The Foundations course lasts 12 weeks and consists of 6 carefully designed chapters. Each step is explained in detail through written, video, and audio content. You also get a PDF with every chapter.

The goal of the agility foundations course is to prepare and teach any dog and their handler everything they need to know to be able to compete in A1.

Wondering if this course is for you?

It’s appropriate for…

• Total beginners, new to the sport of agility who would like to try it out.
• Young dogs, 8 months of age or older.
• Handlers who struggle with chaotic runs.
• Handlers, whose dogs often go behind their backs and ignore their cues.
• Handlers, whose dogs often spin in the course and bark at them instead of taking the next obstacle.
• Handlers who don’t quite have a training plan in place and would like to create their own black-and-white system of training and handling their dog on the course.
• Handlers who feel like they don’t have a good connection with their dog on the course.

You can expect to learn…

• Why it is important to keep a good connection on the course and how to achieve it.
• The importance of the leading hand.
• How to properly perform the front, blind and rear crosses as well as the ketchka.
• How to teach your dog to efficiently and independently clear jumps.
• Tunnels – how to maintain a connection once your dog enters one, and how to teach them to follow you while ignoring the tunnel ahead.
• Sending to obstacles – how to efficiently send your dog to a specific obstacle and prevent them from pulling away or spinning on the course.
• Calling to hand.
• Forward focus and independence.
• Tight turns.
• Soft turns.
• Backside and backside wrap.
• Listening skills.
• Beginning of discriminations.
• Multiple sequences where you can practise everything you learned in the previous lessons.

Once you enroll in the course, you’ll have access to a prerequisite chapter with 5 lessons to start working on before the class begins. It covers topics like rewards, impulse control, and the basics of obstacle focus (without using actual agility obstacles).

The equipment you will need in the course:

• 3 barrels or objects of a similar nature (alternatively, you could use cones or jump wings),
• 6 jumps (for the final 2 sequences in Chapter 6, you will need 7),
• 2 tunnels.

The equipment you will need in each chapter:

Chaper 1:

• 3 barrels (you can use cones or jump wings instead but I recommend having an object similar in shape to a barrel),
• 2 jumps,
• 1 tunnel.

Chapter 2:

• 4 jumps,
• 2 barrels (cones, wings),
• 2 tunnels.

Chapter 3:

• 4 – 5 jumps (you can do everything with just 4 but you will have to adjust the setup slightly),
• 2 tunnels

Chaper 4:

• 6 jumps,
• 2 tunnels

Chaper 5:

• 5 jumps,
• 2 tunnels

Chaper 6:

• 7 jumps (you will only need 7 jumps for the last 2 sequences. 6 jumps is enough for everything else),
• 2 tunnels.

What you can expect from me:

• Replies in 1 working day,
• detailed feedback on your dog’s performance and suggestions on how to make it even better,
• detailed feedback on your handling and suggestions on how to make it better and clearer for your dog,
• help with finding the best handling system for you and your dog,
• support on every step and any problem that might occur during training.