Fostering Excellence in Agility

088 In this episode, I share four key areas for improving your front crosses: - Footwork - Connection - Timing - Application Join the free community:  https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup    Grab my Membership Sneak Peek Podcast:  https://www.fxagilityschool.com/be-excellent-opt-in  

087 Yep, you do actually need to video your training sessions. You are missing out on valuable feedback and data if you're not, and slowing your progress down when you don't have reliable information to rely on when planning your next training sessions! In this episode, I give tips for how to video and edit your training so that getting it done is just that much easier. Episodes mentioned:  T...

086, Since Sprint's fourth year at the WCO was her best yet, I thought it would be fun to listen to her debut recap again, just to celebrate just how far we've come as a team. From the original show notes: Megan shares her experience debuting Sprint, her two-year-old Border Collie, in agility competitions. Find out insights into what Megan saw change in Sprint's behavior over time and how well the...

085 In this live coaching call recording, I share my process for problem-solving training sessions in the moment. This flowchart gives power to the students to collect data and bring that information back to the thinking room, making them more observant, creative, and effective when training on their own.

084 In the second half of this interview, I speak with Anna Lee about how to be the most effective with your dog's conditioning programs and talk about who is the right fit for working with her. Learn more about Anna Lee's work ->  https://canineconditioningcoach.com/about-us/   Learn how to measure and make your dog's custom fitness platforms ->  https://canineconditioningcoa...

083 Today I am joined by the creator of Canine Conditioning Coach, Anna Lee Sanders. I get to pick her brain about why starting a conditioning program before you need it is best practice and provides the most benefit for improved performance and reduction in injury risk.  Learn more about Anna Lee's work at  https://canineconditioningcoach.com/about-us/  

082 Last year, my training partner moved country and left me to train alone for the first time in quite a while! Here's what I noticed was different, and how I've made an effort to change it for the better.

081 This summer was abnormal and full of interruptions. We trained very little and trialed even less. So what have we been doing to catch back up for the opens this fall? This episode breaks down what we've been doing and what we will be doing to be our best at the West Coast and US Opens this fall.

In this episode, I unpack the three main types of training sessions agility people use, and how we reinforce during those sessions could be impacting our transition into the competition ring.

079 To compete well, dogs need to learn to ignore distractions once they notice them. This begins with understanding what they should do when they see something interesting to them. Once they know that, the concept can be applied to a wide range of contexts, including your agility training. In a previous episode: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/podcasts/fostering-excellence-in-agility/episodes/214...

078 You need clear rounds to progress in dog agility, but focusing on clear rounds isn't the answer. Dive into this episode to shift your perspective on the sport and how you train for and compete for clear rounds.

077 Building stamina is a process. Working to increase the dog's workload over time and looking for ways to reduce their cognitive load during events will improve their performance inside and outside of the agility ring. Join the conversation in my free community: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup

076 In this episode, Megan shares a list of things that might be different from training to trialing. Understanding these differences and how your dog might respond to these differences shapes the way we train and prepare our dogs for competition. She shares ideas for training these things and invites you into her free community to discuss training plans for your team. Join the community ->&nbs...

075 Sarah Stremming, Cog Dog Coach, joins Megan to discuss how their two youngest dogs, Rayya (Sarah's Icelandic Sheepdog) and Sprint (Megan's Border Collie) have completely different training plans and are on really different paths, but how those paths ultimately lead to the same place. These two coaches dive in to why these differences are so important and the reality of the extra time and care...

074 Preparing for competition-like situations is possible, even without recreating the entire trial environment. Listen in for what Ring Prep training is and how we can do it! Additional resources on this topic: Ring Prep without the Ring Live Session Ring Prep Bundle Ready to Compete podcast

073 When should you start competing and what does that look like for each team? How to plan to maximize success all comes down to the splits in behavior that we need our dogs to understand. While this is a repeat episode, the conversation happening in the Fans of FxAgility Community is not! Join us: www.fxagilityschool.com/signup  

Episode 072: Training and Using Stashed Reinforcement Humans understand that in order to compete, rewards have to be left outside of the ring, but does your dog understand that? In this episode, I break down how I train this concept from when my dogs are young puppies, and how I use the concept throughout their education and eventually competition. Interested in learning more? Join the conversatio...

071 Most training focuses on how fast and accurate the dog performs a specific behavior. What if the small details surrounding that performance were also a priority? There are three places in our training that are commonly overlooked can be what's keeping you from making progress in your training. Join the conversation in the FxAgility Community:  https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup  

070 Agility is full of highs and lows. Injuries. Low Q Rates. Not qualifying for events. It all happens and it’s all a bummer. How we move through it though, impacts how we “get back on the horse”, as the saying goes. In this episode, I share my 3-step process and questions I ask myself for how to move forward.

069 We’ve all heard of using jackpots, right? But what if it really is about making every reward mean more? In this episode, Megan talks about a recent article from neurosciencenews.com and shares how she’s already been applying this information and what she observes in her learners. Here’s the article: Large Reward Events Accelerate Learning Speed by Extending Brain Signals  Episode mentione...

Agility is hard and it takes time to get good at it, let alone master it. Megan shares her experience in focusing on the process and using data to improve the overall performance while letting go of outcome results.  Join the discussion in the (FREE) Fans of FxAgility Community ->  https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup  

067 Feeling low on time? Have a listen to this episode where Megan breaks down how she focuses her training when life gets busy and agility takes the back burner.

066 In this episode, Megan talks about common behaviors associated with ring stress, what could be causing the stress, and how to develop the appropriate training plan to address it.

In this episode, I share my thoughts and feelings about mine and Sprint's performance from the event, my training plans since then, and how I'm moving forward with our goals. I invite you to follow along post-run analyses and training sessions in the (free) Fans of FxAgility Community: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup

064 How do we continue to push our dog's understanding of the different obstacle cues and behaviors? By focusing on making training sessions intentionally different, we can expose our dogs to a wider variety of contexts and grow their capacity to perform the behavior under pressure in competition.