Puppy/Foundation: Open to dogs over 3 months to competing adults - Building communication skills for dogs competing or planning to compete in agility including: Impulse control, Sit, Stay, Positional cues, Behavior shaping, Focus with distraction, Sends and recalls and Building drive. This class is not an obstacle training class.
Beginner: Will include: Introduction to all equipment, fundamental dog and handler skills, short, simple sequences, obedience skills as needed. By the end of the session dogs should be confidently performing all the equipment at some level.
The 1 hour class will have either 6 or 8 dogs depending on the number of instructors.
Dogs with overall confidence or motivation issues should stay in the
Beginner class for another 8 week session.
Advanced
Beginner: Dogs should have been introduced to all pieces of equipment and are comfortable with most of them, though not necessarily at full height. Seesaw may still need assistance and weave poles are still being taught. Dogs should be able to stay with the handler for short sequences off leash. This class will develop equipment fluency (dogs), handling and teamwork “building block” skills
and work on longer sequences.
The Advanced Beginner class will be repeated until the dog meets the standards required for the next level. No dog will be able to progress to the next level without a reliable recall.
Intermediate
I: Dogs should be fluent on all equipment – they may still need work on weaves but the dog should be working in a channel or tilted poles. Dogs must to be able to work sequences completely off-leash. They should also have a reliable recall. This is a “pre competition” level class, regardless of whether or not the teams intend to compete.
This class will continue to build teamwork and enable handlers to develop basic handling and course strategy skills.
Intermediate
II: For dogs competing in Novice or able to successfully run a Novice-level course. There should be no major equipment issues at this level.
Competition: For dogs competing in Excellent or able to successfully run an Excellent/Elite/Masters level course.
The following are some special classes which we offer from time to time. Please see the current class schedule for availability.
Distance: For dogs familiar with basic sends (Novice FAST, Gamblers, Chances, lower levels Jackpot). We will focus on increasing distance to get dogs ready for the upper-level distance challenges and using distance to increase speed in regular classes.
Mini Sessions (Winter, 2012): You can sign up for 1, 2, 3 or all Mini Sessions – Please indicate clearly what sessions you would like on your registration form.
Week 1-2 (January 9 and 16) - Impulse Control - We will be working on start-line stays, staying on the table, and other skills that rely on your dog's ability to control his excitement.
Weeks 3-4 (January 23 and 30) - Distraction Work - We will be using drills and games to teach your dog to ignore everything outside of his job on course.
Weeks 5-6 (February 6 and 13) - Independent Obstacle Performance - Take the pressure off of you as the handler by teaching your dog to perform the obstacles without help from you.