Connection in Dog Agility: Importance and Techniques Explained

Connection is essential in dog agility, allowing dogs to focus on obstacles and enhancing their confidence.

### The Importance of Connection in Dog Agility Training
* 🐶 Stephanie Williams, a One Mind Dogs instructor since 2017, shares her journey in agility and her experience with various dog breeds, including **Border Collies and Shelties**.
* 📚 The concept of **connection** is vital in dog agility, as it significantly impacts a dog's **confidence and performance** on the course.
* 👀 Connection is defined as the ability for a dog to **see the handler's side profile**, which helps the dog **understand the handler's cues** and **navigate obstacles effectively**.
* 📽 The training method originated with Yanita's dog, Techla, who **lost her hearing**, leading to the development of a system that emphasizes **body language over verbal commands**.
* 🧩 Connection consists of three key components: **connection itself**, commitment to an obstacle, and proactive handling to **guide the dog through the course**.
* 🚀 When connected, dogs can focus on the obstacles, enhancing their **speed and confidence**, while a lack of connection often results in **missed jumps or distractions**.
* 🔄 Common issues like dogs turning towards the handler often stem from **insufficient connection**, highlighting the importance of **maintaining side profile visibility** during runs.
* 🎥 The presentation concludes with practical tips for improving connection, emphasizing the need for **practice and awareness during training sessions** to enhance agility performance.

welcome. Uh, my name is Stephanie Williams. I'm a One Mind Dogs instructor. I've been doing agility since 2010, I think it's been now. Um, and joined One Mind Dogs as a customer in 2015, and then I became an instructor in 2017, and I've been with One Mind Dogs ever since. I'm a member of the customer service team, so um, if you say hello on the website in the chat bubble, um, many times you'll get me um, helping you with things. So um, it's been really great and a really great journey. I run two Border Collies and a Shelty, and I've run several Shelties in the past, and my first agility dog was a springer spaniel. So I've had quite a um, quite a journey with all those dogs too um, and here you can see me with my second youngest dog um, when we got to go to Finland and work with Yaku and Yita. So that was exciting. Today's topic is connection um, which is one of the game

changers in dog agility, and when I joined One Mind Dogs, it made all the difference for me. So, I'm really excited to share with you all that I've learned about it, and you'll, like I said, hear a lot from our creators, Yaku and Yanita, about connection in today's presentation as well. It makes a huge difference in running clean runs and having your dog feel confident and know what they're, what the line is, and many, many other things. So, we'll be having lots to talk about on that topic today. But before we do that, we should talk a little bit too about how our method originated, which, um, our method began with this dog that you see on the screen in front of you. Her name is Was Techla, and she was Yan to Lanin's dog at the time. Um, and you may have heard that Yanita is one of our founding, um, coaches and who created the method, and it all happened because Techla lost her hearing. And so, at the time, um, verbals were

really popular. Everyone was kind of going through the course, like just saying verbals and going along, and it was okay. But once TLA lost her hearing, Yanita needed to find a new way to do things. And so she started to really study TLA's behavior and see how TLA responded to body language, which is dogs' natural language. And then from there, experimented with that with other dogs. And that's what we've been doing since this started. And so we've learned from thousands and thousands and thousands of dogs all over the world that they understand our body language in the same way. So our method works for all dogs. Essentially, it was taught to us by dogs, right? It's created by dogs, dogs for dogs. And so it works for all dogs worldwide. And as I said, makes a huge, huge difference in the sport of agility when you understand the dog's perspective and the method. So that is how we began. And today, as we focus on connection, and connection is one of the things that dogs have taught us all.

about um we'll talk about what is it first of all. So, what does it mean? We'll talk about why is it important, what are the levels of connection, so how do we actually use connection as a tool as you're going through the course, and some other examples of connection that work in certain handling techniques, and finally, some troubleshooting, so kind of typically asked questions, frequently asked questions about connection. Alright, and so beginning with what is connection, what does it even mean, and connection at its simplest means that you can see your dog to some level, and your dog can see at least the side profile of your face. Okay, so as you're going through the course, if you're looking over one shoulder and your dog can see the side of your face, and out of the corner of your eye, you can see the dog, you're connected. And dogs are naturally seeking connection, so they are looking for that from us. And you can see here in these examples that one handler is really clearly looking at her dog and is really, really

