118 Posts Tagged With "BackSide"
Four Short Masters Skills Sequences
05 Nov 2025
Here are four short Masters level skills training sequences for a narrow training space from a recent workshop I gave at Talcott Mountain…
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Four (Now Five) Novice Skills Training Courses
02 Nov 2025
Here are four (updated to five) novice/starters level skills training sequences for a narrow training space from a recent workshop I gave at…
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Four Masters Training Sequences - Sept 2025
25 Sep 2025
Here are four sequences working on Masters level skills using the same equipment setup. Each sequence contains multiple skills and challenges for both handler and dog.
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Short Skills Training Sequences - Sept 2025
15 Sep 2025
Seven short skills training sequences for the same equipment setup designed to work on fundamental and advanced handling techniques. Each sequence contains multiple skills and challenges for both handler and dog.
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Workshop Skills Training Sequences
09 Jun 2025
Here are six short sequences working on basic to advanced skills at AKC-ish obstacle spacings from a recent workshop.
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Smaller Space Training Sequence
31 Jan 2025
I created a 50' x 80' (15m x 24m) jumping version of a fun and challenging Dana Pike agility training course I recently shared. Lots of good challenges with some longer lines even in a smaller space.
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Dana Pike Int'l Training Sequence - Video
26 Jan 2025
A Dana Pike designed a Standard agility training course based on a Jan Egil Eide course. I've included the course diagram, a discussion of handling options, and a video of Spark and me running the sequence with some of the options.
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Using a Jump Wing as a Training Prop for Back Side/Threadle Slices - Video
21 Jan 2025
I demo adding a jump wing on the take off side of a threadle slice for Spark when he was having trouble finding his take off spot after I raised his jump height up to 24."
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Stacie Cwik Practice Course with Discussion
07 Dec 2024
Stacie Cwik shared her class course with all the weave entry/exit handling options, threadle wraps/slices, and more.
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Celebrating Our ISC Finals Win
18 Oct 2024
Reflecting on our thrilling ISC finals experience, overcoming challenges and celebrating Snap!'s incredible performance at 8.5 years old.
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Stacie Cwik Intl Course and Small Space Training Sequences
25 Jul 2024
Stacie Cwik setup a fun international style course in her class last week. She let me share her full size course and I extracted a small space section of the course. Both have multiple "either/or" handling options. Set it up and have fun!
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Dana Pike Courses Inspired by UKI US Open 2024 Judge Ivan Amez - Video
12 Jul 2024
Dana Pike modified a course by one of this year's US Open judges Ivan Amez for class this week. There are two sequences for the same setup. They were a blast to run!
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UKI Midwest Cup 2024 - Snap! Injured
15 Jun 2024
Definitely not the "comeback" I was hoping for at the UKI Midwest Cup with Snap!
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Make the Second Obstacle Free - UKI Invitational Finals - Video
05 Apr 2024
In the UKI Invitational finals I failed to take my own advice and it almost cost me the run. Here's a video of the run and my thoughts on the importance of setting up your dog on the start line to help you both.
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Dana Pike Masters Training Sequence - Video
24 Feb 2024
I enjoyed running this Dana Pike training course and I think you will too! It has a little bit of everything and is a great way to work on your handling skills.
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Masters/Premier Workshop Sequences
26 Oct 2023
Here are two masters/premier sequences that I've used at a recent evening workshop. They had some good challenges!
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AKC Premier-ish Seminar Sequences
20 Aug 2023
I thought I'd share four challenging AKC Premier-ish sequences I've used at seminars in smaller spaces. They've got "all the things".
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Stacie Cwik Inspired Small Space Sequences
07 Jun 2023
I loved running Spark and Snap! on Stacie Cwik's class course last week and the opening/closing made for a perfect small space practice setup. So I mashed the opening and closing together into one sequence and came up with three additional (and challenging!) training sequences.
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Dana Pike/Steve Skills Sequences
25 Nov 2022
I loved running Spark on Dana Pike's skills sequence at this week's class and she kindly let me share it. I've added two more sequences to give you three jump-only skills sequences for a long narrow space that let you work on jump wraps, 270s, back side slice/wrap, and a threadle.
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AKC-like JWW/Premier Novice through Masters Practice Courses
12 Nov 2022
Three of each AKC-like Jumpers/Premier sequences for novice/advanced and excellent/masters teams from a recent seminar of mine.
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Fun AKC-like JWW Novice/Advanced Practice Courses
07 Nov 2022
Five fun and challenging AKC-like Jumpers sequences for novice/intermediate teams from a recent seminar.
