Karen Lau of Agile Dog Sports

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romeosangiovese

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We had the pleasure of spending some time with Karen Lau of Agile Dog Sports over the weekend. She was actually from Singapore and went to Canada to follow her dream (lucky her!). She trains and runs Staffordshire bull terriers! And studied under Daisy Peel and Barb Davis who trained with Linda Mecklenburg.

She came back to Singapore for a couple of weeks for holiday and hooked up with the agility committee (of which I am now a member of!) of our kennel club and did a couple of workshops.

The workshops covered alot of stuff but here's 5 things I took away:

1. I better start jogging and sprinting coz I gotta run like heck to keep up with Romeo and Juliet. She mentioned that Linda Mecklenburg's handling system will need you to keep up with your dog. Whereas Greg Derrett's handling system is great for those who can't, older folks, etc. I really haven't figured out what handling system I want to use but I really should FAST so that we can be consistent.

2. Agility dogs here in Singapore jump WRONG!! They push off with their front legs instead of their back legs and that could cause bars to drop! She said we probably skipped alot of the foundational jumping work, and I think she's right. Will have to work on that.

3. Drills are important! She said running courses won't teach you anything. Drills will. So do drills! We did box drills and the Stuart Mah 30 second drill (we did it in 34 secs with one correction!) at the workshop.

4. Small dogs like shelties will probably not be able to weave with one foot sidestepping. They will, because of their size, weave like bunnies by hopping with two feet through. The method of choice for her is the weave-o-matics. She'd train by calling the dogs straight through so that they learn to drive through the weaves, just like for tunnels and chutes, so that they learn to drive straight through, before training for different entrances (especially for chutes coz if a dog runs at an angle through the chute, it could get caught in the chute fabric). Oh and related to this is building drive while training by running away from the weaves/chute/tunnel before rewarding. And if luring anything (eg. luring through weaves), don't move towards the dog to give it the treat, let it drive forward to get it by pulling your hand away.

5. Be EXCITING AND INTERESTING. I fail miserably in this area. I kept getting "told off" for not being more energised and exciting. She said I was too controlled. :lol: She said to me that my dogs especially Juliet have alot of potential and she doesn't want to come back and see that I've ruined their chances coz I was boring. :biggrin2: I reeeeally have to work on this. I know Romeo has improved by leaps and bounds, so one can only imagine how utterly boring I must have been to my dogs before! :lol:

Just thought I'd share. It was a great opportunity meeting Karen. I got to ask alot of questions coz I also had dinner with her and drove her around a couple of times! :winkgrin:
 
Oh Good for you!!
That sounds like you got a LOT out of it.
You better start being a better cheerleader apparently LOL
For Toffee me running with him is his best reward and greatest motivator... probably cuz it doesn't happen that often, lolllll :o

If you look at Greg Derrett or Susan Garrett you will see tho that they DO run their butts off, as well. However, I find that when I see Mecklenburg handlers tend to have to be ahead of their dog, more? That's not going to happen for little ole, me... But I could be wrong?

I agree that Foundations are the most important things. I haven't entered a trial just yet. Of course the last Jumpers one I was going to enter Toffee had paw injuries, lol.. But I do go and I socialize, myself AND Toffee, getting him used to the various venues and being crated and relaxed as much as he can around other working dogs.
Plus I get to see what I need to work on and what a terribly green handler I am LOL
 
What a great opportunity! Sounds very interesting.

And don't feel bad about being "boring"...one of the things I hear most (directed at me and others) is that we aren't keeping our energy up. It's become a bit of a mantra of mine before I run..."energy up!"
 
Sounds like you had a wonderful opportunity and have some great take-aways from it. I love attending seminars with some of the pioneers and top names in the agility field. My club regularly has seminars with Donna Rohaus which are GREAT! I'm trying to convince DH to take CJ and register for one of her seminars at the new training center an hour from us.

Anytime an opportunity like this presents itself, find a way to grab on to it!

Toffee's Mom said:
Oh Good for you!!
That sounds like you got a LOT out of it.
You better start being a better cheerleader apparently LOL
For Toffee me running with him is his best reward and greatest motivator... probably cuz it doesn't happen that often, lolllll :o
Click to expand...

:nod: Edan's the same way. I don't run with him very often so running on the course with mom is a big thing for him. He also loves to hear me affirm that he's performing correctly with verbal yeses or good boys. He lives for mom's praise.

Toffee's Mom said:
However, I find that when I see Mecklenburg handlers tend to have to be ahead of their dog, more? That's not going to happen for little ole, me... But I could be wrong?
Click to expand...

Yes, Mecklenburg's system basically teaches to "drive from the front" with greater reliance on physical cues over verbal cues. (I've seen first hand Edan respond to what my body language says more so than my voice.)
 
Sounds like an excellent seminar. We are in about same boat-
1. I also was told just to keep running with Che, working great.
2. Correct jumping is a biggie! it is most used obstacle and is most damaging to the dog's body. I used Linda M methods on teaching jumping skills- excellent book, "Developing jumping skills" I am very concerned as Che is heavy boned so I do not want his landing sound like ton of bricks dropped:no:
3. I think "One dumb jump" exercise covers just about 50% of agility:lol:
4. Che single stepping in the weaves but then he is large sheltie:smile2:
If I had a choice I would use 2x2 in combination with weave-o-matics. 2x2 really gives them understanding what weaves are about. Am trying to really cut on any luring I do. It does not work in long run as there is no transfer of value. As classical pavlovian conditioning goes, if you put sound and then feed it creates a chain and value of the food does transfer to the sound. It DOES NOT work backwards, i.e. you can not give food and then sound... sound will always remain meaningless... dog might learn to have different associations, such as body posture, time, bowl, place etc but you really wound not know what dog has learn.
5. "Find joy in your training" is a big one in SG courses. Playing all those games does help as well as building those special catchy phrases that drive dogs nuts.
this is one fun day ... testing what you have learned
http://www.youtube.com/clickerdogs#p/u/32/k5zCik-kZ3M
While I am learning mostly Linda M system I feel am too green to really say anything on the differences... I do like body motion as my main cue... Che is just natural reading it:biggrin2:/ pun intended
 
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Aw, that sounds really cool! I love seminars,too. It's always great to hear what others think of your handling skills, your dog's abilities etc. I wish there were more of those seminars here.
I like the idea of drills, it's really really useful for handler and his dog to get along well. We're doing them in training quite often instead of long sequences, our trainer sets up around 7 jumps, tunnels, weaves, sometimes zone equipment and we try out different combinations, learning how to handle our dog. I say that my memory needs to improve,too, so sometimes I'd like to run longer sequence, but still - my handling is not good enough, so drills are welcomed.
We've started training weaves like a month ago, we're now having four poles from different angles and i'm not sure how my dog gets through the weaves. All I know that he's not jumping like a bunny, he's running quite fast, because i'm throwing him a ball when he's done with weaving. It's great motivation for better drive.
I should also work on my own speed, I should work out more, run not only at the training... I've been planning that I'd run every day, lol but my lazy-self was strong enough to keep me from that. But I'll try and froce myself during summer holidays... :biggrin2:
Being exciting -- Oh! I should really work on that, too. I think I should let my pup know that he's done a great job, but after our runs, I'm usually trying to catch my breath, LOL. It's hard to be all sqee-ish. But luckily my dog is very motivated, loving agility and when it's our turn, he is watching me, all concentrated, waiting for the opportunity to run. He really enjoys agility, so it's less work for me in that department. Though, we've been also playing some SG games, so he knows that being with momma is fun and he doesn't wanna miss that. :winkgrin:
 
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