do you have an agility instructor?

[HopeShelties]

That's a shame that you've run into that I really haven't seen that around here.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

That sucks, you guys really deserve an amazing trainer for you and Maia!
I find the agility association of Nova Scotia is that type of club you describe ... it seems cliquish to me

For example the fun match that I entered doesn't explain ANYWHERE where this competition actually is being held just says 'The Barn' McKenzie Town Centre, Mt Uniacke... assuming of course that insiders know where that is, lol no address or directions and I find it has the worst website ever

They definitely DO NOT make it easy to join them ... but I don't need it, I love my loose knit group of like minded people and friends I am with and my trainer is THE BOMB She has never once touched Toffee for a very long time UNTIL I was able to pass him off to her for a restrained recall collar grab exercise involving yummy treats and no fuss from her. She totally gets it and is brilliant with dogs AND people! I wish everyone would have access to such a great person as her! Ania, as always I sure wish you lived here, hahahaha.

I find that trainers who don't have room in their mind or don't see the point of other handling systems are missing out! This is supposed to be fun for the dog/handler team

PS Of course we all know Greg Derrett's handling system is THE best
hahaah

 

[corbinam]

I find that trainers who don't have room in their mind or don't see the point of other handling systems are missing out! This is supposed to be fun and work for the dog/handler team

I totally agree with this. This is something that I'm really worried about when we move. Ohio seems to rely very heavily on the Mecklenburg system (she is from Ohio), but we really don't use a system here. In fact, I love our club because we don't really have a system that we use. We use a lot of what Stuart Mah does, but his "system" isn't much of a system at all. It is compatible with almost every system out there.

I am open to learning about all different kinds of systems, but don't want to feel that "there is only one way" because I don't believe that's true.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

I totally agree with this. This is something that I'm really worried about when we move. Ohio seems to rely very heavily on the Mecklenburg system (she is from Ohio), but we really don't use a system here. In fact, I love our club because we don't really have a system that we use. We use a lot of what Stuart Mah does, but his "system" isn't much of a system at all. It is compatible with almost every system out there.

I am open to learning about all different kinds of systems, but don't want to feel that "there is only one way" because I don't believe that's true.

Yes, I find Linda's system kinda confusing myself, but I am sure it's the same for people thinking Greg Derrett's is weird, lol
However, my trainer explains some of the differences and sees good things in all, and is able to explain the difference. Although I can see how it is beneficial to follow one for the sake of consistency, although I will NEVER be fanatic about a handling system!

 

[Phebe*DD]

... Of course we all know Greg Derrett's handling system is THE best
hahaah

Yes, it is!!!

j/k They use mostly Derrett stuff where I train, so I've never tried anything else. That makes it silly for me to claim it's better. It works for me, but I'm still open to trying other things if it solves my problems, which are many at this point.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

Yes, it is!!!

j/k They use mostly Derrett stuff where I train, so I've never tried anything else. That makes it silly for me to claim it's better. It works for me, but I'm still open to trying other things if it solves my problems, which are many at this point.

exactly how I feel as well.

 

[Ania]

Although I can see how it is beneficial to follow one for the sake of consistency, although I will NEVER be fanatic about a handling system!

I think you've hit the nail on the head! It's consistency that is important, who cares which system, if any YOU use as long as YOU are consistant with what it is that you are doing!

 

[SheltieChe]

So we had our first class with new agility instructor. Overall we had a blast!
here is the field
http://agilitynerd.com/blog/agility/courses/dana/dana_2010_12_07.html
problems
Che broke his stay on start line!
colliding with my dog on FC 5-6, able to do RC easily
Had difficult time getting my pup attention 7-8
15-16 was difficult because of the angle, I kept weaves on the left.

 

[corbinam]

So we had our first class with new agility instructor. Overall we had a blast!
here is the field
http://agilitynerd.com/blog/agility/courses/dana/dana_2010_12_07.html
problems
Che broke his stay on start line!
colliding with my dog on FC 5-6, able to do RC easily
Had difficult time getting my pup attention 7-8
15-16 was difficult because of the angle, I kept weaves on the left.

That's a tough course! Definitely some tough angles and off courses.

 

[k9kreationz]

That's a tough course! Definitely some tough angles and off courses.

Ashley, just curious. Do you think this would be an easier course with Bentley due to the off-courses?

I looked at the course and thought, whoa, there's a lot going on there, but once I broke it down, I realized how much "easier" it'd be with Koji because I can pull him into me w/o worrying about off-courses.

I have a hard time with courses where I have to push him out (away from me), because with Derrett, you don't want your dog flicking away from you. So Koji doesn't flick away (good and bad at times).

I'm not by any means saying this is an easy course, it's not. I'm saying I don't think I see it as being overly difficult because I know Koji won't take the off-courses. Versus my friends dog, who'd love to take ALL those other obstacles. I think there's one at almost every turn. Yikes for her! Yay for me. LOL. The ending would probably kill me. Scary!