Every agility venue has a class that requires distance skills. Whether it is Fast, Gamblers Chances or Jackpot, you are required to work away from your dog. Additionally, being able to work away from your dog opens up many handling options for any agility class or venue. There are many elements to distance training and I have broken them down into specific classes to work specific skills. We start out with the foundation for distance class. In this class, we go over foundation skills to teach distance! After this class, we have different classes to teach forward distance, lateral distance and layering, directionals at a distance, distance off of contacts and then put the skills together in a Distance Challenge Class.
Here is a list of the Classes in the In The Zone Distance Series. Click here for a description of each class.
Class 2: Driving Forward at Distance 4 weeks OPEN ENROLLMENT
Class 3: Directionals at a Distance 4 weeks OPEN ENROLLMENT
Class 4: Lateral and Layering at a Distance 4 week OPEN ENROLLMENT
Class 5: Distance Off Contacts 4 weeks OPEN ENROLLMENT
Class 6: Distance Challenges 4 weeks Enroll Sept 24 Start Oct 1
Groundwork for Distance and Teaching Cues
Opens January 1st ENROLL HERE
The key to success is having a strong foundation. There is so much you can do to train your dog your cues and distance without agility equipment. In this class, we will go over foundation exercises including shadow handling, targeting using toys and targets to teach cues and distance. We will use toys, targets and cones to work the groundwork exercises that will teach your dog to follow your body language, learn your verbal cues and understand motion that helps give them the confidence and information to work away from you.
In this class I will be performing these exercises with my puppy Inspire! You will see the actual learning process of how I train my pup. I will also use my advanced dogs for some exercises to show you that even very advanced dogs still need a refresher on these exercises. I have never had a dog understand my cues and body language as a pup/young dog as Inspire does and I attribute this to the new groundwork exercises that I have done! He has amazing distance already. I am so excited about our agility journey and would love to share some of the great exercises I did with him as he grew from a pup to a dog almost ready to compete!
This class is great for puppies over 4 months old as well as older dogs that need to learn these skills and more advanced teams that want a “tune-up”.
As I travel all over the continent doing seminars, one skill I find is consistently lacking is “GO – GO STRAIGHT!!. Many dogs cannot do 2 or more obstacles in a row in a straight line without curling in, spinning or barking. If you have a dog that has a hard time continually moving forward and or doing the last obstacle, this class is for YOU!! Videos will include teaching my puppy Inspire ( He will be at least 10 months old in the videos ) as well as my other dogs. Open to all dogs 10 months or older that can perform hoops or jumps, and tunnels. Minimal space: 50x60 Required equipment 1 tunnel and 7 jumps or hoops
DIRECTIONALS AT A DISTANCE OPEN ENROLLMENT $99
Directionals is an extremely important part of agility training! The farther you work away from your dog, the more clear and consistent you need to be with your cues. In this class, we will go how to cue your dog to turn properly for here/come (turn towards you) and switch/flips (turn away from you). We will go over body language, verbal cues and motion to cue your dog to turn at a distance. Videos will include teaching my puppy Inspire ( He will be at least 10 months old in the videos ) directionals and adding distance as well as videos with my advanced dogs. Open to all dogs 10 months or older that can perform hoops or jumps and tunnels. Required space: 50x70 Required equipment 1 tunnels and 8 jumps or hoops
LAYERING & LATERAL DISTANCE OPEN ENROLLMENT Price: $99
Lateral distance is a very useful skill to have. The more lateral distance you have the easier it is to send your dog forward at a distance. In this class, we will go over how to teach and become comfortable with lateral distance. Homework will include sequences but also discussing various courses and analysis how lateral distance is advantageous. We will also work on layering obstacles. Videos will include teaching my puppy Inspire ( He will be at least 10 months old in the videos ) as well as my older dogs. Open to all dogs over a year old that can perform hoops or jumps and tunnels. Required space: 50x60 Required equipment 1 tunnel and 8 jumps or hoops
DISTANCE OFF OF CONTACTS: OPEN ENROLLMENT Price: $99
An important skill to have is to be able to send your dog off a contact from any location. Having distance off of contacts opens up your handling options!! Many FAST/Chances/Gamblers/JACKPOT etc require the dog to send ahead while being behind the line or requiring lateral distance. In this class, we will go over the steps I take to teach my dogs distance off of contacts. This class is not about teaching contacts. I will include some foundation videos of my puppy Inspire learning distance off of board that will translate to contacts when he is ready for contact training. Open to all dogs over a year old that can perform contact, hoops or jumps and tunnels. Required space: 50x70 Required equipment- dogwalk or aframe, 1 tunnel and 6 jumps or hoops
DISTANCE CHALLENGES Enroll Sept 24 4 Lessons $99
Do you get stuck on the line in the Gamblers, Fast, Chances, Jackpot? Are you ready for more distance challenges? In this class, we will setup sequences with distance lines ( like FAST, Chances, Gamblers, Jackpot etc).We will examine different handling techniques needed to work your dog while staying behind the line.. We will focus on when, where and how to cue your dog properly using body language, verbal cues and motion so that you do not get stuck crossing the line. Open to all dogs over a year old that can perform hoops or jumps and tunnels. Required space: 60x70 Required equipment: dogwalk or aframe, 2 tunnels and 8 jumps or hoops. If you do not have contact equipment, substitutions can be made !!
Here is a video of teaching Inspire (8 months old)
Distance! He has only been working hoops for about 2 weeks. He has great commitment and distance already because of the great
foundation exercises I have been doing with him !
