watching very skilled teams compete at a sport you love? We do! Emma and I will be watching the 2017 IFCS World competition held in Spain this year. Hopefully, you will be too! There’s sure to be lots of […]

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Evaluating Agility Seminars

Here’s a little information to help you when choosing to participate in a Dog Agility seminar or workshop. While each situation is unique, it’s nice to try to find the common elements of time and money to compare to make your choice. We tried to give you a way to evaluate them equally.

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Trainers & Students want to Say

Agility classes and seminars are great opportunities to learn more about your favorite team sport. Here are some tips for contributing to a positive class environment from both perspectives. Things you wish you could say either to your classmates, students, or instructor.

Speed and Motivation Up and Running

Starting out, Courtney demonstrated, then directed while each of us worked through an exercise that helps motivate our dog to go faster and ahead. All of our teams grasp the concept quickly. Next, we took turns at some obstacle focus exercises and sending our dog ahead when you don’t have a helper.

Workshop Going the Right Way

We started off applying our clicker skills from last week’s lesson. This week, we focused on how to shape a behavior to go in the desired direction. Each of us had something different that we needed out of the lesson and Courtney gave us all lots of individual attention to help set us up for success.

First Clicker Training Workshop Success

We hosted the first Courtney Keys Clicker Training for Relationship Building workshop this last Sunday. It was a beautiful, sunny day with plenty of shade and a nice breeze. We were all pretty comfortable and the dogs did very well. After giving us a basic introduction to the theory and methodology of clicker training, Courtney […]

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What makes a USDAA judge?

Interview with Courtney Keys  At my first agility competition,  it was a weird mix of fear and excitement. I only entered runs that I understood and only as many as I thought my dog and I could handle. I’d been trying to get to this place in time for a really long time. As I […]

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Have Fun with your Dogs

Interview with Silvia Trkman World renowned Dog Agility Champion and Coach, Silvia Trkman shares some of her thoughts on how she’s achieved success in competition with her dogs. As a young girl, training dogs was something she explored in a time that positive reinforcement was not commonly understood. She continues to find new ways to train while having fun and […]