Clean Run Magazine - June 2007 - 20

© KEN GEE PHOTOGRAPHY MF: What do you do to stay calm and focused? CE: I sometimes listen to Lanny Bassham’s Mental Management tapes on the way to competitions. I try to be careful about maintaining positive energy and keeping a kind of tunnel vision at trials to focus on the course I’m running. MF: Who has been the biggest inﬂuence on you? Carole’s Training Tips © DOGHOUSE ARTS CE: My mentor has been Kay Bedeau, an Irish Setter breeder, obedience instructor, and competitor. She has helped me to be conﬁdent enough to be creative in my training. She has encouraged me to ﬁnd a balance between accuracy and creativity in play. Beth Godwin was a big help to me when I started in agility, and Joan Meyer has also been an inspiration. MF: What are your agility goals? Before you start taking classes or competing with your dog, train him to travel and crate comfortably and quietly. A quiet dog allows you to focus on doing your best and is a good neighbor to other dogs. Teach your dog to do each obstacle on a verbal cue alone to give him a greater level of understanding. Have a good call to “side” so that your dog will be comfortable coming to you and running past obstacles that are not part of the course. Don’t be afraid to go back to basics when necessary. Put your guides back on the weave poles and use your contact boards and trainers for your experienced dogs as well as your green ones. When deciding how to run a sequence, try to ﬁnd a balance between being ﬂexible and being decisive. Don’t obsess over slumps. When learning new skills, your Q-rates will drop, but in time, things will come together. CE: I’d love to make the AKC Invitational again with the Irishes. I especially enjoy showing the Irish because I believe agility is a sport that can be enjoyed by many breeds, not just Border Collies. D Martha Faulk, a lawyer and author who lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, teaches agility through the Larimer Humane Society. She competes with her two rescues, RebaRae, Australian Cattle Dog, and SallyAnn, Australian Shepherd. Her Border Terrier, EmmaLou, MX, MXJ, and USDAA Nationals Performance Grand Prix semifinalist in 2005, is now retired. Contact Martha through marthfaulk@msn.com. A seminar for owners and trainers of dogs involved in performance sports Presented by Pat Hastings & Debbie Gross Saunders, MSPT, OCS, CCRP August 25-26, 2007 Sponsored by Clean Run in Chicopee, Massachusetts PHOTOS © DIANELEWISPHOTOGRAPHY.COM Learn • How to evaluate the structural quality of puppies • The basics of canine structure • The weakest links • How to evaluate the structural quality of your adult dog • What your dog can do and should not be doing • A physical therapist’s ideas on how to strengthen structure to reduce the risk of injury Write to info@cleanrun.com for a brochure | Call 800.311.6503 to sign up 20 Clean Run | June 07

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Clean Run Magazine - June 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - June 2007