well connected, and the other one you can see what we tend to call like a very neutral head, so she's looking forward, and there is a lack of connection. Um, and dogs are always seeking connection, so typically when there isn't a connection, that's where we see things like dogs turning towards the Handler or missing obstacles or other things that we'll talk about as we're going along. But at its base, the dog should see the side of your face, and you should see out of the corner of your eye the dog. And I'll show you an example of that now in a little bit of a video. The eyes are a very powerful handling element. The dog will come to that side where the Handler is looking by turning his head and changing the direction of the eyes. The Handler can change the dog's line. Remember that the eyes are a stronger handling element than arms. The dog will choose the obstacle the Handler is looking at, although the arm is pointing at another obstacle. When the Handler is looking forward and also his chest laser is

pointing to the same direction. The dog ignores the jump and chooses the tunnel as wanted. On the other hand, when the Handler makes contact with the dog, the dog will take the jump instead of the tunnel. In this example, you can see how the Handler's eyes affect the dog's decision-making. The dog chooses the toy the Handler is looking at. Here is another example of how the direction of the eyes is more powerful than the pointing arm. When the eyes and the arm are pointing in the same direction, the dog will come to that side where the Handler is looking. The dog will come to that side where the Handler is looking. When the Handler is looking at the dog's line of movement to the tunnel entrance, the dog will go to the tunnel as intended. The dog will not enter the tunnel when the Handler is turning his head and changing the direction of his gaze. Okay, so do you see the difference there? That like, as the narrator stated, the dog naturally comes to the

side the Handler is looking, and so that goes back to the side profile connection and the dog being able to see the side of your face. That's how they know which handling side to come to, and it's more powerful than where you're pointing with your arm. So, that being one of the handling elements that you will learn about as you go and explore our website. This is our natural understanding of how we use our eyes, and dogs can see our eyes really well. So, yes, we talk about side profile, but given that we are the only species that has eye whites visible to this level, they can easily see where you're looking, which is really interesting. So, very important that we understand that element of connection, and it's also important to understand what connection is and what it is not. Because connection does not mean that your dog is going to run through the course looking at you. Dogs have to look at the obstacles; that's their job. Now, sometimes they're going to check in with

you right, so you might say their name to get them to look at you really quickly. Um, but we don't want them running the course, just only looking at you. They have to look where they're going, and if you see that they're running and looking at you, that usually means that they don't know where they're going, right? So, they have a question, and so that's also why it's important to see, so that you have to see where they're looking, because you can tell, do they know what line they should be on or not? Um, okay, so only one member of the team can be looking at obstacles, and it should be the dog. And so, it's up to us to remember that and to establish that connection so that the dogs can focus on their task, because that's one of the things that they have taught us, is that when we're connected, they can focus on reading the course. But if we're not connected, then it's almost like it's distracting, and they have to turn toward us because they were seeking that connection, and they

want that um to come from us. All right, so really important there. So we'll take a look at another video that will show you a bit more about [Music] that. So if I ask you what happened there, what do you answer? Do was not taking the tire? No, I know because you were looking forward, so you have no idea what is happening somewhere there. So between every obstacle, was that CCC? So you can copy that one to your board there. So wherever you are here, you should at some point have a connection here. So for me, it's reconnect after the blinds. For you, it can be reconnect even if you are running fast for there. Okay, we take that one more time. Oh, look, the do good make it P the up nice [Music]. Hey, okay, so you can really see there that difference between just enough of having side profile connection versus no connection. And when connected with the dog, the dog easily focused on taking the tire and was able to do her job. And without connection, she missed it. So very important that we keep that in mind um.

as we are going along through the course now. Why is this important? Well, we just talked a little bit about it, that when we're connected, the dog can focus on the task of going to obstacles and reading the course. Um, and if we're not connected, then we tend to run into problems like the dog turning towards you or them missing obstacles. And also, connection really helps us because when you are connected, good things happen. For example, you're able to see commitment. So, what does that mean? That means that you see the moment that the dog has locked onto the obstacle with their eyes because that's them telling you, I'm going to that obstacle. And when we see that, our job is to then go on and handle the next line. So, when in that video when Yanita mentioned the three C's, that's what she meant. That the first one is connection, which we're talking about. The second one is commit, which is when you're connected and you're handling that approach line and you see the dog's eyes look at the

