Fostering Excellence in Agility

048 There's a lot that goes into training startlines, but it can be broken into four main categories: skills, motivation, chains, and ring sustainability. check out the online program that starts on June 2nd! fxagilityschool.com/startlinesthatstick  

Megan talks with student, friend, and colleague, Sarah Espinoza-Sokal all about raising a puppy responsibly. The two coaches talk about their values and priorities when choosing what each puppy needs, and how that benefits them both in life and in dog sports. Sarah is starting a new puppy program: Limitless Agility Foundations where she plans to support puppy owners through this process and cultiv...

046 Should you keep trialing when a problem behavior crops up or take a break? I unpack my process in this episode!

045 I am often asked about preparing for big events, but is it really any different than preparing for a local event? Listen in to find out how I prepare for the competition weekend.

044 Tips on planning and prioritizing your training when your access to agility equipment is limited.

043 Megan explains the five phases of walking the course and planning her strategy. This blog: https://fxagility.com/blog/the-five-phases-of-course-analysis/ outlines the same information and points you toward additional resources inside Megan's school.

042 Megan shares her general thoughts on using and fading props in our agility training. Check out her website: fxagility.com

041 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. Dive into my webinar on more effective coursework training and view my coursework training in the Event Prep Program   

040 Don't wait for problems to be big ones, get curious about your dog's behavior and uncover small gaps in their understanding before they become impossible chasms to overcome.

039 Megan shares 5 mindset skills she focuses on during every competition to ensure she's having a good time for herself, her dog, and her team.

038 In this episode, Megan shares her two ways for reducing reinforcement and the training strategies she implements for each.

037 When does Megan think about leaving the ring early and what does that look like? Listen to episode 37 to find out!

036 Megan explains how she proofs different behaviors to aim for her ultimate goal: ring sustainability.

035 Megan unpacks her thoughts about bar-knocking in this requested episode. Megan's favorite jumping experts:  Linda Mecklenburg  https://awesomepawsagilityacademy.com/current-classes/   Dr. Leslie Eide  https://www.thetotalcanine.com/online-learning.html   Join the coaching program  https://fxagility.mykajabi.com/fx-agility-waitlist   Sarah Stremming's Webinar,...

034 Should you make something easier in training or try to pivot in another way? Find out what Megan thinks in this episode! 

033 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 debut strategy worked.  Resources:  Episode 32: Are You Ready to Compete? Youtube:  Sprint's First Trial Highlights Youtube: Sprint's Second Trial, Novice Jumping Youtube: Second Trial,...

032 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. 

031 For Exhibition Only and Fix and Go On are two tools we have in the competition ring that can help us narrow the gap between how our dogs perform in training versus how they perform in trials. In this episode, Megan breaks down the pros and cons of each and talks about how she would use either of these options.  Mentioned in this episode:  Using FEO/NFC with a toy in the ring: https:/...

030 Megan talks about learning the course from the dog's perspective, the importance of sticking to the plan, the five phases of course analysis, and course memorization tips.  Join Megan on June 1st at 6pm PT for her FDSA Webinar, Agility Course Analysis

029 Megan interviews Sarah Espinoza-Sokal about her experience repairing her Kelpie, Zi's startline performance. Megan and Sarah unpack the unique pieces of the training puzzle and discuss why each piece was important and how Sarah was able to implement it in training and in competition.  You can follow Sarah on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/agilityodyssey   Sarah invested m...

028 Optimal level of arousal is necessary for optimal performance. Does your dog's arousal increase in the parking lot of the agility trial or is it later in the run, like at obstacle 15? Let's take a look at how your beginning of the run AND end of the run routines are impacting your dog's performance. In this episode, Megan mentions several other resources, including:  Episode 27 How Triali...

027 Data from our training sessions inform future training sessions, right? What about trial data? Are you practicing during the week the issues that come up on the weekend? Is your current way of analyzing that data producing results for you? If not, it may be how you're analyzing the data is missing a few key questions that I'm always asking myself when watching my trial videos. Let's dive in to...

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 it t...

025 When I hear, "Oh, they should know better", I cringe a bit. In this episode, I unpack how I understand the reality of needing to let criteria go sometimes, and what that means for the big picture of competing with our dogs. I talk about cue escalation during this episode. To learn more about that I mean, read this blog post .  Follow me on Facebook and Instagram ! 

024: In this episode, Megan shares her thoughts on building more desire for training in our dogs. Using reinforcement consistently and in the right situations gives our dogs the confidence to be all they can be! Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Tiktok: @fxagility