One of the things I love about dog agility is that there is always more to learn. And I don’t just mean more handling moves or more complicated courses!

When you watch a dog and handler running together, you see the jumps, tunnels and hopefully a dog having an amazing time. But underneath that performance is a lot of learning.

Your dog needs to understand their job, and you need to understand how your handling affects their line. As those skills grow, something pretty special happens. You start to really feel that trust and connection between you.

But none of us start there.

Those skills are built in layers, which is exactly what we’ve created with Handling360 Synergy, our online dog agility handling program. Whether you’re just starting out, looking for more consistency or have your sights set on the big podiums, the 10 progressive classrooms give you a path to follow.

Along with me, Max Sprinz and Enya Habel bring their experience to Synergy, helping you build the skills that will allow you and your dog to confidently work together on course.

And if you’re thinking, “Susan, 10 classrooms? That’s a LOT!”

Don’t worry. The goal isn’t to race through them. It’s to know what you’re building on and what you and your dog need next.

And that path starts with dog training.

The First Step In Dog Agility Is Dog Training

The first part of the journey is about developing your teamwork. There’s a lot of dog training that goes into creating synergy between you and your dog, and that starts well before we’re putting everything together on an agility course.

Classroom 1: Essentials

Essentials is where we start with the foundation skills we believe agility dogs need, regardless of your dog’s breed or where you are starting from.

These are the skills we would never want to leave to chance with our own dogs. And foundations aren’t just for beginners. If you’ve already been doing agility for years, Essentials gives you an opportunity to strengthen the understanding that all the handling to come will rely upon.

Classroom 2: The Compass

From there, The Compass starts pointing us toward agility skills while we’re still doing a lot of dog training away from equipment.

We develop directionals and your understanding of handler motion, while your dog gets thinking games and an introduction to their first jump cues. We want to build those skills with confidence from the start so that when more agility is added, your dog already has an understanding to draw from.

Classroom 3: Dynamics

Then in Dynamics, we bring more motion into the picture and develop your dog’s dynamic focus while refining your handling.

Your own body language and decision-making become increasingly important here. Your dog is also developing their response to directional cues for tight turns and learning to bypass tempting obstacles, even something as inviting as a tunnel!

How Your Handling Affects Your Dog’s Line

The next part of the journey is about understanding how what you do affects your dog’s line. Your body and your verbals give your dog information, and now we can start bringing those pieces together to create the intended line.

Classroom 4: Cones & Cues

In Cones & Cues, both you and your dog are moving into higher-level skills.

Your dog learns to layer obstacles and to move from jumping in extension to collection in response to your cues. At the same time, you’re learning how your handling information affects what your dog does next.

This is where we start seeing more of that synergy between your dog’s motion and your handling cues.

Classroom 5: 1 Jump 1 Line

Then we come to 1 Jump 1 Line, because agility really is a game of lines.

Your dog has a line and you have a handling line. Here we start blending skills from the earlier classrooms so you can create the best line for your dog while you’re both in motion.

And confidence is a big part of that.

I like to think of confidence as a bubble around our dogs. We always want to protect that bubble, but we’ve also got to grow it. As we increase what we’re asking, we want to keep enough clarity that confidence grows right along with the challenge.

Classroom 6: Backside Boss

In Backside Boss, we develop your dog’s understanding of backside directional cues while continuing to proof their understanding of the front side.

What I love is when the dog can drive with confidence whether we’re asking for the front or the backside of an obstacle. There’s an ease and rhythm that starts to appear because the dog understands the information you’re giving.

And your confidence is growing too. The more clearly you understand your handling choices, the easier it becomes to give your dog the information they need.

Growing Into The Dog Agility Team You’re Meant To Be

By the time we reach the final four classrooms, there’s a lot of education behind both you and your dog. Now we can start asking those skills to work for us in more challenging situations.

Classroom 7: Trust The Send

Trust The Send is a really important one because dog agility isn’t just for handlers who can run as fast as their dogs.

Here we develop your dog’s ability to work confidently at greater distances from you. Maybe you’re layering an obstacle or sending your dog to perform a skill while you’re somewhere else on the course.

Your dog learns to commit at a distance, and you learn that you don’t always need to be right beside them for them to understand their job.

That’s where the trust really starts to grow.

Classroom 8: Language Of Lines

By the time we get to Language Of Lines, it’s First Rep Right time.

We’ve spent all this time developing a language between you and your dog, and now we can start testing that understanding on short sequences. We’re looking at the different options available and growing your confidence in choosing what works for you and your dog.

This is where you really start to experience what happens when you and your dog are speaking the same language.

Classroom 9: Smart Turns, Simple Paths

In Smart Turns, Simple Paths, those sequences start getting longer.

We’re taking the skills you already have and giving you more experience using them together, while continuing to protect confidence as the challenge grows.

This is where we usually see that First Rep Right number growing because you’re becoming more experienced at recognizing what the course is asking and using the tools you’ve developed.

Classroom 10: Showing Off

And finally, we’re Showing Off!

This is where it all gets to come together. The skills you share with your dog, the language you’ve developed and your understanding of lines are now something you can draw upon when you step onto a course.

You and your dog have an education behind you, so when there is a challenge, you have skills to handle it.

