I've been gone due to some bad personal things going on in my life, but am coming back now that I am working things out, and I have decided to comment on this, despite that I'll probably get a good bit of flack for my opinion.
I don't care how rich I am, I wouldn't pay anyone, whether it be Susan Garrett, Greg Derrett, Linda Mecklenberg, Jenn Crank, Silvia Trkman... you pick.... that kind of money for one set of training information that I am going to train on my own.
I have come from a lot of years in the horse world, in a part of it that it is almost unheard of for someone to train their own horses. The BEST trainers in the entire BREED don't get that type of money... We're talking people who have won the big three in the breed time and time again, and these people train the horses FOR the owners. The owner only comes out and rides once, maybe twice a week, if that. The trainer works that horse every day and has full care of the animal. They make anywhere from $600 a month for full training and board to $1500 a month. They are in the horse world every bit of what Susan Garrett is in the dog world. World Champions. Proven on numerous horses over many years against any competition. Exceptional trainers. Despite that, they wouldn't make that type of money for instructing a couple of people how to train something specific on their own horse.
No trainer out there while I am training the dog myself is worth that type of money. She is a good *trainer*, and a good marketer. Her methods work. Not because they are the absolute best and only way out there, but because of the work she puts into them. Someone who trains multiple times a day every day and is doing the method the best that method can be done is going to get results so long as the method is a solid one.
I would compare her to someone such as Pat Parelli. Pat can get amazing results with his horses doing what he does... however, often the people who use his method don't get the same results. Why? They aren't Pat. They aren't the trainer he is. They often don't understand the method, they aren't dedicated to training and/or making changes. People see it and they think because of the spectacular results he gets that his methods must be the best methods ever created. They aren't. He is just a wonderful presenter, showman, marketer, and trainer.
As far as weave poles go, *any* can be the best. 2x2s, WAMs, channels, baskets/guides. For contacts, the same goes- Ali Roukas, Silvia Trkman, Susan Garrett, Barb Davis, Linda Mecklenberg, Rachel Sanders. Any of their methods can be the best. It all comes down to the particular person training, how often they train, how dedicated they are, how good a trainer they are, and their dog.
I guess what I'm saying is it isn't so much the method that matters, as how you train it, and the amount of time, and hard work you're willing to dedicate to it, how quickly you and your dog grow, and how good a trainer you yourself are. $5000 isn't the magic ticket. It won't do what you think it does unless you are those things... and if you do happen to do those things, you probably already could've managed the same results with one of the other methods out there, which doesn't happen to cost $5000 to learn.
I think $5000 is bordering on ridiculous. And I think Linda Mecklenberg's recent article on where agility is going fits in nicely with this. If things continue in this direction, it is going to become a sport for the elite. Not a sport for everybody who wants to participate and enjoy some level of success and enjoyment.