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Three Backyard Back Side and Threadle Practice Sequences
02 Sep 2022
Snap! and I need to work on him taking the jump on a back side slice while I'm moving fast away from the jump he is taking. Also threadle wraps when I'm past the plan of the jump. So I created these three sequences and thought I'd share them.
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"Jumperified" Dana Pike Advanced/Masters Sequences
15 May 2022
I've removed the contact obstacles from the Dana Pike Advanced/Masters class courses, that I posted recently, for folks who have a slightly narrower space or who don't have contacts. These sequences will test your skills!
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Challenging Dana Pike Advanced/Masters Sequences
06 May 2022
Two challenging Dana Pike Advanced/Masters class courses that will test all your skills!
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Practice Sequences Based on Stefanie Semkat's 2022 Polish Open Large Agility
06 Feb 2022
Stefanie Semkat's 2022 Polish Open Large Agility course had some challenging handling sequences! I created a smaller layout, with the same spacing/alignment of her three middle jumps, and came up with three sequences so we could practice her challenges at home.
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Fun/Challenging Medium Sized Practice Courses
01 Jan 2022
Three fun and challenging sequences for working on weave entries/exits and lots of handling challenges! I had a great time practicing on this layout!
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Backyard Mastery - All the Crosses
28 Feb 2021
My August 2020 Clean Run magazine Backyard Mastery article with sequences that fit in your backyard or garden. This month shows using all the crosses on the same sequence to increase the challenges of any sequence.
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Backyard Mastery - Move It!
25 Oct 2020
My April 2020 Clean Run magazine Backyard Mastery article with sequences that fit in your backyard or garden. This month covers moving obstacles to increase the challenges of ANY SEQUENCE.
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Backyard Mastery - Changing Sides & Cutting Corners
22 Aug 2020
My December 2019 Clean Run magazine Backyard Mastery article with sequences that fit in your backyard or garden. This month covers changing the side of the jump and bypassing obstacles to increase the challenges of any sequence.
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Dana Pike Weave Entry/Exit, Straight Tunnel Challenges
03 Jul 2020
Dana Pike has been designing medium and small space at home practice sequences for her students. She let me share these great weave pole entry and exit challenges!
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Backyard Mastery - Turning the "Wrong" Way
28 Jun 2020
My October 2019 Clean Run magazine Backyard Mastery article starts my series on ways to challenge your team using any sequence that fits in your backyard or garden. This month covers changing the direction you turn your dog around a jump for front and back side approaches.
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2019 May
18 Apr 2020
My May 2019 Clean Run magazine Backyard Dogs courses for small spaces requires a wide range of handling skills! There are setups with and without weaves and also a slightly larger setup using 12 weave poles.
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2019 Mar
21 Mar 2020
My March 2019 Clean Run magazine Backyard Dogs courses for small spaces require a wide range of handling skill and have some of my most challenging sequences yet! Also includes a setup using 12 weave poles.
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Landing Side, Non-Obvious, Off-Flow Obstacle Approaches
01 Mar 2020
I explain why trainers use these terms for when they need to direct their dogs to take the side or end of an obstacle that is not directly in their path. There are more than just "Threadle" and "Back Side" elements.
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2019 Jan
26 Feb 2020
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the January 2019 issue of CleanRun. These sequences contain a full range of handling challenges including some interesting tunnel to weave and weave to tunnel entrances.
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Dan Butcher PSCA Premier Std - Cool Bidirectional/BackSide
27 Jan 2020
Dan Butcher's Pyrenean Shepherd Club of America Sep 21 2019 Premier Standard course with video of Flyer and I trying it out. A fun and flowing Premier course with a great bidirectional jump to back side challenge!
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2018 Nov
20 Dec 2019
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the November 2018 issue of CleanRun
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2018 Sep
22 Nov 2019
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the September 2018 issue of Clean Run magazine.
