Startline

I had the pleasure of chatting with Emma Parsons outside of a trial a few months ago and we were talking about the ways our own handling choices and training loops can unintentionally chip away at the connection we work so hard to build. These small missteps can slow our progress, undermine teamwork, and erode the trust we place in both our dogs and ourselves. So in this episode, we’re diving deep...

As you may know I work for a pet first aid & CPR company. In first aid, pressure is used to stop or slow the flow of blood. It’s applied intentionally to interrupt the body’s natural process in a life-saving way. In agility, pressure can be equally powerful—when used well. We apply it to converge on a line, to steer our dogs off a wrong course, or to ramp up intensity with our own acceleration...

This is a reminder that allowing disappointment in accomplishes absolutely NOTHING. We should never let disappointment win. It’s a battle we can always win. Preventing the poison of disappointment into our runs and relationships is 100% preventable and controllable. Happy to be listening and learning? Want to keep me motivated? You can  ⁠⁠⁠buy me a matcha or a chai latte by dropping some coin here...

I'm known to have EVERYTHING a person could need when away from home, even probably more than most people have in their home but I carry it in a convenient tool bag. From safety pins and measuring tape to pain relievers and stomach soothers, I am known as CVS - Cara's Variety Service. While I might be a handy individual to have at the agility trial, there is nothing stopping you from being...

I've been watching friends and good handlers crumble under the pressure of trying to qualify for the 2024 AKC Agility Invitationals. While I know how to comfort them and buy them a drink, I needed to lean on the expert Julie Bacon, AKA The Q Coach to help teach us all how to get a grip on the mindset that is melting our agility skills. Julie as always gives us helpful hints, tools and processe...

Positive reinforcement isn't just a training method; it's a lifestyle, one that can transform not only the way we interact with our dogs but also how we approach life's challenges. For many, myself included, it's been a profound shift in perspective. Positive reinforcement training isn't just about rewarding good behavior; it's about fundamentally altering how we perceive a...

When our dog is stressed, we often find our connection breaks. Picture a Venn diagram where two circles, stress and connection intersect. It is here that we need to find our way back into connection and away from the dark cloud of stress. While connection has much to do with our dog's ability to perform the behavior you have cued, stress can prevent a known behavior from being able to occur in...

After listening and then re-listening to Daisy Peel's The Agility Challenge Podcast Episode 13 on Where to start when you're starting and what makes an expert an expert I was inspired to discuss with my listeners the points I agreed with as well as expand upon this concept. I wanted to discuss what makes a good trainer and how can you be a good student, it is a two-way street. I am still v...

When Julie Bacon from The Q Coach reached out to me to record an episode on the grief we both recently experienced we talked off-air after the episode about life and such. She asked how I was doing and I said I was stuck in inaction, and in that moment I realized I just inadvertently asked for help from the best person to offer it. While my grief certainly didn't help matters, I was trapped in...

In my day job of promoting pet first aid & CPR training I set Google alerts to scan the Internet for anything related to pet first aid & CPR. When I received a ping about a veterinarian-founded company that was filling a much-needed gap in pet care I reached out and had to learn more. Their products are just what pet owners and pet care professionals need to bridge the gap between comfort and a ve...

Let's be more holistic in our view of the agility community, the good and the bad, not everything will be perfect and we cannot lean towards one or the other too heavily. Remain in the center and accept that things may sometimes be amazing and sometimes not but as long as events occur more towards center, we will be Ok.  There will always be outliers, dogs that are over-aroused in and out of t...

I started compiling a list on my phone of what could make trials better for you as the exhibitor and me as an exhibitor. While these are specific to AKC agility, much of this information can apply to all organizations. Keep these tips in mind to help make your experience be the best. We all were beginners once, we are all on our own journey but for this to work, we all have to participate in the c...

