Okay, after months of input, thought and contemplation....... I will go forward with the seminar list for 2015. I struggled with teams that wanted to do "agility" but not always wanting to lay the foundation down that creates the teamwork for a totally successful connection between human and dog. And I saw teams that did their foundation work and saw what amazing teams they are with the most beautiful grace and beauty on a course that could exist. With that inspiration I will go forward with 2015 with those images inspiring me to push even more to get people to that point!
As far as topic, I will focus on connection, communication, confidence, and working distance. I will cover every phase of CCCWD so that those that do the exercises will succeed at Chances and be able to do StarterStakes work if they desire to do so. For those that don't do the exercises, they will not have the success they want. If teams want to do more then SilverStakes and SuperStakes can be possible.
There will be way fewer videos and much more discussion with short clips and photos for explanation.
I can upset a lot of people and say that distance is not tough. Having a connection, communication, and confidence at a distance is tougher. Anyone can do distance, but not everyone can make it a display of amazing connection between dog and handler. And I am not talking an ugly Chances Q. But one that flows with grace and beauty through perfect connection, communication and confidence between dog and handler. Anyone can run with their dog. I could teach you that. You could learn to do lots of crosses and teach your dog to understand the pre-cues that you are about to take their space away from them and they need to let you do your change of sides without running into their legs or shutting down because the handler took your space from you. But I won't teach you that. I will teach how to show your dog respect and that you will not be driving your dog forward and also holding them back.
So much of agility nowadays is like watching a horse rider spurring their horse constantly while pulling back on the reins. It is a "go, go, go" mentality and yet never allow the dog to "really GO"....
I can teach you to flow with the course and with your dog if you are willing to do each step and actually teach each exercise and not a personal remake of the exercise. Your dog can learn to respect you and share wonderful experiences together. To do that you need to be the one doing the directing and the dog needs to be the one following the cues and commands. If you just "kinda" teach a behavior then the dog will never fully trust you as the leader in the exercise and allows question your ability to lead the team. People say that their dog "argues" with them or won't quite do a behavior but in most cases the dog has been taught to question the leadership role of the handler as the handler never quite completes the training of any behavior.
You will not be harsh on your dog. You will be fair and consistent. I will teach you how to teach a behavior, trust what you have taught them and expect that behavior to happen every time. You will learn through reward and praise.
I get frustrated when I see "distance work" that is based on yelling, running and a prayer that a handler can get a dog through the course. I want the handler confident and ready to be successful. If you can't "see" it happening and "feel" that it could happen, then it isn't going to happen. And it is a lack of confidence in your training, your training skills, and your ability to communicate with your dog that causes the frantic style of distance.
Dogs are not slow. Dogs can outrun humans. If dogs are mentally and physically sound, then slow comes from too much control or a lack of confidence between dog and handler. Speed comes from confidence.
If you start working on exercise #2 and you don't have #1 mastered, you will fail. If you skip steps, you will fail. Does that mean that you won't get qualifiers? Nope, you can still qualify and skip many steps. But you won't feel that amazing feeling of communication, connection and confidence that comes from flowing with your dog with each step they take.
You will learn that a start line stay is just that, a start line STAY.... not a battle of who is in control. Just how mentally frustrating is that to a dog to start with a question about who is the leader? Not fair to the dog.
You will learn how to do contacts. And I mean contacts that anyone can judge.... a contact that is not questioned by any judge or any person watching...... a good, clean, clear performance. Weaves poles with an entry without a handler standing there to "load" them into the poles. Directional commands that the dog understands.
But I will start off with saying that if you are not willing to teach each exercise so that it is completely understood by both the dog and the handler, then moving on to a more "exciting" exercise will not work and you will not reach the level you really want. Unless just earning a Q is your goal. And you can go anywhere to learn that. For me, that isn't a goal. Nor is a title or award. We need them to mark our progress and success, but the ultimate goal is the beauty of a dog and handler that truly understand each other and give everything they have to give to each other. So many teams don't even realize what the feeling is. For so many, a Q marks whether or not the dog and handler were "good" and successful.
I would like to take you way beyond a Q, if you are willing to accept the challenge. But accepting the challenge actually means working the exercises and teaching each exercise until you have communication, connection and confidence. If you want to skip steps, that is your choice. But don't come back later and blame behavioral problems on me......... you make your choices and you live by them. If you don't care about "iffy" contacts and a toenail is fine for you, then when your dog has soundness issues, frustration issues and confidence issues about teamwork, then it is on you, not me.
If you don't follow the lessens and you "can't" teach a start line stay, then don't wonder why you miss contacts or your dog doesn't always follow those directional cues. You started the learning curve between the two of you in that first step.
I might sound harsh, but I too have goals. I want to produce enthusiastic awesome teams that truly understand each other and work courses with flow and beauty that comes from a great connection, awesome communication, and confidence between dog and handler. And the best way to display those talents is to do it from a distance where dog and handler are out of each others way and free to give the cues and commands that are clear to the dog from any handling position.
That does not mean that your only choice would be distance work....... but when you have distance work, then you DO have choices, a lot of choices! I truly admire teams that run side by side, it can be a beautiful performance. But when handlers run with their dogs because they don't have the skills for distance, then they are removing a lot of great communication skills that are so much fun for both dog and handler. Run close because it is your choice, not because it is the only option you have. When you hone your distance skills, you open up a large array of choices for you and your dog.
All of our training is based on building a foundation that will help keep your dog sound both mentally and physically. If you want to do yours a bit differently because you can place higher and beat more people, but it might cause some injury to your dog, then this is not the place for you. No Q, or title, or placement is worth an injury to the dog that could have been easily avoided by sounder training methods.
Don't renew to this list if you don't feel that you are up to being pushed to a new level. Don't renew if you don't want to hear that you can't succeed at step #10, because you still haven't succeeded at step #2.
For those that want to go on, I look forward to our journey together!! The renewal fee for 2015 will be $150 for existing members up to Dec. 15th. After Dec. 15th it will be $200 for existing members. New members will be $200 until Dec. 15th and $300 after Dec. 15th.
Good luck and hugs your dogs!
Sharon
