In my prowling of the web for web sites to add to Googility, I found that Rachel Sanders has posted reprints of some of her CleanRun articles online. So far she has articles on weave entries, speeding up 2o2o contacts, and motivation.

Here is the direct link to her library page.

I really like Rachel and have attended all of her local seminars. I especially like her thorough approach to training the handling around contacts. I just ordered her DVD Contacts: Bridging the Gap Between Training & Competition and am looking forward to seeing it. I've also been using her running A Frame technique to retrain Meeker and will purchase that DVD when it is available.

Ever search for agility terms and been frustrated with the results returned by conventional search engines?

I've taken the web sites, blogs, forums, and individual web pages to which I've referred over the years and entered them into a Google Custom Search. This customized search engine limits its searches to pages only on those sites, giving much more useful results for every search I've tried.

I've created a new web site just for this search: http://search.agilitynerd.com/

As new content is added to these sites Google automatically updates the search engine, so it is always up to date. I'll also add new sites and individual pages to the search engine when I learn of them. If you know of a useful site or even a single page that doesn't show up in the search please send me an email.

Happy agility searching!

There was a discussion on the AgileTeach Email List this past week about helping students with learning difficulties remember obstacle sequences. That got me thinking about a method Dana Pike used in her advanced classes that challenged students course memorization abilities.

When I first started training with Dana I was surprised when she didn't put out numbered cones on the course. As a student you had to show up on time and she'd walk the course with the group and point out the obstacles in order (but without giving any handling hints) and she'd usually only walk it twice with us. Then it was up to the students to remember the course and come up with their handling. I was pretty terrible at first, but over time was able to find the patterns in the courses and that helped with remembering the courses. For experienced students I've found this to be a good way to challenge their course memorization abilities.

Not putting out cones also has the side effect of encouraging students to come to class on time. If they miss the walk through they get to practice the experience of missing the walk through on trial day and trying to deduce the course before running it. This is actually a valuable skill, although one you'd like to not ever use...

When training students running full courses, as an instructor it is easiest to lay out cones and say "Walk it". But it doesn't exercise the handler's course remembering abilities as much as it could, so if you are looking to challenge your students you might give this exercise a try.

Top agility competitor and trainer Linda Mecklenburg now has a website. That in itself isn't notable, now a days most trainers have an online presence. What I like about Linda's site is she is including some very useful reference information.

The information is a little hidden. At the bottom of the Agility Service - Instruction page there is a link to "Online Instruction". Here is a direct link. That page has three sections:

• Course Handling Analysis
• Handling Discussion
• Library

It is worthwhile studying all the material Linda has placed under these sections. While her approach, like all top trainers, evolves slightly over time, even her oldest articles have a lot of value. Her explanations can be on the technical side because she is trying to be accurate in her descriptions.

I just came back from Linda's camp where she, Wendy Pape and Ann Braue each taught one day. I found them all to be very positive trainers and very helpful to all levels of competitors. Wendy and Ann's approaches (at least at this camp :^) are compatible with Linda's handling system. I'd definitely recommend training with them and learning more about Linda's handling system.

In response to a comment on my Window Film Application post here are my thoughts on the Honda Element as a dogmobile and how I store my dog stuff in it. Basically it is a fine vehicle. I've had mine for just over two years. It has 42,000 miles on it. I don't keep track of mileage too much but I probably get around 25 MPG with mostly highway travel.

Read more ...

Now that the heat of summer is coming I've started looking for ways to keep our dogs cooler and safer while traveling in the car. Like many agility folk who won't make the jump to the mini van (or church bus as my friend Tony with 10+ dogs wants :^) I drive a Honda Element. It has slightly tinted windows in the back and on the rear sun roof. The rear sun roof ends up right over the dog's crates and the sun comes right in on the dogs. There isn't an opaque cover for the sun roof glass to keep all the light out.

Read more ...

I saw a tragic story come through on a number of agility email lists a couple weeks ago that I thought I should share it with those of you who don't read all the lists. A family let their dog out into their yard of agility equipment and when they checked back later it appeared that their dog had gotten out of the yard. After searching the neighborhood they ultimately found their dog had become tangled in the chute material within the chute and suffocated. I can only imagine how heart broken they must be.

So we all get the moral of the story right away: agility equipment (among other things we leave in our yards) can be potentially dangerous to our dogs if we leave them unattended. I figured that was pretty much the end of the story.

Read more ...

I was at a Suzanne Clothier seminar in CT this last weekend and was speaking about agility with dog behaviorist and researcher Dr. Rudy de Meester from Belgium. He mentioned that he was concerned that people who compete in agility can push dogs harder than is good for the dog's health. He told me about one dog sport and one type of agility competition that were new to me.

The new (to me) dog sport is canine cross country or CaniX. It is basically skijoring without skis. The human and dog are connected by harnesses and run together over a course. Since it involves running with your dog it requires the human to be as fit as the dog. I wish I was in shape enough to consider it.

The other interesting thing he mentioned was an agility game played in Belgium (and maybe elsewhere in Europe) where the object of the game is not to beat the clock but to match the clock. The team that comes closest to matching the course time wins. The thing I love about this game is it can be played by all ages of dogs and competitors. Dr. de Meester liked it because it didn't encourage handlers to push their teammates past their abilities. Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the organization or this game. So if any of my European readers could give me some more information I'd love to learn more about this game.

The more I do agility the more I enjoy the games. At first I was intimidated by the rules. But now I'm older and not afraid to screw up on course and get disqualified. It doesn't take long to develop some simple strategies and the planning of your run can be fun. Running the courses can also challenge how flexible you can be when things go wrong.

Also the local availability of CPE and, lately more, USDAA trials makes it easy and inexpensive to play more games and earn titles in the games. Some parts of the US also have a lot of NADAC which also features games. I think Bud Houston is bringing back JFF which will feature a lot of games too.

Are there any unusual agility games that you enjoy playing?

Well Meeker and I put on our "big boy pants" and tried his first USDAA agility trial this past weekend (only my second USDAA trial). Contact Sports Agility hosted the trial at a nice indoor soccer facility in Crystal Lake, IL. Our judge all weekend was Becky Dean who was very nice, fair, had nice courses and was in surprisingly good spirits throughout the long days.

It was also nice to see so many of the folks we train with at a trial. The Starters group for 22" jump height had over 30 dogs in most classes. It was a very supportive group, there was a lot of cheering going on and everyone helped each other out. A big thanks to Mary, Jeanette, and Whitney for videotaping our runs! I can't recall a more fun group at a trial.

Random thoughts: I built courses all weekend and a lot of folks pitched in to help things move along. This was a big trial, almost 900 runs in two rings on Saturday. There was good catered food for the workers. I finally met Linda Mecklenburg. A couple times nice people stopped me and mentioned they enjoyed my blog, thank you! I met Maven, a sweet BC who might be related to Meeker.

Read more ...

Here's my interpretation of the Contact Cozies Steve Stochaj wrote about in his comment on my article about the dangers of frost on contacts. I got the dog footprint fleece on sale at a local fabric store and after many fits and starts got my Mom to cut and stitch them. I think they look pretty good:

Read more ...