obstacle that's commitment. The third C is Q, which is proactively handling the next line, right? So these things all go together in helping make course reading easy for the dog, right? But the first thing the dogs need is Connection in order to focus on doing that. So it helps you because you can then see that moment of commitment leave early and be able to get through the course more easily and also show the dog where they're going sooner so they can be faster and they can run more confidently. Connection also does things like support distance, so a lot of us are really needing distance skills nowadays as courses are evolving. And so the more that you look at your dog, the more that they will work farther from you, pass you, go faster, and connection also helps them hold commitment. So at those times when, for example, you have to commit your dog and run in a different direction, if you're connected and you can see and they feel that connection and they can see it, then they'll hold that commitment. But if we're not connected, they tend to

break the commitment and go with you instead. All right, so connection does a lot to help us on the course, right? And without connection, then dogs don't commit or we don't see it. And if you don't see commitment, then you end up being late because those are those times where we tend to wait until you actually see the dog taking the jump, and then we're not leaving until that moment, and then we're late, and we feel rushed. Whereas truly, it's not how fast you can run, it's how early you can leave. That ideally, you're leaving when the dog commits, and that's before they even take off or before they even go in a tunnel that we can move on and handle the next line, right? And that's all about what we're saying anytime you hear us say proactive handling. So proactive front cross is that you're doing the handling before the dog actually takes the obstacle they're committed to because that tells them not just what obstacle to take, but how to take it.

and where to go next. And if you can give them all that information in that moment, they can run so much faster. You can also get ahead more because you're able to leave earlier. It makes a huge difference in running the course, whereas when we're not connected, we tend to just run from obstacle to obstacle. So, we'll take a look at another video where you will see more about that. Now you don't see the dog's question. There they are after every landing. She's watching you. So after this one, she's watching you. What to do next? And if you are not, Hey, look that way. I'm just... What's next? What's next? What's next? And then you try to answer me. So now you have to see that when the dock is watching you, tell Hey, go to that side. And then what you do? Blind the front crossover. If you are on this side, you are pushing more towards the end of the wing. If you want to do blind, you are more already here, but you still do the

handling for the dog. See the eyes and good. You are too much behind and again you are looking the weaves and handling that one and one of you is looking the obstacles and one is looking the partner and you always have the first choice if you are looking the weaves. The dock is trying to come to your connection and turning somewhere here. If you are talking the dog, Hey, go to weaves, the dog can look there. It's a big difference whether you are talking to the weaves, There is no ears, or you are talking to your dog. Okay, the dog SI push and go talk to your dog. Nice. So, very important. You can see the difference there too that when you are doing the handling for the dog, the dog can read the lines and it's much easier for them. Whereas when you saw in that when the handler was looking at the weaves, classic example, the dog turns towards the Handler instead of staying on the line. So, it's so powerful this tool of connection that we have and as I mentioned we solve some common

problems too when we're connected. So, for example, if your dog tends to turn back to you a lot, it might be that you're not connected, um, because that's typically how they'll react, is just by trying to turn towards the Handler and get that connection because they want that. They'll also run slower if there's not enough connection because they're not sure really where they're going. It makes our handling late because then when you're not connected and you don't see the moment of commitment, then we don't actually move on to handle the line until the dog's jumping, right? So, that's late handling as opposed to handling the line before the dog even takes off off. It can also lead to wrong obstacles or passing obstacles entirely, things like dropped bars. So, like, if you happen to be connected and then drop the connection and then turn it back while the dog is jumping, for example, they might knock a bar at that time. So, if we're really connected, we eliminate just with that one tool all of these common problems.

and even more, but we have to also consider that we can't run through the course looking at the dog's eyes the whole time. That's not also not how connection works and can be a common misconception. The majority of the time when you run through a course, you're going to show the side profile of your face, and that's all you need. And so by doing that, what you're using is peripheral vision. So we're understanding like spatial awareness and being able to see the dog out of the corner of one eye and the obstacle, so the direction that you need to move out of the corner of the other. So whenever we say look at the line, that's really what we mean. We're not saying like perceive the line, but instead look in the direction of the dog's line so that you can use that peripheral vision. So you see the dog out of one corner, and you see the obstacles out of the other. You can stay oriented where you need to go, and you're still connected. And so when we're doing

