In The Zone Agility

09/01/2026

Spy's jumpers bonus

08/31/2026

Rip off the Band-Aid
I have been doing seminars a long time now and by this point I have heard many, many, many excuses as to why a dog can’t do “something”. Some excuses are certainly valid such as physical problems. However, many excuses can be turned into training opportunities!
In many cases, excuses are blocking your ability to train and succeed. By recognizing ‘problems’ as training issues and not just excuses, it changes things-how you think about it, how you react, and how you train . I think of excuses as band-aids—something to cover up issues. They may not necessarily be a problem, but they can be impeding your training in some way. So if you rip off your band-aid you can make positive changes in your training.
Here is a small list of band-aids I have heard
- My dog has never trained here before
- My dog gets crazy with food
- My dog gets crazy for toys
- My dog is a rescue
- My dog doesn’t like red tunnels
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- My dog loves people so it is OK to visit
- My dog is too fast or too slow
- My dog doesn’t like distance
- My dog doesn’t like to run on grass/dirt etc
- And on and on and on
I view all the above examples as training opportunities! Lets go over one of the above justifications—I can’t use a toy in training because it makes my dog too crazy. I view this as a training opportunity to train the dog impulse control and engagement. I train my dogs that they have to do what I want—whatever it may be- sit, stay, do agility obstacles etc—to get what they want—food, toy, praise, to do agility etc. I also have a reward marker that means exercise is over toy is coming that teaches my dogs to keep working until they hear me say “YES”. This is a significant part of training with toys as it teaches dogs to keep working and not look at the handler until they hear the toy release word.
So back to ripping off the band-aid... If your excuse for not using toys is because it makes my dog too high, you can view this as an opportunity to work through this by ripping off the band-aid and start training with toys. You probably will have to do some toy training away from equipment to teach the dog the toy release word (Doesn’t take long) as well as going back to rewarding only an obstacle or two at first. But changing your mentality from an excuse-I can’t train with toys-to this is a training issue will make a huge difference in your training. I also think about it like this--- if a toy makes my dog crazy…this is a great opportunity to work through this issue as it can help translate to trial situations. If my dog is crazy at trials ( breaks start-lines etc) if I can teach my dog to calm down and THINK using a toy, it will give my dog mental skills that will translate to trials.
Another big one is that my dog is a rescue and admittedly I have said this myself!! When we rescue a dog-especially a dog with baggage- we tend to really ‘baby’ them because we feel so bad for their past experiences and certainly do not want to add to any of their anxiety. However, we need to ask ourselves if this helpful for the dog or not? Am I am unconsciously labeling my dog a rescue and thus not allowing him to reach his full potential? An example is my dog can’t do agility because he is fearful when in actuality agility CAN (not always) help give the dog confidence and help bond with you. I had a rescue that was so fearful of agility she would urinate as soon she saw agility equipment. I brought out my clicker and she ran and hid under the bed. Obviously, she was severely abused by her former owner (to my knowledge, I was her 4th owner) and I know for sure she was trained for agility. Throughout her training especially in the beginning, I did use the excuse “ she is a rescue” many times…until someone told me to get over it and train her. Well, that is what I did—I ripped off my mental band-aid and trained her. My saving grace for Expedite was she loved tunnels. So I was able to use tunnels to get her to like agility again. I used tunnels to help her learn to trust and love me. It took a few years but she went on to not only earn multiple NATCHES (NADAC Agility Trial Championships), Platinum Speed Stars (NADAC speed awards), she won NADAC Championships. I ripped off my band-aid and trained her to be a spectacular agility dog. If I would have gotten stuck in the ‘she is a rescue’ mentality, I do not think we would have been so successful.
There are absolutely valid reasons a dog should not do certain activities. Disease, physical structure, age, pain, and lameness must always be taken seriously. A sore or injured dog should not run. Some dogs should not jump because of their physical structure or medical condition. Ruling out pain and other health concerns—ideally with guidance from an appropriate veterinary professional—is essential. Dogs may also face behavioral or emotional challenges that require professional support, careful management, or changes to our expectations. I do not want to minimize these genuine concerns. The point is not to force every dog through every difficulty. The point is to distinguish true limitations from challenges that could improve with a different attitude, a thoughtful training plan, and appropriate support.
The next time you find yourself thinking, “My dog can’t do this because…,” pause.
First, determine whether a physical, medical, or serious behavioral issue is involved. Once those concerns have been appropriately evaluated, ask yourself:
• How can I redefine this problem?
• Could this be a skill we need to train?
• What smaller steps would help my dog succeed?
• What foundation skills do we need?
• If I do not know the answer, who can I ask for help?
Sometimes the biggest barrier is not the dog’s ability but our execuses.
What 'band-aids' have you said?