It’s your time to shine, and it’s your dog’s time to shine and I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Ten Classrooms Doesn’t Mean Ten Classrooms Today

There’s something I really want you to take away from this. Handling360 Synergy has 10 classrooms because dog agility has layers.

It does not mean you need to master 10 classrooms right now.

In fact, we deliberately don’t give students everything at once. I’ve been teaching online long enough to know what can happen when enthusiasm meets a mountain of content. Suddenly inspiration turns into overwhelm and that’s not what we want.

Maybe you’re spending time in Essentials and discovering a foundation gap. Maybe 1 Jump 1 Line completely changes how you see your dog’s path. Maybe you’re an experienced competitor and Trust The Send gives your dog independence you’ve never had before.

There’s value wherever you and your dog need the learning most.

The classrooms support each other, which is why they’re designed as layers rather than separate islands of information. Something you learned early in your journey may suddenly become incredibly important when you’re working on an advanced skill.

So don’t ask, “How fast can I get to Showing Off?”

Ask: “What do my dog and I need to understand next?”

That’s a much better way to grow a dog agility team.

Frequently Asked Questions About Handling360 Synergy

What is Handling360 Synergy?

Handling360 Synergy is an online dog agility handling program that develops your skills progressively from foundations through to advanced handling and course work. The 10 classrooms give you a path to follow as your understanding grows, rather than expecting you to learn advanced handling all at once.

Who is Handling360 for?

Handling360 is designed for a wide range of agility teams. You could be completely new to agility, already competing but looking for more consistency, enjoying success and wanting to improve, or working toward National or World Championship goals. You don’t need to already be an advanced handler to begin.

I’m new to dog agility. Where would I start?

Start at the beginning. Essentials contains foundation skills we use with our own young agility dogs, but foundations aren’t only for puppies or beginners. Starting there gives you the opportunity to build the understanding that later handling skills will rely upon.

I’m already experienced in dog agility. Do the early classrooms still matter?

Absolutely. An experienced team can still find a gap in an earlier layer of learning. Sometimes revisiting a foundation helps explain something you’ve been seeing much later on course.

Do I have to complete all 10 classrooms?

The classrooms build on each other, but this isn’t a race to Classroom 10. You may need more time with one layer than another, and that’s okay. What matters is that you and your dog have the understanding you need before making the challenge bigger.

What’s the difference between Handling360 and Agility Nation?

Handling360 Synergy is our progressive dog agility handling program, but there’s a lot of dog training in Handling360 too. Your dog develops the skills they need for jumps and tunnels, including driving lines, understanding directionals, responding to your handling cues, and confidently working at distance. At the same time, you’re learning how your handling affects your dog’s line and how to communicate clearly as you move around a course.

Agility Nation looks at the broader picture of training and developing an agility dog. That includes obstacle training such as contacts and weaves, along with the many other pieces that can influence your training and performance. It gives you ongoing opportunities to build your dog’s skills, work through training challenges, and continue developing as an agility team as new questions come up. It’s a place to keep learning and growing throughout your agility journey, whether you’re training at home or actively competing. 

A simple way to think about it is this: if you want a progressive education in how to handle your dog around an agility course, that’s Handling360. If you’re looking for a wider library covering other parts of the agility picture, that’s where Agility Nation comes in.

What if I’m worried about learning a lot of verbal cues?

You aren’t expected to learn them all at once. The cues are introduced as part of the progression, so you can build your understanding of how and when to give your dog information as your handling develops.

Is Handling360 suitable for puppies?

There are foundation skills appropriate for young dogs that can be developed away from agility equipment. With puppies, we’re building an education for their future rather than rushing them into physical challenges before they’re ready.

Meet Max And Enya

One of the things that makes Handling360 Synergy so special to me is having Max Sprinz and Enya Habel alongside me. They are both accomplished international agility competitors and coaches, and I love the insight and experience they bring to helping our students understand the sport.

Between us there are many years spent training dogs, walking courses, competing and teaching, but Synergy isn’t about asking you to become any one of us. It’s about helping you become the best possible teammate for the dog you love.

Join Us For Our FREE Agility Masterclass This Fall!

Max, Enya and I have our heads together right now creating something special for our FREE Agility Masterclass later this Fall, and we’d love to have you and your dog join us. Join the waitlist and you’ll be the first to hear when the FREE Agility Masterclass is ready.

Before then, we have something else very special coming your way! Our Recallers Archetype Event Series starts in a couple weeks, where we’ll be exploring more about the dog in front of you and what that can mean for your training together.

There’s lots to look forward to, with the Archetype Event Series coming first and more agility fun later this Fall!

Gratitude

Today I’m incredibly grateful when I think about all the dogs who have shaped what I know about agility. Every one of them has taught me something, and so much of what we now share inside Handling360 exists because a dog once gave me the opportunity to listen more closely and become a better teacher.

I’m also deeply grateful to have Max and Enya beside me for this next part of the journey, sharing what they have learned from their own dogs and experiences. And I’m grateful for every person who trusts us enough to let us be a small part of the journey they are taking with their dog.

Because championships and ribbons are wonderful memories, but there is a feeling that means even more to me. It’s that moment on an agility course when you realize you and your dog are truly connected, each of you confident in the other.

That’s Synergy.

And I never stop being grateful that our dogs give us the chance to experience it.