parallel lines. We're doing handling like blind cross um and similar. You're using just side profile connection um. There are times when we do actually need to look at the dog and in those cases it's typically when you are doing distance if you're doing forward send um. Do you need to run an opposing motion so meaning that the dog's n line needs to continue one way and you're leaving in a direction that is um not parallel so it's in a different direction than what the dog's line is than we're looking at the dog and also sometimes you need to look at the eyes um so that in cases where there might be a trap obstacle nearby that you need to actually see where what which obstacle are they looking at um. So like I said side profile is going to be the typical way that you run the most common way that you run through the course and it's enough and you can see a really good example of side profile Connection in this photo where it's just the side of the Handler's face and that's that the

dog can see that really well, and that's enough. And then the Handler can use peripheral vision. All right, so that's the most common way that you will run through the course. Um, and then when we need that distance, then we're looking at the dog. So here, you can see me and my Shelty, and I have a layer here happening. We're layering the dog walk, and so I'm quite far away, and so I'm looking right at her. Um, as we are moving along, and she's committing to, I think, a tunnel or something. Um, there. And so it helps a lot that the dog will work farther from you and hold the commitment when you are connected to that level. So I'm really looking at her there. Um, or do you need to run in an opposite direction there? We want to have that um, stronger connection. And then yes, sometimes we do also need to see the eyes, and those are typically moments when like there's when you absolutely need to tell what is the

obstacle. The dog is looking at um and when you need to leave with um opposing motion. Okay, so we'll look at some videos now um that show you these different levels of connection and we're going to start with this one that talks about side profile in a blind cross and this one's a little bit longer but I do want you to watch it because has a lot of good info in [Music]. It when you make a blind cross where are you watching should you be watching the dog no if I'm here and now watch me from the other side you make a blind C and watch me okay what are you missing you can see me but what are you missing what do you don't see yes okay so what what do you do next no you didn't do that you were missing missing the next obstacle so guess what you did you turned your head towards the next obstacle [Music]. And then turn turn your head towards the obstacle okay what are you missing okay so what you do next what do

you do next okay yes exactly so you see a pattern occurring. So, if you watch the dog on The Blind cross, you can't see where you're running. When you can't see where you're running, you watch where you are running. And when you watch where you are running, you can't see the dog. And therefore, happens something we call a disco ball effect. Everybody knows what the disco ball is. It's like something spinning in the ceiling. So, because your head is spinning like one, the most important thing is that you use your head so that you can, from your peripheral vision, you can all the time see where you are going. That's a priority. That's the priority. Okay, so now make a blind cross so that you can all the time see from the corner of your eyes, you can see that jump. Okay, yeah, that's how you should be doing that. Everybody who is doing it like that, the run looks nervous. It doesn't matter if it's a good run or a bad run, but it looks nervous when I'm

watching it from here. What makes it look nervous is because the Handler is all the time doing like this. It looks really, really nervous compared to the Handler whose head is staying like this all the time. It looks calm no matter what they are doing, but if the head is like this, it looks calm, and if the head is doing like that, it looks nervous. When it looks nervous, you get nervous because you feel it too. It's not just that it looks like it, but you start to feel it. So, that's the only thing basically what you should change. If you can't change that, the whole new ball game. It's a whole new ball game. It's much, much better because you do it here again. You do it like that. Okay, now the dog goes behind your back, so you watch [Music] him, and then you missed where you're going, and then you did [Music] this, and then you did this, and then you did this, and you keep repeating that all over again. Everything is spinning. It's

very hard to actually even know where you're going because the whole world is spinning all the time. It's like very hard. You can't concentrate on anything. Do you know where this is fixed? How do you fix this? You fix this, surprise surprise, when you are doing a course walking. So, you keep walking the course like this, turn your head. Your head is kind of stuck all the time because it's enough for the dog that the dog can see the side profile of your face, like in a blind crosses. So, that's enough. She already knows which side of you to come, and that's enough. Okay, from the dog walk, don't mind that you don't see your dog all the time, but she can see the side profile of your face, and that's enough. Good little head [Music] is good. Okay, already a little bit better. I felt that still a little bit too much old habit, I think. I think a lot of pieces kind of fall into the place just based on this when you can do this all.

