Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - AG190: The Glue for Future Agility Stars

Course Details

This course is different than most agility foundation classes. Rather than introducing obstacle and flatwork skills needed to run an agility course, this class lays out the critical skills (the glue) that your dog needs for productive learning in agility classes and seminars. The glue will give your future agility star resources and strengths to focus in the unique environment that surrounds the sport of agility. Without this glue, dogs can become frustrated, anxious, fearful, over aroused or any number of other undesirable behaviors that will compromise learning. While this class is specifically designed for the high energy environment of agility, the skills learned by the dog and handler can be used in any and all dog sports.

This class is for dogs of any age - young dogs that haven't started classes, seminars, and/or trialing or dogs that are already trialing. Puppies that are less than 6 months should probably wait a little longer. Some 4 and 5 month old puppies will be work fine, but they might not progress at the same speed as an older dog. Contact me for questions. Dogs that will benefit the most are the dogs in the 6 month to two year age bracket.

Some of the many things your dog will learn in this class:

Stationing
Focused Wait/Standby
Release
Collar/Leash skills
Moving away from reinforcement
Transport techniques
Down stay
Ring Entrance
Ring Exit

Some of the many things you will learn in this class:

How to plan and organize efficient training sessions
How to move your dog effectively between repetitions
Why speed is not important during learning
How to clean up communication with your dog
How and why to use event markers

Join us as we apply the glue to build a confidence and well adjusted future agility star.

Teaching Approach

This class takes a step by step approach to building the various skills. Each step will have written instructions. Most steps will have at least one corresponding video. Lectures are released in one batch at the beginning of the week. Feedback will all be written.

This class is heavy on information and there is a lot to read in the first three weeks. There is a lot of background and basic information to understand that sets this the dog up for success during those first three weeks. The last three weeks have less to cover and won't be as heavy on assignments.

This class will have a Teacher's Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the bronze and silver students! Directions for joining that Facebook group will be in the classroom after you register.

Podcast

Here's a discussion Nancy had with Melissa Breau about this class on the FDSA Podcast:

Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast: E221: Nancy Gagliardi Little - "What it takes to learn agility"

Instructor: Nancy Gagliardi Little

Nancy Gagliardi Little (she/her) has been training dogs since the early 1980s, when she put an OTCH on her Novice A dog, a Labrador retriever. Since then she has put many advanced obedience titles on her dogs, including 4 AKC OTCH titles, 6 UD titles, 3 UDX titles, and multiple...(Click here for full bio and to view Nancy's upcoming courses)

Syllabus

View Full Syllabus

Week 1

Clean Cues
Duration Behaviors
Offered Stay
Release
Zen Games (optional)
Event Markers (Introduction, why, when, where, location specific event markers)
Training Session Goals
Speed vs. Thoughtfulness
Mistakes
Station Introduction

Week 2

Station - Increase Duration
Transport - Treat magnet, Tugging
Crating Suggestions and Discussion (dogs won't work on crating in this class but we will talk about strategies and issues that come up)
Standby
Leash & Collar On
Collar Give
Collar & Leash Pressure
Small dogs - Consent to be picked up

Week 3

Station - Reduce Reinforcement, Add Distractions
Down Position
Offered Down Stay
Down Stay - Eye Contact, Vary Handler Position, Slight Duration
Stand-by - Freeze, Duration
Transport - Leash, Carry Dog
Transport - Treat Magnet - Increase Distance

Week 4

Down Stay - Duration and Simple Distractions
Move Away from Reinforcement
Station - Eliminate/Reduce Reinforcement, Increased Distractions
Transport - Station to Recall
Standby - Add Work

Week 5

Station – Add Work
Down Stay - Lengthen Duration, Increase Distractions
Move Away From Reinforcement – Add Gate or Entrance, Toys
Waiting Strategies

Week 6

Down Stay - Eliminate Reinforcement, Add Work
Ring Entrance - Add Work
Ring Exit Strategies
Station - Advanced Training

Prerequisites & Supplies

View all Prerequisites & Supplies

A portable dog cot or any type of portable station.

Dog mats that lay flat on the ground won't be used to teach stationing behavior.

You will need a cot or some type of elevated surface that has a distinct boundary. I have used the portable/fold up Carlson cot. I use the large for my medium dogs. It’s much larger than what they need but I love the portability. It is also very reasonably priced. If you have a very powerful dog, you might want to look into something more expensive that is built to handle a powerful exit from the station. There are some nice cots that are made for kids in daycare. If you do a search for "daycare cots" in your browser, you can find examples of these.

Other favorites are the Cato Board: https://catooutdoors.com/. The Cato Board is a very stable outdoor platform that is made specifically for dog sports activities. It can be used in all weather and it is supported so that it doesn't move when your dog gets onto or leaves the board. They are pricey, but I think you'll like them. Some dogs initially have trouble with the Cato boards because they are so close to the ground and the dog can easily step off.

The Klimb with a mat to prevent it from being slippery is okay as long as it is stable for your dog. There should be enough room for your dog to stand or sit comfortably.

There is no required position on the station.

