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Hi, thank you so much for this topic! I have one dog who doesn't notice seem bothered by storms or fireworks and one who is terrified. The one thing I wanted to ask is if you've ever worked on counter-conditioning for thunderstorms or fireworks?

I love the fact that y'all did this. I heard that Esteban answer listening Live and decided to let it go because he answered a different question. The 80% figure brings up many interesting questions. Now to potentially break Esteban's brain after figuring out Gitchi's lifetime stats... If the back half of her career was over 80%, then she must have been damn near average for 20/26" during the first half. That actually does seem plausible. 🎉 It also means a top class dog running elite BC-level speeds with excellent handling and training might have a lifetime QQ-rate closer to 35% than even 40%. It speaks to the one of the final points about comparing yourself to yourself over different time spans. I'm really curious if it ever asymptotes. One day I'll have to check out those MACH10+ dogs that trial more times in a year than I can in 3 years.

Great podcast! I love hearing actual numbers. Very interesting to have the breakdown per level. Makes goal setting more realistic.

Before having running contacts should we have perfect 2 in2 out?

Before having running contacts should we have perfect 2 in2 out?

Love this discussion because I am running a new dog and trying to decide how much support she still needs.

24:00 The finals course was...straightforward (nice of way of putting it). These type of courses scare me because handler error is the greatest risk. I just wanted to avoid getting in spots where my dog could run into me or setting her up for a knocked bar. It's a different set of skills to run something you are fairly certain the majority of people will get. I've literally run a T2B course in the last month that had more discriminations. This one had minimal strategy, which worked out well because of how little time there was between the end of the walk and a third of the way into preferred. Heather's course last year was something I wished I could have run for fun. The fact I still remember it says a lot.

First podcast I've heard where I am glad I didn't hear in the past. Just feed your dog more. 😛

Alternate Title: Play it Safe, Don't Walk Your Dog Off the Course

Would've loved to hear a discussion of the dog that walks the handler off. 😊

This pod was superb, but y'all knew that.

There are more clues to narrow down which judges are designing which course such that you can narrow it down to 2 choices for each round. This principle worked perfectly in 2021 and 2022, but I could only decipher 3/4 rounds (including premier) last year because of 1 weird exception. There could be more exceptions since this is only the 2nd year with JWW and Hybrid running simultaneously.

It's a hypothesis, not a theory, a theory is something proven in science.

Great podcast, When I heard Jennifer talk about using leash and collar differences, I was ecstatic since that is my practice.

Thanks, this was a great episode paired with the previous!

Great episode

I’ve been to a few seminars and the half day with a small group definitely works better. I did a full day with Lee Gibson and Ola Kordas where we had about 20 total in our group. The format was 2 groups of 10 students, half with Lee and half with Ola and then switching instructors half way through the day. I did NOT have a good time. I spent like $250 and I got maybe 20 minutes of working time all day (we were there from like 8am to 4pm). I could have done 3 or 4 private 1 hour lessons of intense instruction with local trainers at that price. I spent HOURS just sitting around waiting to work. Furthermore, they were outdoors and weren’t using microphones or anything so we couldn’t really benefit from listening to the other students as they worked either. I’ve found small seminars much more enjoyable where I feel I’m getting to work my dog at least once an hour versus literally sitting in a chair on a field chatting with other students for hours at a time while waiting to work. I also would rather be in a small indoor venue where I can listen to the trainer for the entire time. I also found the seminar wasn’t particularly friendly to more novice competitors. My dog had all the skills listed in the syllabus, but she was young and by half way through the day I was “out of dog” and struggling with basic stuff she would normally do just fine.

Classic episode.

Thank you for this conversation. I have a Sheltie with mild to moderate ETO. The first sign of any problem was when, as a 16 week old puppy, he would approach the edge of my deck and jump about a foot in the air to jump off the deck. He quickly adapted and learned how to appropriately jump off the deck. He is now almost 6 and will have an occasional ETO crash, but not more than a few times a year. He has also adapted to spread jumps by almost always stutter stepping to make sure he takes off close enough to clear the spread. He's a very strong dog too, so can accommodate the minor ETO's with his power. I am hoping to finish his MACH (8 more QQ's) but then think about dropping him to Preferred. Do you have any wisdom to share regarding that? Will a lower jump height help a dog with minor to moderate ETO, or is it dog dependent? Thank you, again. 😊

Would love to see more You Tube demo/tutorial type videos. I fully connected with your contrast training concept. Your demo of front cross is the best out there. Topics might include extreme distance handling... deeper dive into basic handling (example like rear cross starting with dog and handler foundations and progress)... verbals/directionals.

I love the positivity you spread in your videos.

