Hey blog readers, I am looking for your help. I am thinking of a future product creation and would like to give you the opportunity to help develop the product. I would like to know what you feel are your 2 or 3 biggest challenges in dog agility. It may be obstacle related, dog behaviour related, you-related (fitness, mental prep, frustration at lack of effective coaching etc). Please think on it a bit and then go to this really short survey (http://ponyurl.com/wphpde) and let me know how you think. My plan is to randomly pick three of you that complete this ultra-short survey, and send you a really special gift from me. I will unveil what the gift will be next week, but trust me it will be a good one! In the past, all of the products I have launched have been creations in areas where I felt people needed the help. This time around I am going to let you guys choose. What would you pay an outrageous amount of money to learn from Susan Garrett? Okay, seriously, I feel very blessed with the life I now lead, which is why I am very happy to share my knowledge on this blog and in my newsletters. Really, I want to know what you guys want and how I can continue to play a role in your dog training journey. How can I help you reach your dog training goals? I want to see you and your dog grow into the agility team you have always dreamed of being. It is possible, I just know it!
I have a lot of regular visitors to this blog and I am looking forward to reading results of this survey from each and everyone of you (especially while I am currently sick in bed!)
Today I am grateful for the fact that it is pouring rain outside so being sick doesn’t mean I am losing out on some fun outdoors activity with my dogs.
Sorry you are not feeling up to par, but I hope you are in the pink very soon. I really value your books and DVDs and wait with baited breath for anything new from you on the market. What i would like is the confidence that i manage to put into the people I train how do you keep so confident at all times.
Get well soon.
Linda Kightley (Norwich England)
Susan, your questionnaire really got me thinking. I have all your DVD’s and books and often just don’t know where to start!! When I get my next dog I’ll definately be taking it slow. (I was pregnant with my first child when I got my current dog so he didn’t get much puppy time!) I’m from Australia so for me having the DVD’s is great but having a transcript as well is perfect, having the two together would be awesome!! But I would like to see (and I didn’t put it on the survey!) a puppy training program from day one when you bring them home! Maybe like a Ruff Love DVD!!!
Love your work, you are a great inspriation!
One question the survey did not ask is how we would prefer information be presented. Absent a chance to attend a camp, I find that I make much better use of printed information than stuff in a DVD format. I look at the transcript of the 2 x 2 DVD far more thatn I look at the DVD itself. Call me old-fashioned, but I LIKE paper! So, if there is an option for a transcript of whatever is in the pipeline, I would take it.
Hope your feeling better – after reaching a stalling point in the 2×2 weaving maybe you could post a trouble shooting blog post so that people can ask questions. I am not sure where to ask and I am sure other people have run into problems, somebody might have even run into the same problem and been able to fix it.
Hi Susan,
I have an idea for training contacts. I think it would work like a charm for training reliable running contacts.
The idea uses every dog’s natural ability and turns it from being the enemy
into being the goal and it has the added bonus of turning on the brain like a switch.
I’m still working out the particulars but so far it’s working great on my dogs.
If you are interested to hear more and perhaps help me bring this to fruition please send me a private email.
Thanks, Lana Richardson
Susan, I want to thank you for your blog. It´s excellent, it hepl´s to much to us who live far away from north america. I want to tell that the more difficult skill I found in training a novice dog is when you have to pass from low bars to the high standard bars. This is the problem i I´m coming through. Thanks you very much for your blog.
Adolfo (from Argentina)
Hi Susan- Thinking again about your quetionnaire and the personal challenge I told you about. People have said to me “You seem to be so obsessive!” and “You look like you’re not having any fun!” Now, obsessive I don’t mind but the latter remark seemed unfair and untrue until I thought, how DO I look?
My mother, (who grew up in Kincardine Ontario) would quote Robbie Burns to me: “Some power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!”
I love watching videos of you and your dogs, and while I love the music, I often wish I could hear exactly what you are saying to your dogs and how (if anything).
Okay, aside from this I have to add there IS one thing that would make a huge difference to me, and that is, sharing “The Susan Garrett Attitude” in France.
To me, the only thing with any credibility is for someone to see your DVDs, for themselves.
I think that whatever your next product, your conception should continue to include a maximum of visual explanation including “summing up” with words on the screen and a minimum of lecture-style explanation.
Now, I don’t know what about all the other agilityists in France, think, But the only-French speakers are missing out.
