Clean Run - June 2015 - 10

Style Points
Jim has always been eclectic in his training. "Greg Derrett's system has been
very helpful in understanding the dog's
line and handler position. I have never
followed it to a "T," but feel most competitors would beneﬁt by knowing it.
Students that have come to us with that
background tend to have a better overall understanding of how to handle than
those that don't." Competitors, he says,
have been successful using all different
types of systems. "In my opinion, a good
handler and trainer will be successful using any system." And though he enjoys
seeing new moves and trying them out,
he ﬁnds that most courses run in the US
don't often readily lend themselves to
the international moves. "Fortunately,
USDAA's Masters Challenge classes
have encouraged competitors to push the
envelope and try new things."
To Jim, handling is about understanding
the dog's line and then being at the right
place at the right time. "Once you have
that ﬁgured out, just do what seems most
comfortable to you." Nancy has been
his greatest inﬂuence. "Not only is she a
great agility trainer, but she is a great dog
trainer. Too often people are in a hurry
to have an agility dog and overlook the
foundation training that may, on the surface, appear to be separate from agility. It
is actually essential to having a successful
partner. Nancy is excellent in this regard."

Teacher as Student
While Jim trains mostly by himself, and
occasionally with Nancy, he ﬁnds his
students are also valuable teachers. "Several of our students are talented trainers
in their own right, and I watch them."
A student may think of a way to handle
something for their dog that works and it
is educational.
"Working with so many different types of
dogs and people, I have developed a good
eye for what goes right or wrong on a course.
Seeing these mistakes means I, hopefully, don't have to make them myself!"

To see Jim in action on
a Snooker course, go to
https://vimeo.com/122372365

Among his students, Jim is known for
bringing a sense of humor to the sport.
"I am deﬁnitely an unapologetic punster
and try to get my students to laugh and
loosen up, especially if they had a long
day at work. After all, it's just dogs going over jumps. In the end, how important is this? Remember why you started
agility in the ﬁrst place! You can sweat
the details, like making a tighter turn, but
it's still a game." The one thing that he
will not tolerate in his class is a student
who gets down on the dog. "Everything
that happens out there comes from you.
I would never make my dog think he is
the one that did something wrong, even
though I may be banging my head on the
inside because I did something wrong."

Staying Fit
The ranch and a small menagerie of farm
animals keep Jim in shape. "I bought a
Fitbit and noticed that I can usually
manage 20,000-30,000 steps in a day.
I am always doing something on my
property." He hikes the land or rides his
mountain bike with the dog following.
He has his own set of weight machines
which he uses now and then. "I would
really like to keep myself in better condition and stretching more. As you get
older you start falling apart." A recurring
pulled calf muscle has plagued him, but
working with a professional therapist
has made a world of difference.

The Future
"When I started, I wanted to be on the
team that goes to Europe, but I don't pay
too much attention to that now. I would
like a Lifetime Platinum award by the
time a dog is retired, mainly because it
means my dog has had a long successful career." Beyond that, speciﬁc goals
are minimal. Chasing titles and awards
can impact the way he runs. "In 2013 I
pushed Sweep to get in the Top 10 of all
the USDAA classes and I made it. I certainly sacriﬁced some criteria on his contacts and I really had to make sure I had
my Snooker strategy spot on." However,
those are personal performance goals.
"These days I deﬁnitely put more thought
and energy into the goals of my students.
Seeing them being successful and reaching their goals is probably even more rewarding. Just going to local shows and
hanging out with my friends and competing with my dog is all I really need".
At some point he would like to relax
and retire. "Life as an agility instructor
is still a job, right? I would like to drive
to the coast to take my dog for a walk
on the beach or do the things that I miss
because work gets in the way. And, he
says, "it would certainly simplify things
in the future if I was just able to focus on
training my own dogs and going to more
competitions." D

Sally Silverman is a freelance writer whose life has gone to the dogs. She and her husband share their hearts and their home with three Australian Shepherds. An avid
agility competitor, Sally is working on MACH3 with Bounce, who also has a PDCH, as well as many canine freestyle and herding titles. Java is now in AKC and USDAA
Masters and working on her PDP freestyle title. Sally is an active member of Y2K9s Dog Sports Club outside of Philadelphia, where she trains and teaches a variety of classes.

Clean Run

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Clean Run - June 2015

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