the other your timing gets better automatically. It's easier. You don't find it so rushed maybe anymore. Okay, yes. So how many of us have been in that exact situation or had that exact feeling of like where's the dog, where am I going, where's the dog, where am I going? And when we understand how to use that side profile connection, you get both pieces of information. You know where your dog is and you know where you're going, and so it eliminates the feeling of being rushed. It makes the run look smoother and calmer, and then you actually can focus on handling the lines because you know everything that's going on. But the important point also to take away from that video that Yako mentioned is when do we practice that? And it's during the walkthrough. So as you're walking the course, you should be planning where am I looking, right? What level of connection am I using, and how, and practicing that because that's just as important as practicing like the front cross itself is practicing the connection piece. And if you can do it

during the walkthrough, and you teach it to yourself in slow motion. During the walkthrough, you're way more prepared to do it when you actually have to run fast. So, really, really important that you practice all of the handling with your virtual dog when you are doing your course walkthrough. Let's take a look at another example. So, that was a little bit about blind cross and side profile. Now, let's take a look at what does that look like in front cross. So, you did this really well. Turning was good, and then you were checking where the next obstacle is, and the dog was coming. I assume he was already. Yes, and it was handled. Don't assume that was one. [Music] Pro. Good. That's really good. [Music] [Music] Now, we talked a little bit too about needing to see when do you look at the dog and when do you need to see the dog's actual eyes, and when those things are important. So, I'm going to show you now one more video, because who's going to say it better.

than me but Yanita herself um that's going to kind of bring all that together. And this is a little bit of a longer one too, but I do want you to watch it and listen for some of those same um um points that we've been mentioning. So like seeing the eyes, seeing the moment of commitment, leaving on time um as opposed to looking at the line and when do we need that [Music]. If you would run the same then it's straight line. So after this one, if we continue straight line after this one, then I'm just looking this line because my motion is taking the dog to this jump. But when I want that you go that way and I want to go that way, then I need a scent. And then I'm just I'm handling the take off, but I'm looking the dog. You are thinking it so that you are leaving the dock to sit here and that is not number one because this Landing is well she's Landing more here but this is the point you have to see it from my eyes because

if I'm only looking at you, you don't see that I am going to take a refusal. You just see the mistake, but you can't correct that anymore. But if you are looking in my eyes, if I'm looking at you here now, you sent me, and you look only in my eyes, yes, send me, no, don't turn your eyes. You have to look in my eyes all the time. But like [Music] what dog, yes, okay, so I turn my eyes like see did also. So that is the moment you can go. But if you look the jump, you don't know that I was already here. Yeah, I know where we are going because now I could go already. If you are looking there, you wait until I'm here before you can go, and then you are late already. So if you learn to look the eyes, you get the information there whether your dog is coming here or not. As long as she's watching you, she's not going anywhere. When you see that they are turning, they are never changing their mind. This is before because you get information three Mets.

earlier. That's why you look the eyes. You can look here, but then you get the information here, and you are always late. So, it's only for you that you can actually see much earlier what is going to happen. And if you see that the dog is not turning with that one step, it's still looking at me. I have time to correct that because I'm looking that, hey, she didn't take that commitment. The cue is that you are leaving that way. I don't think that C will continue that way if you are going that way. So, that is a cue that you are running a different way. Okay, try it once. So, leave Patch there. So, try to look her eyes where she's watching, and when you are making that scent, yes. So, where was Patch when you were sure that she would take the jump? Yeah, but she was, yes, but she was here. I know, I know that you saw it here, but this is even much more earlier than normally there because many people notice only when the dock is actually jumping. That is the point where they are sure that

the dock is taking it some people when they are going to take off, but this was already earlier, and you can see it earlier and earlier, but it depends when the dog is making a commitment and when you learn to look the eyes. You get information much earlier, and you have more time again to your head to see everything else and [Music] go there. You have it when you learn to look the eyes. You have the information much earlier, so it takes away that feeling of being rushed. You know where your dog is, what they're doing, you know where you're going, um, and it makes things so much smoother and makes course reading and course navigating way easier. Um, let's talk about some other examples. So, one thing that's important is that moment when the dog's in the tunnel, right, and when they come out because tunnels will break our connection. We can't help that they can't see us when they're inside the tunnel, so that's a time when the dog is really going to want to seek connection, is when they're

