TRAINING OPTIONS
Scroll or click to get to each section.
SEMINARS AND LIVE EVENTS
Participate in a live training experience!
AGILITY FUNDAMENTALS FOR DISTANCE – FULL-DAY
This is my most popular seminar, and I have taught a version of it in Colorado and the surrounding states 6 – 8 times each year since 2005. Don’t let “Distance” fool you – this seminar is about the communication tools you need for any handling style. It will improve your communication with your dog and provide the foundation for all of the distance work your team will accomplish. Learn why distance is a crucial skill for today’s courses, discover what your dog is really paying attention to on course, and practice the distance skills you need to be successful. Approximately half lecture and half practice broken up throughout the day, we cover many areas that will eliminate confusion and improve your skills as a team. “Take home” materials are provided so that you can continue your training at home. All levels are welcome and encouraged to attend. Dogs must be able to safely navigate all of the obstacles other than weave poles and the teeter. This seminar is the prerequisite for the more advanced classes.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Copyright 2016 Great Dane Photography. Used with permission.
CREATING A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DOG – FULL OR HALF-DAY
You don’t have to have “a distance dog” or a “technical/velcro dog” – you can have both! This seminar focuses on how to differentiate your cues so that your dog can do it all – both close up technical handling moves and working at a distance. We will cover basic skills for multiple venues and increase your understanding of cues so that your dog can determine exactly what you want. The half-day seminar includes course analysis to determine where you can use distance to get into position for technical portions of the course and practice on courses that include both elements. I originally developed this seminar for people who had limited mobility, but I have found that it helps all teams develop handling plans and clarify their cueing systems. Dogs must be able to safely perform all obstacles except weaves, dog walk, and the teeter.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Stover Photography
DISTANCE HANDLING – FULL OR HALF-DAY
If you can’t figure out why you are not succeeding on distance courses, need a tune-up to improve your skills, or just want to practice and receive feedback to help you qualify, this seminar is for you. The courses are designed to accommodate and challenge *any* level of skill, from beginner to expert. Learn to set your dog up to provide an advantage, analyze the course and plan your path to avoid getting stuck on the line, and use your motion to clarify your direction to the dog. It is strongly recommended that you participate in the Distance and Communication Foundations seminar before you attend this one, so that you understand the basics of communication at a distance. Dogs must be able to safely perform all obstacles except weaves, dog walk, and the teeter.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Stover Photography
CROSSES/COURSE ANALYSIS – FULL OR HALF-DAY
If you’ve ever struggled to figure out which cross goes where, this seminar will help. Learn to communicate directional and side changes without confusing your dog, polish your crosses so they are clear to your teammate, and understand how the cross you choose affects the dog’s path. Improve your course analysis to help plan your handling path and become more successful as a team. We will analyze each course, plan paths, find the “best” solution and modify it based on each dog/handler team’s strengths and weaknesses. Each course will be broken down, if necessary, and then we will run each one at least twice, so you can try different solutions or perfect your top choice. Dogs must be able to perform all obstacles safely to participate, except weaves and the teeter.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Dog Agility Photos for Fun
ADVANCED DISTANCE – FULL OR HALF-DAY
Take distance to the next level, learn more advanced techniques, and refine your distance communication with your partner. Discover the skills you need to work greater distances and more difficult challenges with your dog, explore exercises that illustrate how to teach those skills, and challenge yourself as a team to do more and go further than you thought you could. This seminar is focused on exercises that allow teams to be successful on commonly seen course sequences and distance challenges. Topics include discriminations between more than two obstacles, layering, working through jump “boxes”, and working greater distances. Because it builds upon skills and theories learned in Distance and Communication Foundations, students must have taken that seminar to participate in Advanced distance. Dogs must be able to perform all obstacles safely to participate. Weave poles can be skipped, if necessary.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Dog Agility Photos for Fun
AGILITY FUNDAMENTALS FOR BEGINNERS 1 & 2 – FULL-DAY
New to agility? Want to get started on the right paw? This seminar lays the foundation for a successful agility career. Agility is NOT just about the obstacles, and in this seminar, you will learn how to develop a relationship with your dog and teach the fundamental skills that allow you to communicate with your dog and navigate a course. Topics for Day 1 include motivation and control, tools to make your training easier, games to help your dog understand what you want, handling basics, and body awareness for the dog. Fundamentals 2 gets you started on obstacles, including the foundation for contacts and weave poles, jumps, tunnels, the tire, and the teeter. We will also discuss how to train obstacle independence, an important skill for anyone who wants to succeed at the higher levels of competition. There are no prerequisites for this seminar.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Dog Agility Photos for Fun
HANDLING FOUNDATIONS FOR AGILITY – HALF-DAY
Agility Boot Camp! Struggling with front, rear, and blind crosses? Need to better understand how your movements affect your dog? You can learn this and more in this half-day seminar. Teach your dog to read your cues and develop the foundation for a clear communication system. Then try it out on some short sequences to perfect your skills and see what works best for your individual team. We will use jumps, hoops, tunnels, and barrels in this seminar, so you can focus on handling rather than obstacle performance. Dogs need a solid recall if we are outdoors and a basic understanding of obstacle performance.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
TRICKS CLASSES – FULL- OR HALF-DAY
Come out and learn new tricks with us! This is a fun, positive class that allows you to earn your Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert Trick Dog titles. Each course is designed to show you how to teach all of the tricks you need for your title, and if your team is ready, the tricks can be witnessed and approved by a Do More With Your Dog Certified Trick Dog Instructor. Tricks help your dog with body awareness, fitness, and learning to learn, and they create a closer bond with your canine teammate. There are no pre-requisites for the Novice/ Intermediate levels. The dog should have a basic understanding of nose and paw touches, fetch, and clicker or marker positive training for the Advanced and Expert levels.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
CANINE CONDITIONING – FULL- OR HALF-DAY
Canine conditioning is a fun and useful activity to do with your teammate. This seminar will teach you how to safely do exercises with and without equipment to help your dog be a healthier athlete! Exercises will include body awareness, flexibility, strength, balance, and mental elements to improve your dog’s confidence, coordination, physical fitness, and learning abilities. Training will be witnessed by a Certified Canine Conditioning and Fitness Coach, and if desired, you can earn your level 1 title through Do More With Your Dog.
