If you have followed me for a while, you know my branding is all about all these little pieces that go into the bigger game of agility.
From working my way up from Ground Zero To Grade 7 with my dogs (nice little podcast plug there 😉) and studying countess courses in dog behaviour, all manner of dog training skills, human psychology, along with the obvious agility skills, I have developed my unique coaching system that allows me to combine dog behaviour knowledge with everything agility.
I know what it’s like to be a beginner and do everything wrong, to be so anxious that you can’t seem to get anything right, to have a fantastic dog at training but one that can’t cope in competitions.
I have experienced the super highs of winning up the grades coupled with the enormous lows that come with competitive sport and dealing with people who don’t always hold the same values as yourself!
It is all these little pieces that have not only given me the success I’ve had with my own dogs, they have given me the skills to develop the business I have today along with helping several local and UK dog bunisses from start up to where they are now! One of those external businesses wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for my guidance and coming up with the initial idea, quickly forgotten seems!🤷♀️
I base everything I do on each unique agility team. On what their dog behaviour is telling me, combined with the goals the handler is wanting to achieve.
Everyone thinks of agility and thinks of the skills, the equipment, the handling moves, etc, but what often falls to the sidelines are the most important bits – the emotions, individualities, quirks and energy levels of both you and your dog!
The agility skills are obviously important, but without the other pieces, the skills alone won’t get you success.
It doesn’t matter what level you are at, beginner or competition grade. The pieces don’t just apply to your dog, they involve you too! Our dogs feed off our emotions, our energy, our body language, and as humans, we don’t get it right all of the time! It is knowing which pieces each team needs at that exact moment to help them to succeed. Get it wrong, and it is the difference between a good training session or competition run and a rubbish one – where you are left feeling deflated, overwelmed, and like you want to give everything up!
What pieces do you need for your dog?
Well, I’d like to give you them all here right now, but it’s not that simple I’m afraid!
You and your dog are like no other team out there, you can’t be! You are individual, and so is your dog! Your training, your experiences, your habits both good and bad, they are all individual to you.
Remember, comparison is the thief of joy! It is easy to want what your friend has.
Jealousy is a human trait that is an unfortunate common in competitive sport. Use it wisely, and it will supercharge your success. Use it negatively, and you will always be stuck where you are.
If you are wanting to know the exact pieces that will go into creating success for your agility team, that is exactly what I do in my Quest For Success Dog Agility Academy
In there, I help both team members (you and your dog) to reach their full potential and to get consistent success. Along with this, you can follow my journey with Quest. We have successfully started his competion career, and in the academy, I tell you exactly how we’ve done this despite Quest being nervous of people and him not having trained in a group environment before entering the ring!
I’m also bringing out my second book really soon, which dives in to all the little pieces in more depth. It has been a few years in the making but I wanted to get it just right.
Make sure you subscribe to my blogs/ email list to know as soon as that is released.
If you are new to my blogs and are wondering exactly what turmoils and troubles I’ve been through emotionally and agility wise, you can find my story in my first book, Milo The Dog That Gave Me It All. I will warn you though, you may need your tissues 😢.
It’s nice to now see other trainers taking on the jigsaw analogy, I’m actually quite flattered. I mean, it’s a shame they can’t come up with their own ideas, and I will be keeping an eye on it for copyright reasons, but it is an awesome concept after all 😊. It creates more awareness about the importance of all the little pieces in agility and infact helps my brand and my message to be heard. Just remember where you saw it first 😉🧩.
Head over to my website if you would like any help in putting the pieces in place for your team🧩.
Happy Training
Katrina 🐾
KB Dog Agility 