exiting the tunnel, and if you need the dog to turn toward you, that's one thing. But on many lines out of tunnels that carry straight forward, um, or if you're doing a distance or a layer, make sure you're looking basically inside the tunnel before the dog comes out so that you're immediately connected, and the dog just stays right on the line. And they already have that, and chances are, like, depending on your position, they will see that before they actually step out of the tunnel or stride out of the tunnel. Um, this is one of the things that um, I was taught when I got to go to Finland and work with Yan, was that always look inside the tunnel, and some wise words that she gave me that now you have as well, um, so that you can have that connection established right away when they're exiting tunnels. And there are some techniques where we do have to watch The Landing. So, in, for example, reverse wrap or German turn or running on the dog's line, these are techniques where we need to use our

eyes to also help the dog to come over the bar and support that line, right? So, it helps the dog to understand the exit line of the obstacle. So, I'll show you another video now where you can see how connection will work in that instance. Go, go, go, go, go, go, good, and look. The Landing, not the dock. If I'm now here and I'm looking, you, all the connection is on this side, and that's why you want to pass here. But if I want you to go over, the only thing in my body that can support that is this hand, little turning the chest, and looking there. And remember that they were the only animals who are automatically going where you are watching there. So, also, if you throw food somewhere and you are looking, they are trying to go on the spot where you are watching. Look. The Landing, look. The Landing, Y, and turn. That was good. All right, so that's how you can use your eyes there, and there's one more video I'm going to show you that goes back to

that distance and that forward send, and I want you to see the difference. [Music] [Music] Here, one of the most important things connection-wise is that whenever you want to send your dog forward, forward away from you, I think that's the most U-sensitive part. Most of the handlers always watch where they want their dog to go, like if there's a tunnel, they just watch the tunnel and do it like that. That's what everybody's doing. When he landed that one, he checked up on you, and then he went to the tunnel. But the problem was that you were sending tunnel, tunnel, and watching the tunnel always on the sense. It's most important that you watch the dog when you make. Sometimes it just feels weird because where you want the dog, it's there, and you actually have to make an end towards something that you don't even see. But that's what works for the dog because if you are watching the tunnel, he's watching you. Nice. Okay, so difference there in that when in the example where we needed

to look. The Landing. You're using your eyes to help the dog understand to take that slice line over the bar rather than just follow your motion. Whereas in that distance example or this um forward send that I just showed you there, we do need to look at the dog because in that instance, if you're not looking at the dog but looking at the tunnel, they're just going to want to turn towards you instead. Okay, so different levels of connection and the more you understand those, the easier it is to use them and to get through the course. Let's troubleshoot a little bit. So one of the most common um questions that we hear or comments that we hear is that the dogs are turning a lot towards the Handler rather than staying on the line to the next obstacle and that just typically is that there's not enough connection. Now, sometimes it can be that um there's not enough obstacle focus and we have to do a little bit of training around that, but typically that is because the head is too neutral, too forward, there's not enough side profile.

connection, and the dog doesn't feel like they have that connection from the Handler. So, check that, and that's why it's important always to video your training so that you can go and see, Was I connected? Because many times, that is the first thing to look at when the dog is turning toward you, or I can't see where I'm going because I'm looking at my dog. Yes, um, that's another one. So, we talked a lot about peripheral vision and how you can use one corner of the eye to see the dog and the other corner of your eye to check where you're going and keep track of where the next obstacle is. Um, but sometimes we do have to actually look at the dog. So, in those instances, you can use other landmarks around you. So, when you're doing the course walkthrough, you can take note of, Okay, there's this jump that's behind me, or something like that to help you um, have kind of a location of where you are when you do need to look at the dog. Right, so you can kind of strategically

use those things as well when you can't use your peripheral vision. When I look at my dog, I drift off course. That's another one that happens, for example, in blind cross. So, we saw that example of the handler doing the blind cross, looking too much at the dog, and then losing track of where she was going. Well, the other effect of that is that if you are handling blind cross or just running a parallel line and looking only at your dog, it actually turns your body too much, and you drift off the line. So, most of the time, S profile is going to be enough, and you can use that peripheral vision to help you stay on the line you need to be on and still see your dog. And the more you practice that, the easier that gets. I can't get the hang of looking at my dog while running fast. Yes, because we have to first practice it slow motion. And so, virtual dog walkthroughs are, and practicing the handling without your dog is just as important as practicing with your dog, because the more that you