08/28/2026

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08/27/2026

I don’t use a verbal cue for my stopped contact behavior.
Here are two of my dogs doing the dog walk. I release them from the start line, they perform their contact behavior, and then I release them from the dog walk.

I’m not telling them to go up the contact.
I am not telling them to stop.
They already know their job.

My job is to teach, reward and reinforce the behavior. Their job is to perform the behavior they were taught.

How many cues do you use for contacts?

08/26/2026

I do not use a verbal cue for my stopped contact behavior once my dogs understand their job.

I am very methodical about how I teach contacts. I spend much of the first year of my puppy’s life teaching the foundations, so by the time we put the entire contact behavior together, my dog already understands what I want.
Go up and over the contact. Stop at the bottom. Stay until released.

Once my dog truly understands that job, I don’t feel the need to keep telling them what to do.

I actually don't even verbally cue the contact either. Follow my path and do the obstacle, stop and wait til released.

Sometimes, saying less actually helps.

I was doing a private lesson and my student was struggling with contacts. There was a lot of talking happening as her dog approached and performed the A-frame. For the next turn, I told her, “Don’t say anything.” Her dog ran up and over the A-frame and stopped beautifully at the bottom.

Sometimes too many words get in the way of success.

My job is to teach, reward and reinforce the contact behavior.

My dog’s job is to perform the contact the way they were taught.

Teach the behavior. Reinforce the behavior. Then trust the training.

Could your dog perform their contact behavior if you said nothing?

08/25/2026

Do you use a verbal cue to cue your contact behavior?

08/19/2026

Ranking Cues for my dogs:
1. Body language
2. Motion
3. Verbal cues

Ideally, all three—your verbal cue, body language, and motion—should be consistent and telling your dog the same thing. But I also think it is really valuable to know which one your dog relies on the most.

Some dogs are very verbal. Some dogs rely heavily on motion. Others are constantly reading our body language. And yes, a lot of that comes from how we have trained and rewarded them.

Here’s something interesting to think about:

If you lost your voice, could you still successfully handle your dog?

If you couldn’t run, could you still successfully handle your dog?

If your arm was in a sling and you couldn’t use it, could you still successfully handle your dog?

For me, the arm in a sling would definitely be the hardest! 😂
I actually practice running silently sometimes. And since I don’t particularly like to run 😂, I’ve intentionally taught my dogs to understand my cues when I’m walking.

But take away my arms? I would be in trouble! While I use my entire body to communicate, I rely heavily on my arms to help show my dogs where I want them to go.

So now I’m curious: If you lost your voice, could you still successfully run agility?

If you couldn’t run, could you still successfully handle your dog?

If your arm was in a sling and you couldn’t use it, could you still successfully handle your dog?

08/19/2026

What does your dog pay the MOST attention to—your verbal cue, body language, or motion?

08/17/2026

08/17/2026

Help me celebrate Inspire’s 7th Distance Cup!

To earn a 7th Silver Distance Cup requires:
140 Regular Bonus Runs
70 Chances Bonus Runs
70 Jumpers Bonus Runs

That’s a LOT of distance, a LOT of bonus runs, and years of teamwork, connection, and trust.

Inspire is a ROCK STAR!
Let’s hear it for Inspire and Distance Cup #7!



Let’s hear it for Inspire and Distance Cup #7!