Clean Run Magazine - December 2007 - 18

needs to be altered. If you are not naturally adept at seeing these changes, try keeping good records. Videotape your runs and training sessions. Keep written records of what works well and what doesn’t. By tracking the details, you will eventually become more intuitive and see things happening before they become a problem. Dogs are honest creatures. They will let us know what works for them if we just learn to pay attention to what they are telling us. RW: You are also known for encouraging efﬁcient handling and running patterns. How would you recommend that handlers evaluate their handling for efﬁciency? Does this advice change depending on experience level? Andersons: The one thing Leslie and I have focused on most in our agility careers is probably course analysis. In fact, we think it’s so important that we’ve created an entire two-day seminar on just that topic. Course analysis comes naturally to some handlers and others have to work a little harder to become adept at it. If you fall into the latter category, I would encourage you to ﬁnd someone who is good at it and learn their methods. It’s like any other skill. By practicing enough, it becomes second nature. All handlers can eventually learn to see not only the most efﬁcient lines for the dog, but also the best handler path to create that ideal dog path. Once you learn solid course analysis techniques, you will ﬁnd that you make better handling decisions on course. The process is really the same for both experienced and novice handlers. RW: You are both involved in canine sport medicine—what is it like to inﬂuence members of the veterinary community? What is your greatest achievement in this realm? thing we are most proud of is the partnership that our business, Performance Plus K9s, has developed with Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness Clinic, a rehab veterinary clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to treating agility injuries, Dr. Cindy Grant at ARFC is doing important work to bring the message to agility handlers about how they should stretch and warm up their dogs to decrease the likelihood of injury. We are working with ARFC to create some tools that handlers can use to warm up and cool down their dogs while training and showing. Leslie and I both believe that injury prevention is one of the most important things handlers should be paying attention to. Unfortunately, many people don’t think much about it until an injury has happened. RW: So many dog handlers are really strapped for time. Is there one thing that every handler should do every day? Every week? Andersons: The one thing I think is most important to work on every day is focus and speed. If the dog needs speed, motivational drills are most important. If the dog has speed, the drills should concentrate on building focus at the highest levels of speed. Most dogs also need contact foundation work and jumping compulsories every week. Start lines and weave poles also need regular reinforcement. RW: Is there anything else about your experiences you want to share? Andersons: I’m not sure I’d say that we’ve actually inﬂuenced members of the veterinary community, but we have been highly involved in that aspect of our sport. We speak at veterinary symposiums about injury prevention and safe training techniques. We’ve also had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Robert Gillette who serves as head of the Sports Medicine Department at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He’s doing some interesting things in researching agility injuries, especially around the A-frame. In addition, we’ve worked with the pre-vet club to help them learn what agility is all about. Probably the one Andersons: The best thing about being an “agility professional” is being able to incorporate my love for coaching and my love for dogs into my career. For Leslie, agility is still a hobby but she is no less competitive about it than I am. Agility is changing and growing literally on a daily basis. I think we will continue to see more advancements in the ﬁelds of course analysis, video analysis, and the other truly analytical aspects of our sport. Handlers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Some professional trainers offer training plans, remote coaching, and a host of other services. This is a direct result of the increasing popularity of agility. There are software tools available to us now that allow us to see things happening when we run our dogs that the naked eye might not ever detect. This is such a rewarding sport and now is the most exciting time to be involved in it. D Robin Whitsell is a freelance writer living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband, her three daughters, and her yellow Labrador Retriever puppy, Foster, who one day will be playing agility. Contact Robin through her website at robinwhitsell.com. There’s no trick to always getting a Clean Run Your mailing label tells you how many Clean Runs you’ve got coming AUTO**3-DIGIT 802 BONUSMTHS 3 MTHSLEFT 8 P 245 CECILIA SNAPDRAGON S 99 17 INDUSTRIAL DRIVE SOUTH HADLEY MA 01075 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||| || Bonus Months issues we’ve added to your subscription because you referred a new subscriber 18 Months Left the number of issues, including Bonus Months, remaining in your subscription ® Renew online at www.cleanrun.com Or call 800.311.6503, Outside the US 413.532.1590 Clean Run | December 07

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Clean Run Magazine - December 2007

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