make all of this, whether it's handling techniques or it's action muscle memory. The less you have to actually think about it, the more you can just use it at speed with your dog. So, take the time to practice first in slow motion so that you can really teach it to yourself and get comfortable with it without feeling like you have to hurry because your dog is there too. I can't see my dog, so in that case, typically you're not looking at your dog as much as you might think you are. Most of the time, it's that you're looking still too much forward, but the other thing to mention about that is check the height of your arm because you can see in this picture, for example, that the Handler's arm is in the perfect place to disrupt connection. And we tend to lift our arms really high sometimes, and most of the time, we don't actually need to do that. Arms aren't as important as the elements that precede them, but arms can easily

disrupt connection. So, first video your training. Check that you are actually using side profile connection as much as you think you are. And check the height of your arms because many times that is what is disrupting as well. All right, and again it takes practice to learn to use connection. So, um, take your time. It's a different um kind of journey for each of us in terms of how easily that comes to you. And it's maybe something that we have to maintain because humans are not naturally running um in a direction that we're not actually looking or if you make a step towards a takeoff. We tend to want to look where we're stepping. So, you have to teach your body to do these things this way. But once you learn it, then it makes a huge difference. It's really a game changer in terms of running courses with your dog. Okay, so thank you so much for watching. I hope you got a lot out of it. If you have more questions um post them in the comments and keep an eye out.

for the follow-up emails, um, that are coming up as well, and I will see you hopefully on the One Mind Dogs website soon. Bye-bye.

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The Importance of Connection in Dog Agility

Stephanie Williams, a One Mind Dogs instructor since 2017, shares her journey in dog agility and the significance of connection between handler and dog.

The method used by One Mind Dogs originated from Yanita's dog, Techla, who lost her hearing, leading to a focus on body language as a primary communication tool.

Connection, defined as the mutual visibility between handler and dog, is crucial for effective communication and clean runs in agility, with dogs naturally seeking this connection from their handlers.

The dog's decision-making is heavily influenced by the Handler's eye contact, often choosing to follow the Handler's gaze rather than their pointing arm.

A strong connection between the Handler and the dog is crucial, as it allows the dog to focus on the obstacles and read the course effectively.

When the Handler and dog are connected, the dog can commit to the next obstacle, making the training process more efficient.

The Importance of Connection in Dog Training

Connection is crucial for helping dogs focus and commit to their tasks, leading to smoother course navigation.

A strong connection allows dogs to work farther from their handlers, hold commitment, and receive proactive guidance, resulting in faster and more confident runs.

Without connection, dogs may struggle with commitment, leading to late handling, wrong obstacles, and common training problems.

The Importance of Peripheral Vision in Dog Handling

Using peripheral vision is key to effectively running through a course with a dog, as it allows the handler to see both the dog and the obstacles simultaneously.

The side profile of the handler's face is the most common way to establish connection, while direct eye contact is needed during distance work or when the dog is facing a trap obstacle.

The "disco ball effect" occurs when the handler tries to focus on both the dog and the running path, making it essential to prioritize using peripheral vision to maintain orientation.

The Importance of Handler's Body Language in Dog Training

The handler's head movement significantly impacts the dog's behavior, with a calm head creating a sense of calm and a nervous head causing anxiety.

Maintaining a side profile connection with the dog during a course walk is crucial for effective communication and reducing the feeling of being rushed.

Practicing the handling techniques and connection during the course walkthrough prepares the handler for a smoother and more focused run with the dog.

The Importance of Eye Contact in Dog Training

Maintaining eye contact with your dog is crucial for anticipating their movements and making timely corrections.

By looking into their eyes, you can gauge their commitment and direction, allowing you to act before they make a decision.

Establishing connection before your dog exits a tunnel is key to maintaining their focus and ensuring a smooth transition.

Using Eye Contact to Guide Dogs in Agility

Eye contact is crucial for guiding dogs through obstacles, with the handler's body movement and gaze playing a key role in directing the dog's path.

Sending the dog forward requires the handler to focus on the dog rather than the destination, creating a stronger connection.

Common issues, like dogs turning towards the handler, often stem from a lack of connection, making it important to video training sessions for self-assessment and to use peripheral vision and landmarks for better spatial awareness.

Using peripheral vision is crucial to stay on course while handling your dog.

Practicing slow-motion movements and virtual dog walkthroughs can help build muscle memory for handling techniques.

It's important to check the height of your arms, as they can disrupt the connection with your dog, and consistent practice is key to mastering these techniques.