Training Tips From Susan: Mini Q&A With Susan: When To Start Contacts, Build Foundations, And Stop Zoomies In Dog Agility

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spk_0 What age do you start training contacts in dog agility?

spk_0 When do you do full courses and what foundations do the puppies need to have?

spk_0 Easy answer for foundation is all the great skills to be an amazing family pet.

spk_0 That should be the number one foundation.

spk_0 Beyond that, yes, there's a lot of handling skills that we need to teach our dogs on the

spk_0 flat.

spk_0 My dogs don't see any real agility obstacles.

spk_0 You know, maybe a jump bump for their grids.

spk_0 They do some grids when they're puppies, but nothing serious until they're closer to a year old.

spk_0 My contact, I just do the targeting on a flat mat or a raised mat when they're puppies or adolescent puppies.

spk_0 And I don't really start growing that contact behavior until they're close to a year old or older.

spk_0 Really, it really depends on the dog.

spk_0 So a dog like this, we really didn't progress very fast.

spk_0 At all, 18 months, she had pretty much none of it.

spk_0 So let the dog be the guide.

spk_0 What would you identify as three to five natural abilities or qualities of any agility dog?

spk_0 So of any agility dog or of the great ones, I personally think any dog you love that is

spk_0 physically sound can be a great agility dog.

spk_0 Like you don't have to go through dog after dog to find the perfect one.

spk_0 I think all dogs because of the nature of the sport of dog agility,

spk_0 it's just chasing your handler, your mummy or dad, chasing them around and doing jumps and hoops.

spk_0 Like it's a fun game.

spk_0 All dogs trained properly can be taught to really enjoy it.

spk_0 So if you think of dogs that really excel, it would be dogs that have equal balance for food and toys.

spk_0 Dogs that are playful in their nature.

spk_0 So those dogs trained properly, they're going to love the game.

spk_0 They're going to love to play a game.

spk_0 Obviously, if they have really nice structure that helps with the longevity in the sport.

spk_0 And I think you want a dog that has a lot of drive, but that they stay thoughtful and drive.

spk_0 So there's a few characteristics of what makes great agility dogs.

spk_0 How does one get into the agility world?

spk_0 We have an online program, handling 360.

spk_0 Anybody can join that and learn from the ground up.

spk_0 How to have an amazing agility dog and have fun doing it.

spk_0 How do you stop the zoomies in the agility ring?

spk_0 I think the zoomies are your dog communicating that they need more clarity in your handling.

spk_0 So I would look at handling 360 to really get great understanding in how you've put the layers

spk_0 of learning together for your dog in the agility ring.

spk_0 Now, if you say, Susan, my handling is spot on.

spk_0 My dog's got amazing foundation.

spk_0 And you just get the odd zoomie.

spk_0 Maybe you just overwhelm the dog with the environment that you put them in.

spk_0 But what I see is in most cases that dog, it's a communication problem because the dog is confused

spk_0 by the handling and the lack of foundation of how to drive a path from obstacle to obstacle.

spk_0 Most people when they're training agility, they focus on the obstacles,

spk_0 ref pulls, contacts, jumps.

spk_0 They don't focus on the path that connects those obstacles.

spk_0 And that's when dogs get confused.

Training Tips From Susan: Mini Q&A With Susan: When To Start Contacts, Build Foundations, And Stop Zoomies In Dog Agility

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