There is a third area I’m sure many others will suggest. And that is your puppy-training. Now, at my club, setting up a puppy training program means first and foremost investing in some expensive equipment! Like, the equipment is going to do all the work!
Best wishes,
it was great to have input and “shape” you into heading in the direction for an article that we’d like you to go. anytime!
Get Well Soon Susan!
I’m sending you “wellness abounds” vibes!
THanks for the survey! You have helped me understand so much! If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t even realize where I screwed up along the way. Now I’m trying to put what I’ve learned into action, for example, “Its Yer choice” around the house, crate games, and playful shaping just for fun! THe trick is when we’re running a course! It happens so fast! It’s all a journey- but sometimes it feels like a roller coaster!
Very excited to see what you choose. I agree with Kathy, running multiple dogs that are at different levels and have different handling is very tough. They are usually in the same class and walking the course for both of them and preparing mentally is a tough challenge. Someone once suggested I quit running three dogs and I was stunned, I’d rather have fun and not do things perfectly then just quit running nmy dogs. We love it too much!
Feel better Susan, I too have been stuck at home not feeling well and preparing for my surgery on Monday. I will be off all next week healing so I will be checking the blog daily, it’s one of the morning things I do to make my day better. In other words keep up the regularly blogging! = )
Thankyou for asking us.
You didnt leave a box for when we are faulted what its for
In my case it is ALWAYS handler error – or getting lost, or trying not to run face first into the dog walks 😀
I need lots off help – the dogs fine
I have a smart, fast, cooperative Irish Terrier with a great jump. She is my first agility dog – we have 2 yrs. exp. I competed last year – Open FAST, JWW, and Standard. I was late with signals, not sure of my course, and I was re-doing sequences for my own practice. She began to stress!! I’ve stoppped trialing her. I have a standard poodle in Ex.JWW and Standard and I am showing him. And I’m training my granddog – a super good JR. Now I work on double box exercises from (Greg Derrett’s DVD) and attend seminars. I’ve had a couple of private lessons with Barb Davis – she likes my Irish! I take 6 weeks sessions at the Dog Training Club in Wenatchee. Big improvement in my dogs. I videotape and work with a partner and we have lots of fun! Thank you, Susan, for much needed guidance.
Just filled out the survey. I have to say that I have heard Susan-isms in my head EVERY single day since Vancouver. It was just the refresher and kick in the rear that I needed!! Loving every second of the blogs, podcasts, and positive inspirations. You Rock!
Feel better soon.
Thanks susan for the survey…
My issues I think are running two different experience levels of dogs. I expect my young 26″ dog to run like my experienced 22″ dog. However, he is just like her in practice mostly and I remember when she was 2 and ran just like him and took bars being too excited in competition. Also, mental management is a big deal and coaching is HUGE!! The presssure of competition can be hard at a large event but the people part is harder IMO.
I hope that you are feeling better! You put out so much energy here in the West you may have run yourself down. But we sure enjoyed every second of it…
Thanks Susan!
Kathy
late suggestion, but may be it helps for another time.
in question 5
5. When you and your dog go clear how often do you win the class?
may be it should be for each dog as question 4, because with on dog you can win always and with other much different than always …. but probably you thought it for the dog1.
Hi Susan,
my three biggest chalenges in dog agility are
1.my handling(when learn the run I do everything perfect but when I run with my dog I forget everything I learned)
2. me being nervous before every run! I’m competing for about 3 years but still can’t cope with them
3. my reaction doesn’t fast enough as my dog! so I do the turns tooo very late!
I just completed your survey. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share in this endeavor. I can’t wait to see what the results are. My responses had to do with improving my skills as a dog trainer/handler/athlete. I believe that if I could improve myself then I will be able to teach my dogs more efficiently and more quickly. Hope you are feeling better. Take lots of fluids!
I am glad you are resting, it is so important.
I really like the fact you use every opportunity to have fun (at the same time train) your dogs. This is inspiring to people who might not have the same resourses as you. It just goes to show, having agility equipment and alot of space is not what makes a great agility dog but a great relationship is.
Judith Batchelor
I just want to say thank you for your blog and information sharing. I am NOT an agility person but I have several (5) dogs and have ordered your crate games just for ideas and fun. I train horses and teach riding and that is my focus for clicker training and behavioral science. I find it very helpful to do “dog stuff” to further my abilities with horses and enjoyment of my dogs. And I LOVE your humor and gratitude. Many thanks!