More from the Silvia Trkman seminar!

Mum and I were going through our notes from the Silvia Trkman seminar last night and wanted to post a few more things Silvia shared that we thought would be interesting to those agility dog/handler teams out there.

Remember that these are my and my Mum's interpretations, K? And there really isn't anything new here that you won't find on Silvia's great website! It's a mish/mash of items, but here we go...

• One of the most important things a handler can do on a course is to let the dog know exactly where to go next, and let them know as early as absolutely possible. Example: once the dog is committed to an obstacle, signal the next right away.
• Blind crosses are becoming more and more popular in Europe, especially Germany.
• She says she is kind of unpopular in some of her handling - especially because she bends over and points a lot, and because she uses her opposite hand for an opposite turn. But she says it's very important to do whatever works for you and your dog, there shouldn't be a set standard of how you do things.
• When planning your handling strategy always think about the smoothest and most logical path for your dog.
• Start sequencing early in training - it's always about the sequence not the individual obstacle in a run.
  
• Keep it fun for your dog; don't do the same sequence over and over; break things up, mix things up and make it more interesting.
• Remember that sending a dog to an obstacle and stopping in the process of sending, gives the dog two different signals.
• Don't get in your dog's path it just slows things down.
• When training obstacles with speed, use a reward at the ends of your obstacle, or sequence far out - about 25 to 30 feet - to keep the speed going following and through the obstacle.
• Train your pup for independence. If your dog is checking back and in with you, he/she isn't focused ahead and you will lose time.
• Take your time in training obstacles (like the dog walk). Your results will be much more reliable. She recommends taking about 4 months when training with her running contact method.
• When training the weaves, Silvia uses the channel method (to promote obstacle independence and speed), starting the channels out 3-4 feet. She continues to move the channels closer and closer (progressing just a little each time and not keeping them open at the same place for long at all), while at the same time training entries and proofing entries. By the time her dogs are weaving, they already know difficult entries.
  
• She takes about 3-4 months to train a dog on the weaves; 2-3 times per week with 15 reps each. Once a dog has learned the weaves, she then continues to train then 2-3 times per week with 5 reps each session.
• Using an S shape for a line to help a dog with entries will take up valuable time. If you train your dog obstacle independence, and entrance independence on all obstacles, you won't have to shape a line.
• The very first thing she teaches and works on with her dogs, before any sequence or obstacle training, is teaching the dog to run with her, with restraints and rewards - speed is the reason.
  
• Always try to get your dog to run full speed.
• Do fast recalls.
• Your dog will be faster if you run with them.
• Confidence is key with any dog - correcting and redoing creates a lack of confidence - just keep going.
• Refusals are sometimes a sign of a dog with a lack of confidence. (as I found out it can also mean the dog is hurting, just my thought on that).
  
• Train your dog to be independent - not dependent and not a 'check-in' dog.
• Redirect to another behavior from an undesired behavior.
• Attitude in a dog is a very important part of speed - the more confident, the more speed.
  
• Let your dog know they are always the best and they never do anything wrong - it builds confidence, keeps up speed and makes for a much happier dog.
• Don't be cautious or have any hesitation, go for speed all the time, don't be afraid, take risks and go for it all the time.
• Have fun, have fun, have fun!

Hope you enjoy!