Clean Run - February 2015 - 19

© Matt SacHS / aGILItY IMaGES

Part 1

When

"RUN FASTER!"
Isn't an Option
By Helen Grinnell King

Distance handling may look cool to
some, but it is a whole lot safer and
faster if you can run and be there to lead
your dog around by the nose, especially
on today's more challenging courses.
In my next life, I want to come back
knowing about agility when I exit the
womb rather than starting at 50. I also
want to come back with the speed and
thin genes. For now, I have to work with
what I have; my dog training skills.
February 15 | Clean Run

.coM

If I could run, I would. Sadly, old age,
gravity, polio, cancer, and chemotherapy
have taken their toll on my ability to
move around a course. I often get disoriented, so keeping my connection with
my dog is of the utmost importance, and
now, thanks to six months of horrific
chemotherapy, my feet are numb and
that aﬀects my balance.

Some of the dogs I have trained have
been over the top drivey, some not so
much, and one came with no drive at
all and lots of fear. I much prefer to
train the over-the-top dogs compared
to those with little or no drive. Distance
work takes self-motivation from the
dog; if there is none, as was the case
with my most recent Standard Poodle
Pankies (a.k.a. UPGRAYEDD), then I
have to create it and that takes a lot of
work and energy.
© nInaSPHotoGraPHY

There seems to be a misconception
amongst many that distance is all about
handling. It is not. It is all about dog
training. If you can't run, you must be
a much better dog trainer and motivator in order to get your dog around an
agility course successfully. There is no
magic bullet or secret pill. Successful
distance work takes a lot of training and
eﬀort. Depending on your dog, it can
take years to get it down!

Hopefully, if you are gravitationally
challenged like I am, this series on training distance will help you and your dog
to be successful in the ring.
© MEL KInG

If I had a nickel for every time somebody
came up to me after one of my runs and
said, "Will you run my dog?" I would be
rich. Well, okay, maybe not, but I might
be able to buy a candy bar. My answer is
always the same: "Is your dog trained to
understand my distance language?"

A solid lead-out is crucial when
you can't move well.

The First Step
is Building Drive
Puppies are so much fun. They are a
blank slate for us to create our agility
masterpiece or disaster, depending on
our knowledge, patience, and perseverance. Some dogs are easier than others
and each dog presents its own challenges. I have trained 9 agility dogs to
date and am starting on dog 10. I normally do all the foundation work for my
dogs as well as my husband's dogs, but
he takes over his own training once the
foundation is solid. He dislikes training
foundation (the most important part!)
but loves training what I call the "aftermarket" or fancy stuﬀ.

Helen King and her
Standard Poodle
UPGRAYEDD.
The training I am going to write about
applies not only to puppies, but to adult
dogs as well. Whether you are starting
out fresh or need to retrain, I would use
the same approach. Depending on the
dog, there will be variations in the technique, but the theory is the same: find
a motivator that drives your dog crazy
with excitement, train each behavior to
fluency, and be consistent.
The first thing I would like to cover is
the reward you use for your dog. We
have trained with Stacy Winkler in Vista, California for 12 years. Stacy is a bril19
Clean Run - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2015
