Agility Books & DVDs

PKC Library

The items are available from the PKC library at Club. 

DVDs

Ø      4 On The Floor

Learn how AKC national agility champion Ann Croft taught a unique style of a modified running contact to her Border Collie, Trigger. The goal of this training method is to achieve both speed and accuracy on the contact obstacles while at the same time reducing stress on the dog's body. The dog stops just off the contact obstacle on the ground rather than on it.

Ø       Control At A Distance

NADAC multiple-time national champion Amanda Nelson applies her unique "gate training" method to teach dogs these basic skills: Out (move laterally away from the handler), Here (come in toward the handler), Switch (turn away from the handler), Tight (wrap the jump), and how to move across the bar when they're jumping. Amanda demonstrates the techniques with her Border Collies.

Ø       Go The Distance V1

Whether you're trying to get your velcro dog to move a few away from you or many yards, Stacy Peardot-Goudy's exercises for training distance work will help. Distance work is a key element of success in any agility venue. While it is obviously critical preparation for Gamblers, the fact is that you cannot run your dog in the upper levels of the Standard and Jumpers classes in any venue if you and your dog are joined at the hip. The ingredients in the recipe for distance work that transform the dog working close with comfort and reliability to the dog that works at a distance with comfort and reliability are experience and confidence. In this series of videos, all exercises begin with you handling at a modest distance away from the dog, gradually adding distance over time as the dog becomes comfortable and reliable at each stage. The exercises, which are based on the book of the same name, can easily be tailored to any level of dog.

Following are the chapters included on the Go the Distance -- Vol. 1:

• Proficiency Test
• Jump Table Exercise
• Jump Teeter
• Jump 180 Exercise
• Jump, Tunnel, Jump 180 Exercise
• Jump and Weave Exercise
• Jump Away, Back to the Tunnel
• Recall Attention Exercise
• Directed Recall Exercise
• Teaching Obstacle Discrimination
• Teaching the Turn Command
• Teaching the Get Out Command
• Pill Bug Exercise
• Out, Out and Away Exercise
• Figure-of-8 Exercise

Ø       Go The Distance V2

This video by Stacy Peardot-Goudy illustrates advanced exercises from the book Go the Distance, Vol. 1 that she co-wrote with Bud Houston. These exercises build on the exercises covered in "Go the Distance -- DVD 1" and cover more difficult distance challenges. Unleash your Velcro dog!

Following are the chapters included on the Go the Distance -- Vol. 2:

• Parallel on Contact Exercise
• Perpendicular Peril Exercise
• Stationary Send Exercise
• Push and Pull Exercise
• Terrible Two's Exercise
• Just Chute Me Exercise
• Joker Training Set A
• Joker Training Set B
• Joker Training Set C
• Recall Between Obstacles Exercise
• Turn, Turn, Turn Exercise
• Triple Threat Exercise

Ø       Training Running Contacts

Barb Davis, multiple-time national champion with wins in both AKC and USDAA competition and six-time AKC/USA team member, takes you step by step through her Sheltie's entire contact training process--including preliminary work. She explains in detail how she used stride regulators to shape Rock-It's running contacts; he was never stopped on either the dogwalk or A-frame. Barb also shows the steps she used to retrain her Border Collie to do a running A-frame. In addition, Barb demonstrates ideas for speeding up contact performance for dogs previously trained to stop on the contact, and discusses the pros and cons of training a running contact.

Ø       Walking The Course

Do you know what you should be looking for when you walk a course? Walking the course effectively is one of the most important skills you can develop. Successful competitors are ones who can consistently read the course correctly and then execute their plan. Memorizing the order of the obstacles is much different from analyzing the course and planning a handling strategy. By breaking down two novice/open courses and walking them with you, Kathy Keats will teach you how to recognize changes of direction and different types of challenges on a course. She explains why and when you might use certain types of crosses as well as where you might place those crosses. Learn how to use your walk-through time effectively and plan your agility runs.

Ø       Agility Success

Training and Competing With Your Dog in the Winning Zone
Written by Angelica Steinker, M.Ed.

Regardless of whether you are competing with the goal of going to the World Agility Championships or earning a clean run in a novice agility class, Agility Success can help you train the mental skills and attitude necessary to do your best in the agility ring and advance toward your goals. Remember that day when you and your dog ran every course clean--that run when everything came together? Imagine having that exhilarating feeling virtually every time you compete. You can. All it takes is practice. Includes the results of interviews with 15 top agility competitors.

Agility Success will help you better understand the team dynamics between you and your dog. It will also help you change your mental approach toward training your dog and toward competition so that you can consistently recreate peak performances in the ring. Learn how to:

• Determine the weaknesses of your human/canine agility team and start overcoming them.
• Identify the strengths of your agility team so that you can capitalize on them.
• Understand your dog and what the dog needs from you in order to do its best.
• Conquer your show nerves and competition fears.
• Reduce competition stress for both you and your dog.
• End training and competition frustrations.
• Establish useful habits and put them to work for you to make your agility dreams come true.
• Enter your winning Zone and achieve agility success!