Email to find out about currently scheduled seminars or to schedule your own!
Photo courtesy of Dog Agility Photos for Fun
SEMINARS – DEFINITIONS AND PRICING
“Local” seminars are in any location between Denver and Pueblo. I am happy to travel to “non-local” seminars anywhere in the continental US to provide instruction for your group or club.
Up to 8 working teams are allowed in each seminar. Auditing students are limited only by the facility size. Please do not bring your dog if you are auditing.
A $35 deposit holds your spot. It is refundable ONLY if there is a waitlist and another team uses the spot.
Full-Day Local Seminar Pricing
The cost per working team for local seminars is $140 per day. The auditing cost is $65 per day.
Half-Day Local Seminar Pricing
The cost per team for local seminars is $75 per half-day. The auditing cost is $40 per half-day.
Full-Day Non-Local Seminar Pricing
Please contact me for Non-Local seminar pricing.
Half-Day Non-Local Seminar Pricing
Please contact me for Non-Local seminar pricing.
STUNT DOG TRIAL JUDGING
I’d love to judge your stunt dog trial for your club! Contact me to learn about ring size requirements, equipment, and number of attendees. If your club supplies the facility and equipment, I will judge local trials for no cost if you have 8 or more attendees.
Photo courtesy of Dog Agility Photos for Fun
ONLINE TRAINING COURSES
The Agility Playground
Level up your dog agility skills with this comprehensive membership that focuses on FUNdamentals, confidence, independence, and distance! Create the agility dog of your dreams while having FUN with your training.
Logical, step-by-step video and text lessons let you spend less time learning and more time doing. Monthly challenges keep you engaged and excited about learning. The supportive, friendly community provides a place to get help, find an accountability partner, celebrate successes, and make new friends. Monthly coaching calls highlight special topics and give you an opportunity to submit questions.
The membership has roadmaps for brand new teams, novice teams, experienced handlers who have a new dog, and experienced teams who need some help with distance handling. There’s sure to be one that is just right for you!
Best of all – you can try it out for FREE! Click the button below to learn more about the 7-day free trial of The Agility Playground.
Agility FUNdamentals for Distance: Foundations and Independent Obstacle Performance
Create a confident, independent dog who can work away from you with ease! Whether you are just getting started in agility, or you are an experienced team that wants to improve your distance, this course is for you. Distance is critical for ALL courses in ALL venues, not just the distance games. Come check out this popular and FUN course!
NOTE: Most of the information in this course is contained within The Agility Playground, so do not purchase both.
Essential Tricks for Agility Dogs
Make your agility journey a breeze with these essential tricks! If you want your dog to line up next to you at the start line, stay until you release him, or you’re just missing some fundamentals, this is the course for you. Learn how to use fun and easy games to build confidence, have more tools for teaching distance, and keep your dog fit. Have FUN with your dog while building your relationship in this short course!
NOTE: Most of the information in this course is contained within The Agility Playground, so do not purchase both.
Rear End Awareness for Agility Dogs
Calling all agility dog owners! Do you want safer contact performances, more accurate weave poles, and more efficient jumping? Your dog needs rear end awareness! Click the button to learn more about this course that will show you how to teach your dog 12 exercises that will take your dog from “body oblivious” to “self-aware superstar”! Now open for enrollment!
NOTE: Most of the information in this course is contained within The Agility Playground, so do not purchase both.
Free-Moment Magic
Discover a better way to train that allows you to have a well-behaved dog, start that dog sport you’ve been dying to learn about, finish your title, or just have some sanity in your household, without disrupting your schedule. This course shows you how to take advantage of the “free moments” you didn’t even know you had so you end up with a well-trained companion.
NOTE: Most of the information in this course is contained within The Agility Playground, so do not purchase both.
The Two-Week Trick Title
Relationship * Accomplishment * FUN * Success * Achievement
Inside The Two-Week Trick Title course, you’ll get everything you need to improve your relationship, teach your dog 15 tricks, and earn a novice trick title. If you aren’t interested in a title, this course is still for you! It will put you on the path to having a well-behaved, well-trained pet (and we all want that).
PRIVATE LESSONS – ONLINE AND IN-PERSON
ONLINE 1:1 COACHING
A limited number of online 1:1 coaching spaces are available.
Get video reviews of exercises or competition runs, an individualized training plan, and more, so you can pinpoint exactly what you need to work on to improve your team.
Email to set up a free consultation about your coaching needs.
IN-PERSON PRIVATE COACHING
A limited number of in-person coaching spaces are available. Full-hour coaching sessions can be shared between two teams.
Get immediate feedback and laser-focused coaching for your individual needs so you can progress faster and have more fun!
Email to set up a free consultation about your coaching needs.