Well there are some very clever people out there.  I notice this morning there are still orders coming in for the ebook “Phase One of Excellence in Weave Pole Training”, even though I said it would no longer be available after the new DVD was released.  So I went to our website and I can not see it there anywhere but somehow people are finding it and ordering it. My guess is that I overworked my web-dude with the ebook and now the new dvd  (and another project I just loaded on him) and rather than taking off the ebook he has just hid it on the site.  I would try the old link and see if it still works.  However I imagine it is going to go soon enough.

The exciting thing is that you CAN order the new DVD, however it will not be shipped out until Friday so please don’t email me wondering where it is for at least a week after that:).  Looking at the orders coming in today, I  notice how much tax the poor people of Ontario have to pay on this DVD and I really think it is crappy.

So I was thinking it would be nice if I gave everyone from Ontario that ordered the new DVD a free gift of some sort. And then I realized all of you people overseas are also paying a wack of money for shipping, so I thought, wow, I should include all of you in on the free gift as well. Then I thought, hey those Americans have been loyal supporters of Say Yes for a really long time so I can’t leave them out or the rest of Canada. So here is my plan, I am going to make sure everyone that orders the new DVD Susan Garrett’s 2×2 Weave Pole Training, 12 Poles in 12 Days from  our website, is going to get a free gift from me. I don’t know exactly what I am going to do, but I will do something. I will keep you posted in blogs to come when I iron out the details with my overworked web dude:).

I thought I would elaborate a bit on one of the points I made about how the skills that make a great family pet lay down the foundation for a phenomenal agility dog.  Take walking on a loose leash for example. Today there is an increasing popularity for agility dogs to be lead around by a harness, rather than a collar. Why, because it makes it easier on the dog that wants to pull on leash (pulling on a flat collar can be damaging to a dog trachea so a harness is healthier).  

It makes me wonder though, why not just train the dog not to pull on leash? Take a look at what a puppy or young dog learns when he pulls you on a leash?  He is learning that your body is something to be ignored.  When you stop he should dig in harder to keep moving away from you. Not only does this create frustration for both dog and handler, as far as being a good family pet, but it also teaches the dog your body motion is meaningless.

Does this mean all top agility dogs do not pull on leash when walking?  Aaaaah no, not at all. It does mean that once you have allowed a puppy to learn the  lesson of ignoring your body in his every day life with you, you are going to have to have him un-learn it for the purpose of agility (wow that last sentence was really something special wasn’t it?) I avoid all of that unnecessary extra work for myself by teaching my puppies, as soon as I get them home, to not pull on leash!  I appreciate a family pet that is responsive to my body as she walks on leash and coincidently, I also appreciate my agility dog that responds to my body language as something important (for tight turns amoung other things) on the agility field.  So think about other ‘family pet’ traits that will pay dividends for you in the agility arena, there actually are a lot of them when you stop to think about it!


Today I am grateful for my web dude Bill.  He is getting gun shy when he sees the word “idea” on my subject line but yet he still responds to all of my wacky requests.