Update on Consistency

Unfortunately, Monster and I haven't had much time to start our re-conditioning program yet. It makes me sad but my schedule at work is beginning to stabilize which will make it easier for me to plan conditioning days. Also, Monster and Punch broke into my dog food supply Friday evening and there was vomiting, IV catheters, SQ fluids, moping, and lots of water drinking. Then came the poop. SO MUCH POOP. I must have had a week's worth of dog poop in the 12 hours following the dog food break in. My boyfriend was, of course, clueless as to what had occurred and he only knew that Punch wasn't feeling well when he was crying at the door and just standing outside whining. I digress...

I HAVE had time, though, to discover a few more tools to help me up my agility game. I don't need fancy handling at the moment. What I need is consistency as I stated before. I need to know and understand my dog so that I can anticipate where I can go and where I need to be on course as well as where I need to train more skills for myself and my dog. 

 And that brings me to a course that I've signed up for. It's called a course but really I'd say it's more like a handbook to better timing on course. There isn't much feedback but general tips on how to approach these sequences to understand your dog better. There is a forum to discuss the course with other students and you have access to it for up to a year. Estimated time of completion is 4 months. Though, knowing myself, it will likely take longer. There are options for both small and large spaces. Small spaces typically have approximately 4 jumps and a tunnel and large spaces 7 jumps and a tunnel. The course is with Kathy Keats' online instruction service The Agility Coach. The course is discounted at the moment for $69 CAD (approximately $56 US dollars). I am not sure when or if the price will go back to what it was.

Normal pricing for this course is $129 CAD. This photo was taken from the course page.

Here is the description of the course directly from the website:

SECRETS OF PERFECT TIMING!

Great timing is one of the key ingredients to being a great handler and a great teammate for your dog. Yet no one has fully explained the elements of timing until now. It’s not as simple as ‘run faster’ or ‘turn sooner’ or you would have fixed your timing already!

Join the hundreds of handlers that have!

This course will help you…
…build trust between you and your dog
…know when your dog is going to perform an obstacle
…react quicker
…be more clear with your cues
…get to handling positions more quickly
…anticipate what your dog is going to do
…and much more!

I'll see what I can do to post some video of our conditioning program when it starts! I'll try to check in later!