YELLOW CLASS

Congratulations on your promotion to Yellow class. You should now have a Yellow sticker on your badge and your name should be in the promotions book. Keep an eye out for the news letter as your name will be in there under Promotions.

In Green you should have been introduced to the basics handling your dog off lead and how to approach obstacles and controlling the dog with your body.

In yellow class your instructor will explain and demonstrate to you the handling techniques used in agility to get the maximum control of your dog travelling at speed off lead. Terms like “front cross”, tandem turns” “back cross” and “mirror imaging” will be explained and taught.

The following obstacles are what you will find in Yellow class.

Cloth Tunnel
Flexy Tunnel
Tyre
Table
“A” frame complete
Dog walk
Weavers
See Saw
Jumps
Broad Jump

- Assistance in the getting out and putting away of these obstacles is expected of everyone. Remember help the people who are going to help you (instructors)

- By now in Yellow the contact zones on the dog walk, see saw and “A” frame will have be explained. So you should not need to be reminded of this as you will know the importance of having taught two feet on and two feet off at the start. Remember give the dog a release word before being able to move off the contact.

- All the above obstacles are a smaller version of what you will find in competition. This way we can introduce the dogs to new obstacles at a safer height and build up both their’s and your confidence.

- As you progress training one of the contacts (dog walk, A frame, see saw) try and put space between you and the obstacle. It is important that the dog learns that you do not need to be beside it whilst completing a course (distance handling). In the higher classes it will become apparent that distance handling is a must

Weave Poles
You should now have a good grasp weavers. You should be progressing and hopefully somewhere between the second and third stage. Remember feel free to move the nets to suit your dog (check with the instructor and others in the class). Sometimes the steps can be a little big so position the nets as required. Do not assume the way they are set up is how you have to use them.

- Agility is reward based training and should be made fun, for both you and the dog. If you are not having fun then it is likely that neither is the dog. So always bring along a positive attitude to training. Always try and finish the nights training on a success, that way the last thing the dog remembers about agility is positive.

- At ADC NSW we strongly recommend using food/ a toy or playing with the dog as the primary rewards along with praising the dog. If the dog does something right, reward it and tell it so. When the dog does something extra well or special give it extra rewards/ praise.

- When rewarding the dog give the reward out of the hand that is giving the signals, this includes tug toys/ balls etc.

- Always train all obstacles on both sides, not just the one that feels easiest (that is the dog should be worked on the left and the right). Do not work around a problem, fix the problem before patterning it. It is much easier to train something right the first time rather than trying to re- train it months later. (Ask anyone who has competed)

- A common mistake handlers make is that they believe they should always be moving forward. Sometimes the dogs/ handlers regress, this means that occasionally you need to step back a level to re-build your confidence on a particular obstacle. It might only mean going back to how you trained it initially (holding by the collar and rewarding) or it might mean going back to the previous class. There is nothing wrong with this, it is better to train the dog correctly rather than persist with mistakes. Remember the more you train a mistake the more the dog thinks this is the correct way.

- When giving signals make sure that the hand of the side that the dog is on is the hand that is out giving signals. Your shoulders are your “steering wheel”. They should always face the direction of the obstacle you want the dog to do. Thus if the opposing hand is out it is likely your shoulders are giving a different signal to the hand. Quite often when the dog turns the wrong way or goes around the obstacle it is because your shoulders were pointing in a different direction to where you wanted the dog to go.

- If you are standing in line waiting for your turn, practice a stay and lead out or alternatively practice your lead hand movements (left and right). It is your time, so use it as best as you can.

- If you have any questions about something you have heard or seen ask one of the instructors, remember sometimes two instructors will tell you two different things, this is because they are basing there answers on what worked for them. Do not be afraid to ask or say that someone else told you something different we are all still learning!

To be able to be promoted to Blue class, firstly your dog must be over 12 months old and you must be able to demonstrate the following -

Be able to complete two different courses off lead, including a front cross and rear cross.

Understand and demonstrate the ability to do a stay including a lead out.

Weave without nets (no exceptions)

Please note just because you have been promoted to Blue does not mean that you can not continue to train on the netted weavers.

Do all contact obstacles, see saw, dog walk and A frame with two feet on two feet off.