We saw Dawn Weaver from the UK who was being hosted over at
Flying Feet Agility in Floyds Knobs, IN. It’s a beautiful facility. And Dawn
was great. This was definitely one of the top 2 agility seminars that I’ve been
to.
I didn’t know a lot about Dawn before this seminar. The
seminar was recommended to me by a friend who had read her book and knew
someone who had been taking her online class. I did a little research and liked
what I saw.
Dawn running her border collie in England
First of all, she has small dogs (Papillon & Poodles). She has large dogs as well (Beardie / Border Collie crosses & Border Collies), but it is pretty hard to find anyone giving seminars that takes small dogs seriously. Let alone runs small dogs :) Anyone who tells you that they are all the same, hasn’t ran a small dog…
Most seminar presenters are usually geared toward border
collies & shelties. And that’s fine, I mean, most information &
techniques will cross-over to any other high-drive dogs. But not all :)
Dawn running her papillon at the Invitational
I also liked Dawn because she is against “handling systems.”
You can’t swing a jump pole around here without hitting someone trying to
perfect their “backy-uppy” or “forward motion front cross.” I’m not a huge fan
of systems. Or rules in general :) Whether it be the Linda
Mecklenburg / Awesome Paws system or the Greg Derret system, I just can’t jump
on board. I could go on & on… Maybe I’ll write a blog post about that some
time :)
Dawn running her Beardie / Border Collie at the Invitational
Anyway, like Dawn said: not all dogs are going to fit
perfectly into those handling systems. She believes that your dog should
dictate how you handle. Create a system for your dog, don’t try to make your
dog fit your system. She also said that handling isn’t something you train your
dog to understand. You can train yourself to handle better for your dog, but
you shouldn’t have to train your dog what each move from you means (ie. recalls
to heel, lateral sends, etc.). What you do should come naturally to your dog
& be understood without drilling and training.
So consider this a preview :) The next blog post will highlight more things I learned - and a video of Stout's public agility debut!!
Stay tuned...
The first video....They run some tricky courses over there! There was way too much back side of the jump stuff going on!
ReplyDeleteThe second video....I think her Pap may have out run the BC in the 1st video. That little guy/gal was lightening fast. If I went w/ a tiny dog, it would definitely be a Pap!
Third video....Dawn is definitely an excellent handler. I don't think I've ever heard of her in my area.
My training center always does Jen Pinder and Mary Ellen Barry, and Susan Salo once.
And I agree, most seminars don't address corgis very well. I would never consider a Cardigan a small dog as far as stride and where they land from a jump. But of course they can't wrap a jump like a BC. The long body needs space or the bars go down!
I like how she runs her dogs!
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