Key to Success: Keep It Fun!
This issue’s training tip is contributed by North Carolina resident Kelley Ferguson, who has trained dogs in agility and flyball since 2012. She has trained many different breeds including a Miniature American Shepherd, Border Collies, and All Americans. Her All American, Daffy, always had the best time barking with excitement all the way to the ring. She trained her older All American, Rylee, to run agility at the age of 9. Her youngest All American, Hummer, just started competing in AKC Agility in December and is already in Masters. Hummer also competes in the AKC Agility League and regularly ranks in the Top 5 All Americans. Here, Kelley tells us how having fun with her dogs makes all the difference.
The most important lesson I have learned in dog training is to always make it fun for your dog in both training and competition. By doing so, my dog stays engaged and wanting more. This makes them perform better and faster!
Restrained Recalls: An essential skill I learned training flyball is restrained recalls. The dogs always look forward to this part of flyball practice. They get to run as fast as they can to their favorite person for their favorite reward. What could be better! To kick it up a notch, we do restrained recalls simultaneously with another dog next to them. This not only adds a little bit of competition, but also helps with focus around distractions by working next to other dogs. With my tiny All American, Hummer, I realized early on she was too little for flyball. We adapted this skill, though, into her agility training regime and started doing recalls right away. It quickly become one of her favorite training activities, chasing me for her favorite fuzzy tug and ball.
Keep It Short: Another important way to keep dogs engaged is to keep your training sessions short, sweet, and fun. Don’t overdo it! You want to end each training session with them wanting more rather than your dog tired, distracted or disengaged. We all say just one more, but it ends up being five more.
Keep it Positive: Even if you are discouraged or haven’t had the best training session or run, don’t let your dog know! I have seen so many dogs melt when they feel their handler sigh, and it is so sad to watch. My goal is for anyone watching me is to think I just had the best run ever even if it was a train wreck. Many times, it is not the dog’s fault but lack of training or incorrect cues.
The FEO Opportunity: We are now able to run For Exhibition Only (FEO) in every class at trials, so take advantage of this opportunity! Trials can be stressful for dogs with all the noises, different people, smells, and dogs. I did this at our last trial when I noticed Hummer didn’t seem quite as confident during one of her runs. On our next run, I ran FEO with her favorite toy. She was so fast in her next run that I couldn’t even keep up, but I was happy to have that problem.
I know some dogs won’t play with their toy in a trial environment, so you may have to work up to it. Hummer didn’t want her favorite ball at the trial, so I worked hard to make it a reward even in that stressful environment. Build confidence slowly by making it short and sweet — a couple of jumps, a tunnel, and always remember to make it a party! Sometimes, reminding the dogs it’s about having fun with an FEO run is essential to a happy agility partnership regardless of what level you are at.