AG110 Intro to Agility - Handling Basics

Are you familiar with dog sports but new to agility? Feel out of place in a beginner’s class but not sure where to learn the basics for this sport? Been in agility for awhile but feel like your foundation skills are lacking? We have the class for you!

This class will focus on foundation agility handling; the art of moving between the obstacles and around the course with safety and maximum efficiency! We’ll start with the assumption that you know NOTHING about agility but a good deal about dogs and dog training; in this manner each student will be able to move forward at the pace that best suits their needs. In this class, you won’t be in over your head and you won’t be bored either!

Using only three jumps, we’ll cover Front crosses, Rear crosses, Blind crosses, Serpentines, Threadles, Forward and Lateral Sends, Lead out Pushes, and many more! (see the syllabus for more details). This course is open to all levels but will focus on these basics.

If you’re not new to agility but want to strengthen your foundation on your trained dog, Loretta can help you too and will meet you where your skills need the most assistance.

Course Details

This class will focus on foundation agility handling: the art of moving between the obstacles and around the course with safety and efficiency. We’ll start with the assumption that you know NOTHING about agility but a good deal about dogs and dog training so you can move forward at the pace that best suits your needs. In this class, you won’t be in over your head, but you won’t be bored either! You won't need tons of equipment, either. Using only three jumps, we’ll cover front crosses, rear crosses, blind crosses, serpentines, threadles, forward and lateral sends, lead out pushes, and so much more!

This class is designed for all levels. Agility newbies won't have any trouble following along, but more seasoned agility folks will be able to strengthen the foundation on their already-trained dog. Loretta has worked with many well-known instructors, so she understands different handling methods and can make modifications based on your experiences.

Check out this video of students from Loretta's last intro to agility class!

Teaching Approach

Lectures will be released weekly on the first day of each new week. Instructions are provided in both written form (bullet points/steps), and through video examples.

Many games require the handler to be able to move away from the dog, or move and throw toys. While the lectures assume an able-bodied handler and a dog who is interested in food or toys, I am highly flexible for students at the Gold level. I will happily work with you to adjust the materials for your Gold team's needs. Please ask for modifications if needed. I want you to be able to apply this to YOUR DOG.

Feedback is provided using a timestamp, and description of what I am talking about in the video submission. An example of this is below:

0:35 when you stepped forward with your right foot, your foot was not pointing to the jump, but it was turned 90 degrees, that is why your dog did not send to the jump. Please rotate your foot clockwise (to the right) approx 6 inches so it is facing the jump bar.

0:55 here you did a LOVELY job of moving off that forward send. That is just how I want it to look. WELL DONE!

This class will have a Teacher's Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the Bronze and Silver students! Directions for joining that Facebook group will be in the classroom after you register.

Syllabus

Week 1:

Value Building:
For jumps using shaping
Proper form
Calls to Heel and Side on the Flat
Handling cues (use and theory):
Deceleration
Acceleration

Week 2:

Start lines
Lining up
Sending to toys
Calls to Heel and Side over a jump

Week 3:

Focus Forward
Sends:
Lateral
Forward

Week 4:

Learning the Crosses:
Front Cross
Rear Cross
Blind Cross

Week 5:

Backside sends
270
180

Week 6:

Advanced Moves:
Serpentine
Threadle
Pulls versus Push

Prerequisites & Supplies

Equipment needs: Three jumps ideally. One jump is the minimum. Loretta will make modifications to allow you to continue moving your skills forward with whatever you have! An area to work your dog with good footing (grass, matting, thick carpet) please no concrete or gravel.

Sample Lecture

Rewarding The Line:

Why do I want you to reward the line? Is it THAT important to reward the line? You probably ask yourself "Why can I not just reward out of my hand?"

In order to run agility and stay ahead of the dog, you need to build commitment to the obstacles you are sending to.

As we raised our puppies, many of us did a lot of retrained recalls, getting our puppies to run to us AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!! That is the goal right? To run to the handler AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

As we start their agility training, suddenly, things need to change. Do we want them to run AS FAST AS POSSIBLE? Yes! But....do we need them to always run TO THE HANDLER? No...you want the dog to commit instantly to the obstacle and ALLOW you to move away while they complete the obstacle.

This is where rewarding the line is the goal.

What does rewarding the line do?

It refocuses the dog to the PATH between the obstacles, not RUNNING DIRECTLY TO THE HANDLER. So your dog will start sending to obstacles faster, AND allow you to move away.
It desensitizes the dogs to your motion, motion is the #1 issue I see in dogs that do not want to commit. They will LOOK like they are going to take a jump, but then as the handler moves, they will abort taking the jump and come to the handler. This is MOTION SENSITIVITY.
Motion Sensitiity shows up in many areas: Dogs not committing to obstacles, dogs dropping bars because they are looking at the HANDLER's MOTION and not the obstacle, dogs that blow contacts, startlines, tables etc because the handler is moving. ALL these issues are due to a dogs reaction to motion.
By rewarding the line, we are working on these issues while teaching the handling skills we need.

NOW: This ONLY WORKS IF YOU PAIR YOUR MOTION AWAY with the toy drop. So if you just drop the toy on the dog's path and stand still YOU WILL NOT GET ANY BENEFITS. REWARD DROP MUST BE PAIRED WITH MOTION AWAY.

Do I care what you reward on the line with? NO :) I do not! I do not believe that you HAVE TO HAVE both food and toy drive, you can develop it, you can train it, but in order to do agility...it is not a REQUIREMENT BY ME. USE WHAT IS REWARDING FOR YOUR DOG.

If your dog loves toys, great! But always make sure you interactwith the toy once the dog has it.
If your dog loves food, I just ask that you have it in something, as I posted in the discussion group, a Lotus ball, is a great treat delivery system for food. You would just put treats in it and BARELY close it, to show your dog how to open it. Food motivated dogs LOVE these things! You can also use bait bags, etc. YOU can drop VERY VISIBLE FOOD on the ground...I don't like to do this as I train on grass and dirt all the time, but string cheese is very visible. I prefer having it in a food dispensing toy.

Rewarding the line is all I do with my dogs in training when I am doing handling exercises. I get commitment faster, I get dogs that I can leave so much earlier after I cue, and I get dogs that can do their job even with me running full speed away!

The earlier the commitment, the earlier I can leave, the earlier I can give information. For high drive dogs it is a necessity so you can get to places on the course. For medium or lower drive, they get to chase you, which many dogs love!

I hope this helps explain my thought processes behind rewarding the line!

Instructors

Loretta Mueller

Loretta Mueller (she/her) has been involved in agility since 2003 with her first rescue dog, Ace. Since then she has been involved in a variety of dog training activities including USBCHA herding, competitive obedience, rally obedience, and service dog training. In 2007, Loretta...

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