Sandy Rogers, founder of Ace Dog Sports hops on mic with the Rover Reporter to help folks understand the basics of agility. Are you right for agility? Is your dog ready for agility?
Sandy shares her philosophy of the chemistry between dogs and owners. Beyond sit and stay, her idea is that communication must be a two way street. Your dog is your pupil and you are there to lead. To develop this level of give and take you can consider creating a system of “talking to each other” even in your own backyard. Play games and encourage, let your dog know if he’s off track. When you’ve mastered this rapport, try some other locations – like a park, and practice the same exercises and techniques!
Her approach to agility is three fold:
You are the teacher, handler and the competitor
It’s up to the human to find their level in each of these aspects of agility to provide an optimal learning environment for your dog.
You can read more about Sandy’s take on agility in CleanRun.com the online magazine for agility enthusiasts.
You’ll also find the details about Sandy’s online pre-agility training program, BAM.
Here you’ll learn the three essential skills which can can be kept quite basic or leveled up into sophisticated combinations of handling cues.
These three skills make up the acronym B.A.M:
- Boomerang: Go away from me and come back to me
- Anchor: Stay put until further notice
- M: Moving with engagement or stay with me
Check out Sandy’s B.A.M. online learning program here.
Finally you’ll hear about Rasta, Sandy’s first agility dog with whom she discovered the sport and rose to championship level competition.
Want to reach Sandy personally – sure, just drop her a note at [email protected]