Focus Forward

Agility for smaller spaces - Lesson 1

Help your dog learn to look ahead at a jump instead of at you.

In this video, I demonstrate some set-ups you can with just one jump to help your dog solidify that they need to focus forward rather than look at you. In agility we always need a nice balance between obstacle and handler focus. Often times this can get a bit out of balance with handler focus taking over. I use exercises like these frequently to help keep obstacle focus in balance with all the handler focus work I do. They make a great warm-up even for an experienced dog especially if we plan to do any distance work in our training that day.

Download the accompanying PDF for this exercise and HAVE FUN playing!

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About Me...

Heather Wark

I have been working as a professional dog trainer since 1996. I attended my first dog agility class in 1998 and I haven't looked back. My dog Tilley and I went on to compete in the sport of agility attending regional and national events and obtained a 3rd place overall for pre-elite dogs at the NADAC Nationals.

I obtained an undergraduate degree in psychology where I did extensive coursework and a thesis in animal behaviour. This foundation continues to support me to understand the science behind effective animal training. I went on to earn B. Ed. and and M. Ed. degrees which help me with curriculum design and understanding the human learning process happening on the other end of the leash.

I continue to grow and learn from my dogs, my students and from other leaders and progressive thinkers in the field, and I bring this learner's mindset to each new partnership I work with.

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