Clean Run Magazine - April 2007 - 33

How do you ﬁnd the place on course, the sweet spot, where you can handle either tightly or at a distance and still guarantee your success? Manchesters require less distance and tighter handling. You have to be closer to your dog, which is where mine needs me. I have to remember when I get out there with my Manchester Crusher that I have to stay with him, and he likes me in front of him. So, rear crosses are hard and front crosses are the most effective technique. In fact, I did so many front crosses that I nicknamed my new Border Collie puppy Twizzle, a British term for front cross. SNAPSHOT Handler: Polly Pugh Home: Charlotte, North Carolina Training Facility or Agility Club: Winston-Salem Dog Training Club and Queen City Agility Dogs: MACH, ONYX Blumont Kachina Crown Royal RN, a.k.a Ashley, 9-year-old Doberman Pinscher Ch. Inkwood Indelible CD, OA, OAJ, HOF, a.k.a. Ginny, 10-year-old Manchester Terrier Ch. Inkwood India AX, AXJ, HOF, a.k.a. India, 8-year-old Manchester Terrier MACH Ch. Walton’s Electric Sneakers, a.k.a Lexie, 6-yearold Manchester Terrier M A C H 2 Ch. Chatelaine Orange Crush RN, a.k.a. C r u s h e r, 5 - y e a r - o l d Manchester Terrier Ch. Shoreland Wing Mender, MX, MXJ, a.k.a. Will, 2-year-old Border Collie S i l v e r b o w Ri-Ra AX, AXJ, FDCH-G, a.k.a. Ri-Ra, 2-yearold Border Collie rescue from Border Collie Rescue of the Carolinas With Dobermans, you can get more distance, but this requires a totally different style of handling. They have such big, ground-covering strides that it’s really important to do pattern training. Over the years, I’ve trained a whole bunch of different dogs and my style has evolved, including a lot of box training and teaching my dogs Left and Right directional cues. You’ve begun competing with your Border Collie. How does that differ from competing with your other dogs? I can handle with a ton more distance. And I can send Will left without his turning right! To motivate Will, growling at him really works nicely; he turns on the afterburner. But I have to work constantly to make him toe the mark. I’ve had trouble with his start-line stay but have developed more control. He’s so driven, and he makes me think. Has goal setting played a part in your success? Ye s . Definitely! Mostly to achieve titles and for personal satisfaction. My Manchesters have earned both the ﬁrst Standard Manchester MACH and MACH2. Four of my Manchesters have earned entry into the American Manchester Terrier Club Hall of Fame. My Doberman was in the Doberman Pinscher Club of America AKC Agility Top 20 for three consecutive years. My most cherished goal is, and always has been, to nurture the relationship between me and each of my dogs, as well as continuously improve our performance as a team. Knowing what you know now, what would you say to handlers with “tougher” breeds that want to achieve? Have fun with your dog! When working with tougher breeds, you’ll have to always be willing to think outside the box. You will ﬁnd that a lot of the standard advice about training doesn’t work especially well with them. It’s often necessary to be very inventive and creative with your training as well as your performances. They require a much stronger dog-handler bond in order to perform at their peak abilities. This requires a lot more interaction with your dog outside the ring than in it. April 07 | Clean Run © KAREN AND IAN STEW ART Shoreland Crossﬁre, a.k.a.Twizzle, 8-month-old Border Collie First Agility Show: Started in AKC and showed Indelible at Danville, Virginia, show site at a county fairground in a rocky ﬁeld Favorite Agility Venue: AKC and occasionally USDAA Current Agility Vehicle: Ford Windstar minivan Most Memorable Moment: There are two: Walking the course at the Doberman Top 20 in Kentucky to the “Star Wars” theme song. And, at the same competition, running in the weave-pole knock-out races; the audience was divided in half, one half cheered for one team and the other half cheered for the other team. It was amazing. Least Memorable Moment: Knocking down an entire jump! My dog successfully jumped it and then I crashed into it and knocked it down. Favorite Rituals to Calm Nerves: I’ve competed so much I don’t really have jitters but I do have rituals to focus my dogs that also focus me. The rituals are different for each breed. For the Manchesters, I have to get them up and excited (we warm up at the practice jump). I also encourage them to leap up, excitedly, for bait, inviting them to bounce off me. I trot them around to get their circulation going. For the Border Collies, I have to bring them down and get them focused on me. I have a Watch command (Watch, treat, Watch, treat) to get them focused when on the start line. Best Agility Advice: Run with intent, attack the course! Worst Advice: You can’t. (Never tell me I can’t.) Email: holyterrier_nc@yahoo.com 33

Clean Run Magazine - April 2007

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