Maya was our first agility dog, and by far our most successful one. I can't take any credit - she was trained by my wife along with our friend Shirley and the folks at EuroDog Training Center. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Maya was handled all the way to MACH2 by Shirley.
But about three years ago, I started to handle Maya in some competitions. If you are new at agility and get the chance to handle an experienced dog, I highly recommend you do it. I know that whenever we messed up, it was my fault, so that actually helped me identify those skills I was lacking - which, of course, was all of them.
Here, I think, is the video from the first time I ran Maya at a trial:
As you can see, my handling technique consisted largely of running around and occasionally, at random and unpredictable moments, waving my arm at Maya for emphasis (of my incompetance).
Fast forward three years - here is video from the 2008 AKC Nationals in Tulsa:
Oh, right. Still the same.
I've managed not to mess Maya up too badly - we've been to AKC Nationals twice, making the Challenger Round in 2007 and finishing 11th overall in the 8" class in 2008, and one of these days we'll get to MACH3. Unless my arm waving handling methodology fails me, that is.
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