Agility Success includes the results of interviews with 15 of the top agility competitors in the U.S. and offers their insights on topics such as setting goals, confidence, dealing with stress and pressure, getting and maintaining focus, energizing, and even memorizing courses.

Ø       Building Blocks

Give Your Puppy a Head Start for Competition
Written by Bobbie Anderson with Tracy Libby

In Building Blocks for Performance, Bobbie Anderson unveils 10 essential building blocks that will turn a puppy into a highly-motivated, enthusiastic, and confident performance dog. Step-by-step methods and how-to photos will help you build a strong bond with your puppy, motivate your puppy, and use play to instill specific behaviors. 15 minutes once or twice a day is all you need!

Building Blocks for Performance contains the following chapters:

• Introduction
• Why Puppies Do What They Do
• Block One: Build a Strong Relationship
• Block Two: Make Training Fun
• Block Three: The Finer Points of Motivation
• Block Four: Maximize Praise
• Block Five: Compulsion and Correction
• Block Six: Maximize Drive
• Block Seven: Laying the Groundwork
• Block Eight: Teach Basic Skills
• Block Nine: Build a Plan for Success
• Block Ten: Be Demanding
• For Further Information

Ø       Exercise Sourcebook 2

Intermediate & Advanced Jumping, Weaving, and Contact Exercises
Compiled by Pamela Green

If you've worn out your Clean Exercise Sourcebook 1, this is the book you've been waiting for. As in the previous edition, exercises have been organized into three sections -- jumping, weaving, and contacts -- each with sequences at both intermediate and advanced levels. And, we've increased the number of exercises! All 482 exercises included in this book will fit within a 60' x 80' training area.

Ø       Click And Play Agility

Written by Angelica Steinker, M.Ed.

Agility is a playful game. Dogs don't care if you win or lose, they only care how you play the game. Not only does this book tell you how, but it tells you why the click and play training techniques described work. Let the author guide you through the science of how dogs learn so that you can better understand how to teach agility to your dog. Throughout the book the emphasis is on having fun and bonding with your dog while clicker training agility behaviors to the highest level.

Click & Play Agility introduces the concept of the Click and Play Pyramid, which helps keep your clicker training skills on track. The Click and Play Pyramid is made up of five layers. The bottom layer, that everything else builds on, is attention. Both the dog giving the handler attention and vice versa. Consistency, the next layer, is critical to the dog's learning process, without consistency a dog's learning is slowed or stopped. Consistency leads to the next layer, which is attitude and motivation. Are both you and your dog having fun? Fun can be exciting and excitement can lead to issues with self-control. Self-control is the fourth layer. Both dog and handler self-control are critical to an agility team's success. The pinnacle of the pyramid is the concept of win/win training. Ideally in all interactions both the handler and the dog win.

Use this book and the Click and Play Pyramid concepts to help you and your dog be the best agility team you can be!

Ø       Clicker Agility

Written by Diana Bird
Published by Learning About Dogs

Dogs love clicker training. It gives them an opportunity to show us what fantastic learners they are and it is a wonderful window into their personalities, sense of humor, and exceptional skills. Clicker Agility doubles the fun by clicker teaching jumping and agility skills. British trainer Diana Bird starts you with the basic skills for agility and clicker training and then takes you through training the different obstacles -- the weave poles, contacts, jumps, and other obstacles. Finally, she completes the training with the essential strategies for connecting what your dog has learned into the fast and exciting challenge of running a course. Ideal for starting the terrific sport of agility or simply to enjoy teaching your dog agility for fun and fitness.

Ø       Competing In Agility

Entering Trials & What to Do When You Get There
Written by Cindy Buckholt

Are you and your dog ready to start competing in agility, but not sure where to begin? Or, maybe you've already entered a few trials but find all the rules confusing. Competing in Agility is a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in the sport and makes entering your first trial and subsequent trials a snap. In a clear and organized fashion, Cindy Buckholt takes you through everything you need to know and do--from registering your dog and filling out the entry form to crossing the finish line for your first class. The book also includes sample courses from different classes in different organizations, a comparison of the rules in novice classes in the different organizations, novice title requirements, and much more. Competing in Agility tells you what to expect and enables you to relax and enjoy agility trials with your dog.

Brenna Fender, dog sport journalist and agility instructor, says "Even though I have been competing in agility for almost nine years, I was unfamiliar with some of the finer points of each organization. I learned a lot from this book. Having examples of courses for each class makes it easier to decide where and when to enter a novice dog."

Karen Leuenberger, a novice agility competitor, comments "Agility trials seem much less mysterious now!"