"The Dog Whisperer" (not Paul Owens)

Veterinary behavior society announces position on punishment.
http://avma.org/onlnews/javma/feb08/080215l.asp

Shoes

Wearing the right shoes is an important part of running Agility.

C-Spot Win

I had a great week at C-Spot Win Camp in Laramie, Wyoming. My elective was Weaves and Contacts, however the Weaves where not addressed as much as the Rachel Sanders running contact. Clean Run Magazine May 2008 had a full article about Rachel's running contact training. I am going to train it with Ryker on the A-Frame and see if he can do it. I am hoping it will fix his up contact.
Dana Pike, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, Stephanie Spyr, Gerry Brown, Ronda Carter all had some nice challenging excercises for our group. They were all very patient and funny. 4 days was not enough for me. I am planning on returning to C-Spot Win next year.

2009 Clicker EXPO

2009 Clicker EXPO locations and dates have been announced. They will be Jan. 16-18, 2009 Austin, TX and March 27-29, 2009Providence, RI
Texas would be my choice. I will wait and see who they are going to have. Kay Laurence would be the one I would go for. Kathy Sdao has been great and I would want to go see her again and of course Ken Ramirez. Will see what else is going to happen in 2009.

One Jump Training

The great thing about one jump training is
a) you only need one jump
b) you can do it in a small space.
Start out by shaping the jump (no bar). If done correctly the dog will love going through the uprights of the jump. Progress to the full jump height of the dog. I have been training this with Ryker to teach him not to knock the bar and he has greatly improved. Other exercises that helped are jump grids that are constantly adjusted in distance and height to make him think of where his takeoff points are. I am also doing these exercises with Ryddick to avoid having problems like I have with Ryker. Other important exercises are for the dog to read your body cues correctly. When to collect, when to extend, which jump to take first and where to go next, turns, pushes, pushes, FC and RC. Pretty easy, NOT.