Add on to first comment: Is ISC based on points earned to qualify to go to a Championship/World trial? I'm not clear about this.

Very interesting!!! So, all levels of ISC is a timed event like AKC Time To Beat? And, is also non-titling and non-qualifying and is just based on your time for placement?

B is excellent. ❤️

I have a herder who loves to play tug at home, is good at chase, bite, fight - pretty good at release and OK at retrieve. But that's at home. I can't get my dog to engage with the tug at the ring when we practice. She definitely has a higher prey/toy drive than food drive, but I need help translating that to a different environment.

Good, I can hear.

Great, thank you. I was in a similar position recently and dismissed a layered weave poles handling move as a “my dog isn’t a collie and won’t want to distance in this way”. However still agreed to try - within a couple of goes had my dog doing it beautifully. It was a wonderful feeling being proven wrong. In future I shall be more inclined to believe in my dog and his intelligence to learn and adapt.

My instructor normally starts beginners with stopped contacts. My BCollie, Christy, is 11 years old now and has never been very fast, so in trials (Preferred level), I cheat a little and release her from contacts as soon as a foot hits the contact area. It's allowed us to get some Q's and progress a little. My biggest fear is hearing someone with my trainer's voice hollering, "criteria"!

Videos are up on CZcams. Jada is AWESOME!

bonjournice to meet you! gorgeous picture!

Answer: Not run so many dogs.

I'm dealing with this now. It's getting worse. I tell him to sit and he calms down and can usually continue the course. Some people say to try and calm him down. Is soothing him so he calms down a good solution. Of course, I time out because he is sitting and calming down.

I love p!nk so much she is so fast especially through the poles seeing her here brings joy to my heart pink keep safe you and your handler and your other relatives will always love you

thank you! so helpful!

Talking about helpers. I had a club member/exhibitor say to me, “if you didn’t work so much at the trial, and spend more time with your dog, you would do better” I then told her that if everyone felt that way, she wouldn’t have an agility trial to attend because there would not be anyone to run the trial and do the work. There has to be a happy medium. If everyone just did a little work, we could all have time to spend with our dogs and the trial could run smoothly.😀

Jane is awesome I'm glad you had her on! I work for subs 🤣

😌 p̴r̴o̴m̴o̴s̴m̴

I always respected you for your consummate professionalism and your integrity. But after watching this interview, I’m even more impressed. With all your well deserved successes, you still take care about each and every student. My endless gratitude, ❤️🐾

This answered so many questions I had.

I think the bigger problem is that a lot of people simply can't train even if they wanted to, because they don't have the equipment 🤷🏻‍♀️ so when classes are cancelled we have no way of actually doing anything

Best dog Jennifer trained is pink

Awesome hearing how different the organizations are! Good luck ladies!

This was a really good one thank you

I haven't taken anything but the MACH/PACH/ADCH/NATCH big title ribbons. Now, I'll take a photo with puppies first ribbon. And put them back in the box at the end. My favorite part of early years 20+years ago was when the announced the placements and Q's a little sad that it's gone. I think it would encourage a lot of the newer handlers.

Why I trial. My primary reason is to have fun. Secondary is titles. I love getting titles because it give me something physical to show that we accomplished something together. We're both new-ish (coming up on our 2nd year of trialing) and my girl is not the fastest dog. That's fine, it's a learning experience for us both, and with get good exposure to that environment 😉.

11 reasons to trial: 1. To get titles: I totally agree. It's nice to achieve objective awards and plateaus that everyone is eligible for. 2. Getting points: Being points driven for 2022 NAC qualifying purposes has made my last 3 trials so much more intense and enjoyable. Y'all omitted the importance of premier as a source of point accumulation for AKC NAC. 3. Qualify for events 4. Bring a puppy for socialization and being in the environment 5. FEO before a debut: It is worth mentioning that the toy cannot leave one's hand. 6. FEO for specific issues: This is called FAST. 7. Enforce criteria: It might be prudent to mention that this is a rich people reason to trial. I understand that everyone has a right to do this and pull their dog after a start line break, but it can be extremely disruptive to the team going immediately after you. This is especially the case when experienced handlers do this in novice and open. 8. Practice a specific skill: love this one 9. Checkpoint - Information Gathering 10. Exposure to surface: Yes! 11. Social A few more: 1. To fill up spreadsheets with data 2. Because life sucks when agility isn't life 3. Go on vacation 4. Get exercise

One aspect that was not considered is lowering cost per run. When folks have to travel and pay for 2-3 hotel nights, getting as many runs as possible is the cost effective option.

BDA podcast is such a vital part of my life.

Hay brother you guys are awesome., I use to be addicted to substance abuse. My new addiction is agility