Do you look at the big picture or are you focused on the details? This is an interview question I ask new hires for my dog-walking company. The correct answer is, both. But in agility, I feel like we lose sight of the big picture. And I don't mean the goal of a MACH or to be the #1 in our breed, we very easily lose sight of the picture that our dogs should be able to run any course with any ap...

Learn how to keep your pups in tip-top shape to be prepared to perform at their absolute best. While I obviously focus on agility, canine conditioning will help with duration sits in obedience, stamina in long nose work searches and in everyday life to afford your dog the physical and mental ability to keep up. The better shape they are in, the more longevity they have, and studies back me on this...

We compress the crap out of our dogs by putting them in situations that are not natural to them. This is not to say they are bad situations but they require a lot out of our dogs to handle the stimuli among other variables. Yes, over time many dogs become desensitized to all these situations, I would agree as my dogs age they become extremely comfortable and happy in their regular trial environmen...

When you have extra time please go back and listen to Episode 10 - Car Safety Setups & Keeping Cool it really covers an immense amount of useful information, so much so that I broke it down and redid it to a) remove the pandemic-isms and b) update some of the products I have found to be even better to help us and our dogs stay cool this summer. What it boils down to is a little bit of science,...

I struggled to develop a title for this episode because it covers SO MUCH! Julie Bacon of The Q Coach and I discuss the importance of our mindset for the human and the dog parts of our team, but then we cover so much more! We discuss the difference between outcome goals and process goals, what we can control, and what it takes to get there. We offer tons of tidbits to staying organized, saving bra...

I have been seeing and hearing a lot about ISC events or classes added to trials recently. ISC stands for I nternational S weepstakes C lass. In my mind, this was a new addition to the AKC agility program which I admittedly knew very little about. Wanting to learn more about ISC, I went directly to the source, the director of AKC agility, Carrie DeYoung. Carrie shares a heap of information with us...

Go listen to Episode 33 - Stressed for Success⁠ before you listen to this gem. Noreen Bennett of  PawPrint Trials  and I follow up on our Stressed for Success episode not just by providing solutions but also providing creative ways to unravel the uncertainty you may find you and your dog in on your agility journey. In our first episode about stress, we discussed how to recognize it. Now we cover h...

I'm bringing this to you as a bonus episode because I wanted to be one of the first to interview Steve after his fantastic win at the 2023 National Agility Championship. He and his dog Hogan, who is not a Border Collie, clenched the final win for the 24" class with a touch less speed but 100% consistency as Steve gives us insight into his strategy. Learn how Steve and Hogan go from ACT (t...

This episode captures a little bit of Michele and me geeking out on dog behavior and a whole lot of great information about how you can help your hyper, reactive or stressed-out dog in agility by letting them sniff. We bust myths about confusing dogs and allowing them to sniff, we arm you with a ton of information you can gather about your dog and we offer you an insight into the benefits of offer...

Noreen Bennett of PawPrint Trials and I just gave a seminar on the impacts of stress in our agility journey, called Stressed for Success. While she might be the most prominent trial secretary in New England, Noreen also has had a 25-year front-row seat watching stress in the ring and figuring out her own with her dogs over her lifetime.   Some of us don't understand why our dogs act different...

Hey agility addicts! We're BACK ... AGAIN.  Sorry for another hiatus, let's just say that life has interrupted our podcasting plans again. But never fear, we aren't going anywhere.  This episode covers the 2021 AKC Agility Invitationals, which we BOTH were fortunate enough to attend this year. This was Cara's third time attending and Michele's first! Hear about initial reactions, expecta...

We're BACK!  Sorry for the slight hiatus but Michele and I have had a crazy summer. We added puppies, travel, job changes, more projects, more trial work and so on and so forth! We are busy but we wanted to get back to what we love, talking about agility! We're thrilled to bring you the regional differences episode. We posted a survey and got a lot of great responses. Sorry, we didn't say it...

Have fun playing your favorite game in a new place! Michele and Cara share a bunch of tips on how you can travel safely to agility trials outside of your home-turf.