In the beginning, there was foundation work....

  At the DOCNA trial last weekend, I talked with a very nice lady who was spectating. She had just gone to her first agility class, and was very excited to watch the sport that she hopes to compete in someday. She was also very excited that her dog had "done the weaves" at his first class. Weave poles? At the first class? Are you kidding me? Oh dear, she was not kidding.
  Ten years ago, when I was training Cozy, we did that sort of thing. Agility training meant getting your dog on the equipment, and little else. Cozy's performances show that lack of foundation skills, even though I have worked to fix the deficiency. Times have changed, agility training has made huge advances.
   Thank goodness for a couple of Really Great Instructors, Susan Anderson and Jen Shaul, who moved to Colorado a few years ago and showed me The Path To Agility Success. The Path to Success starts with the foundation that you teach your dog. That foundation needs to be strong to withstand the stress that competition puts on the performance. Watch the novice class at the next trial and it will be pretty easy to see the dogs who had a good foundation and are ready for competition, and it's also easy (and often painful) to see the dogs who did not have foundation skills in place before starting equipment training, sequencing, and competing. Very often, those are the dogs who quit competing after a few months because "he doesn't like agility."
   A solid foundation produces a confident dog who ignores distractions and works with his handler. A solid foundation produces a dog who knows that agility is always safe and fun!
   In the last few years, many books and DVDs have been produced to give details on foundation exercises. Some good ones are "Agility Right From the Start," "The Focused Puppy," and all those Susan Garrett books and DVDs. (Susan, can I PLEASE have a commission?) YouTube is a terrific resource for anyone who doesn't have access to a great instructor. And Sue Ailsby's Training Levels is a wonderful resource for dog training. Sue's program is free, fun, and fabulous. And it's FREE!

  Here's Border Terrier Tucker running AKC Excellent Standard, under judge Linda Kipp:



I'm still learning.....