Sample Lecture

Speed in Agility

Agility trainers struggle with the concept of pushing energy and speed into their dogs before the dog understands the task at hand. Ask any successful athlete, and they will agree that it is more important to learn to execute the skill or routine first - slowly and accurately - before adding more energy, intensity, or speed.

When your dog is learning something new, it will take time to become proficient at the skill. Allowing the dog to perform the skill slowly with proper placement of reinforcement will build confidence in the dog. Confidence builds enthusiasm and speed. A dog that is frantic and hectic while performing is not focused on the execution. Building speed into an exercise before the dog understands how to use the body properly will cause many incorrect responses during the learning process. When that happens, it becomes difficult for the dog to figure out – especially when the human wants speed on top of it all.

Some of my fastest dogs picked up speed after becoming more confident with their jumping skills or other obstacle performance. If the dog cannot perform the task slowly, there is no way the dog will be able to do it fast while also focusing on handling along with trial distractions. When speed is required before knowledge or precision, the dog will make many mistakes during the process. And depending on how you or your dog responds to those mistakes, anything can happen. You might have a dog that learns to ignore handling (creating off courses at high speed) or possibly a dog with frantic behaviors that cause more errors. You can even create the opposite of what you want - a dog that learns to move slowly.

How would you feel if you were learning a new app or software package, and the instructor was encouraging you to execute faster than you could process? That causes frustration, confusion, mistakes, stress, and lots of emotions. Maybe you are a savvy learner, so you tell the teacher to slow down and ask more questions. Let’s do that for our dogs, too! Let’s allow them to ask some questions!

Testimonials & Reviews

Read All Testimonials

A sampling of what prior students have said about this course...

I wish all agility dogs had the skills that you teach in this class! You encouraged me to test JJ's skills and we have some new reward strategies. We are certainly going to carry on with stationing before work and practicing ring entries and exits. I'm really happy that with the extra stationing practice she is choosing to lie down on her bed when I am conditioning the other dogs. I also feel like this class has put a bit more focus in our training. I really haven't been all that interested in progressing her agility training until she gains some confidence. This class gave us easy, fun, things to do together. ~ Debbie Dust

Thanks for an amazing class! Sexy life skills for agility is my new title. So thankful we took this class and I gleamed lots of valuable information. I loved the progression and your thoughtful breakdown of each skill. ~Jillian Neff

Nancy's instruction was terrific - both the written lectures and the video feedback. I saw so much improvement in my dog over the term. She can do things now that I never thought would be possible!

This is the first class I have taken with Nancy. I am a seasoned Fenzi student and how is it I never realized what a dedicated and fabulous instructor she is!!!!! If you are interested in agility and want to create a solid foundation before you even look at an obstacle then this course is for you. Or if you have started agility and need to refresh the basics before you even enter the ring then this course is for you! She covers the importance of clean marker cues , stationing , stays, moving from place to place, how to keep your dog focused on you while you wait ,....and much more. She takes each of these topics and explains both with written word and video how to achieve these goals. Her feedback to her students is top notch and very individualized. A super class and one not to miss . Thank you Nancy

I found the exercises in class to be fun, relevant to what I had hoped to learn, and released at a good pace in order to keep up. Nancy provided helpful and personal feedback, and always had positive things to say about our work. Avery and I thoroughly enjoyed this class and will continue to work on the skills we've learned over the last 6 weeks!

This class is absolutely FANTASTIC! It was so helpful in preparing myself and my dog for future dog sporting events. Nancy's feedback was so well delivered and thorough, always having positive things to say as well as simple step by step guidance of how to take each skill to the next level. Nancy's lectures were top notch and gave so much valuable information without being overwhelming. As my first Fenzi course, it went above and beyond what I ever could have expected!

The GLUE for a future agility star is exactly what we got from this course. This course helped me focus on the little skills that make a huge difference to future success. Nancy breaks down each skill into easy to train steps, with clear instructions on how to build the behavior as the course moves through the weeks. These skills are the sexy life skills that everyone should have but we always push aside for the flashy agility skills!

Nancy is a fabulous instructor. She is very patient and has an eye for the details that I can't see. She is an excellent problem solver and comes up with tailored solutions to the dog in front of her!

Registration

There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.

Registration opens at 9:30am Pacific Time.

AG190 Subscriptions

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Tuition	$ 260.00	$ 130.00	$ 65.00
Enrollment Limits	12	25	Unlimited
Access all course lectures and materials	✔	✔	✔
Access to discussion and homework forums	✔	✔	✔
Read all posted questions and answers	✔	✔	✔
Watch all posted videos	✔	✔	✔
Post general questions to Discussion forum	✔	✔	✖
Submit written assignments	✔	✖	✖
Post dog specific questions	✔	With video only	✖
Post videos	✔	Up to 2	✖
Receive instructor feedback on	Questions All videos	Questions All videos	✖

Find more details, refund policies and answers to common questions in the Help center.

AG190: The Glue for Future Agility Stars

AG190: The Glue for Future Agility Stars

Course Details

Teaching Approach

Podcast

Gold

Silver

Bronze