Agility Challenge Tip #20 – Practice Alone

Here’s a question I’ve started asking about any training system, including my own: what would it look like if this were wrong? A useful idea tells you in advance what would count as evidence against it. Some systems are built so failure never touches the method. It always lands on the person instead. At that point you’re not holding a hypothesis anymore. You’re holding a loyalty test. And every instructor, every camp, every tribe does this. Mine included. We talk about why it works on us so well, what it costs, and a question you can ask anybody. Then I answer it myself first, because I won’t ask you a question I wouldn’t answer. So what would change your mind? Tell me: [email protected], or leave a comment on this episode’s page at daisypeel.com. And if you made it to the end, hit subscribe, so I know somebody’s out there.

You’ve seen this at every trial. A dog comes out of the ring, the handler crouches down to pet them, and the dog leans away. We call that over threshold. Your dog is telling you something a lot more specific. And that same hand, that same night on the couch? Something they’ll shove their head under and ask you for more of. An aversive isn’t a piece of equipment. It’s an experience, and your dog is the one who decides. In this episode: why that means MORE things count as aversive, not fewer, three practical things to do with that, and why “I never use aversives with my dog” is a much bigger claim than it sounds. This week, just watch your dog. Don’t fix anything. Watch. Tell me: [email protected], or leave a comment on this episode’s page at daisypeel.com. And if you made it to the end, hit subscribe, so I know somebody’s out there.

You lured your dog today. So did I. Probably a few dozen times. “Luring” has turned into kind of a dirty word in some corners of dog training, so let’s actually define it, and then look at what your body is doing on every sequence you run. Because in agility, we never fade ourselves out as a lure. Your body IS the cue system. I also get into where lure dependence really is a problem, how a verbal marker system splits the cookie’s jobs apart, four steps for luring on purpose, and why I get a little itchy about purity rules. What’s something you were told not to do, that you did anyway, and it worked? The marker system I mention is taught in KNOW Games at theagilitychallenge.com. Tell me: [email protected], or leave a comment on this episode’s page at daisypeel.com. And if you made it to the end, hit subscribe, so I know somebody’s out there.

It’s been almost a year since the last episode. The real reason is a little embarrassing, and it turns out it’s the same shape as something I got wrong in my training for many years. For a long time I believed that if you ever needed to tell your dog no, you’d failed somewhere upstream. That belief didn’t stop me from correcting my dog. It stopped me from correcting my dog WELL. In this one I talk about what that belief actually did, why the bad feeling afterwards was pointed at the wrong thing, and what happens to any part of your training you’ve decided not to look at. So... what are you not looking at? Tell me: [email protected], or leave a comment on this episode’s page at daisypeel.com. And if you made it to the end, hit subscribe, so I know somebody’s out there.

Here's a bit of dark humor for Valentine's Day that has to do with dog training...sort of...mostly it's just a fun thought experiment!

In this podcast with Ivan Balabanov of Training Without Conflict, we go deeper into the sport of agility and compare it with other dog sports. We talk about what it really means to select and train dogs for the world stage versus training a pet dog simply to provide an outlet and maintain a healthy, balanced mind.

In this episode, I join Andrew on The Doggy Stoic podcast to talk about high-level agility competition, the Kynology Agency-Accountability Framework, and why I'm open about using complete training methods. We discuss the Kynology workshop I hosted in Ohio, the politics around training approaches in agility, and what it means to prioritize dog welfare through clarity and realistic expectations rather than ideology. If you've ever wondered why some of us talk openly about using all four quadrants while others stay quiet, this conversation gets into the real reasons behind that divide. The Doggie Stoic on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@doggiestoic

What does Christmas Eve have to do with Heart Health? What does dog agility have to do with heart health? Some thoughts from Daisy Peel during this holiday season.

Holding ourselves accountable to stay sharp, to stay focused, and to stay in the sweet spot at the edge of our abilities when we're alone is important – it's not what happens in class each week, during that one or two hour period of time! It's what happens when you're at home, in your back yard, or your basement, by yourself, with your dog, working on the things you've set out to work on, with purpose! Never miss an episode by subscribing via iTunes, Spotify or by RSS Help improve the show by leaving a Rating & Review in iTunes (Here’s How) Join the discussion for this episode in the comments section at the website for this show

As a dog trainer and handler, you're not only a student (of the game, of your instructor, etc.), but you're also a coach for your dog. And, good coaches, whether it's to your dog or to your own agility students, share a knack for transforming the most mundane activities – especially the mundane activities – into games.  Never miss an episode by subscribing via iTunes, Spotify or by RSS Help improve the show by leaving a Rating & Review in iTunes (Here’s How) Join the discussion for this episode in the comments section at the website for this show