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Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2018 July
07 Mar 2019
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the July 2018 issue of CleanRun . For this month's Backyard…
Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2018 May
30 Dec 2018
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the May 2018 issue of CleanRun . For this month's Backyard…
Backyard Dogs Practice Sequences - 2018 March
19 Sep 2018
This is an expanded version of my Backyard Dogs article originally published in the March 2018 issue of CleanRun . For my first Backyard…
Pull Across Jump and Push to Back Side - Video
02 Oct 2017
Here is the general obstacle setup: When you set it up you want the wrong side of 3 to be what the dog sees when coming over jump 2. Play…
2017 Feb Wisconsin Agility Cup: Courses and Video
23 Feb 2017
This past weekend Flyer , Snap ! and I got up at "o-dark-thirty" in the morning to drive the two and a half hours to Canine Sports Zone…
Backyard Handling Mastery: 2 Jumps + Tunnel = 24 Challenges
11 Nov 2016
I wanted to create some sequences to demonstrate my "Backyard Handling Mastery" philosophy so I came up with these four obstacle layouts…
Flyer and Steve in the 2016 AKC NAC Finals - Video
22 Mar 2016
All the courses and the official AKC results are posted AKC NAC Results site . I liked the courses I saw, I heard some folks say they weren…
NDAL 2016 March 50x50 Int'l Course Analysis/Video
06 Mar 2016
Here's the layout and sequence for my March 2016 National Dog Agility League 50 x 50 "International-style" course - this time I've…
Starters/Advanced/Masters Challenge Small Space Courses
21 Feb 2016
Here are eight practice courses based on the layout for my March 2016 National Dog Agility League 50 x 50 "International-style" course. I…
Moving Towards Mastery: 14 Layouts to Challenge Your Handling
16 Feb 2016
As I mentioned in my previous article: "Move Obstacles to Challenge Your Handling" , you can take any sequence and move the jumps (along…
NDAL Feb 2016 Course With Handling Analysis
02 Feb 2016
As promised here's the competition 2016 February National Dog Agility League 50 x 50 "International-style" course I designed and, since…
Moving Towards Mastery: Move Obstacles to Challenge Your Handling
28 Jan 2016
In this second in a series of articles I'll show you another way to improve the quality of your training; even in a small space with a few…
Moving Towards Mastery: Change Paths to Challenge Your Handling
13 Dec 2015
I want to change how you train and help you improve the quality of your training; even in a small space with a few obstacles. Most training…
Weave Entries and Back Sides
09 Jun 2015
I was inspired by the weaves to Holmberg Double on Rolf Franck's Course and came up with this challenging mini-course using only weaves…
Handling the Quad Back Side - Patrick Bucher Course/Video
31 May 2015
Swiss judge Patrick Bucher posted an interesting course that caught a lot of people's attention because it contained four consecutive…
Dana Pike International Skills Class Course/Video
22 May 2015
Here's Dana's full course: I setup the section from 3-9 to play with and video tape: Here are some notes on the rest of the full course…
Progressive Jump Circle
10 May 2015
There are many ways trainers work on this problem. With Meeker I used Suzanne Clothier's Natural Jumping Method and some people like…
Private Lessons Course/Sequence with Video
06 Apr 2015
When I give private lessons during a Seminar weekend I like to set up a course with elements that let me work common challenges…
Some Fun Challenges to Practice
21 Jan 2015
Here's a full size and small space version of last night's class course containing: Serpentines , Back Sides , Jump Wraps and…
Scott Lovelis - Masters Challenge Standard/Jumpers
13 Nov 2014
Scott Lovelis had some "spot on" Masters Challenge courses at the recent Contact Sports Agility trial here in Illinois. The courses had…
Open/Masters Course - They Didn't Kill Me...
29 Oct 2014
I love my students; they are always up for a challenge and they didn't try to kill me after running this course. This course isn't that…
Big, Fast, Fun Masters Course
15 Oct 2014
Until I arrived to set up a course last night I forgotten that I would have access to the whole training space for my course. With all the…
The Impact of Wings on Back Side Jump Wraps - Video
13 Oct 2014
I thought it would be interesting to see how our dogs set themselves up and jumped a Back Side with and without wings. So I setup a jump and…
More Handling Fun!
24 Sep 2014
Last night's class had a number of skills packed into a single course; I put in: a 90 degree weave entry, a Pin Wheel , back side tunnel…
Back Side Entry to 270/Training Opportunity - Video
19 Sep 2014
I set up this fun sequence with a Back Side approach to a 270 and found some training issues Flyer and I needed to work on. Here's the…
Back Side Entry to 270/Training Opportunity - Video
19 Sep 2014
I set up this fun sequence with a Back Side approach to a 270 and found some training issues Flyer and I needed to work on. Here's the…
Masters/Advanced Handling Fun!
10 Sep 2014
Last night's course was a lot of fun for my Masters and Advanced students! I put together some Back Side jump and tunnel handling…
Serpentines, Threadles, and Back Sides
13 Aug 2014
In last night's course I put together Serpentines , Threadles , and optional Back Sides in this fast, flowing class course. The Advanced…
Medium Space Courses: Serps, Threadles, and Back Sides
15 Jul 2014
In last night's course I had Serpentines , Threadles , and Back Sides in quick succession and I created a "medium space" non-contact…
Course for a Discriminating Team! Video
10 Jul 2014
I really like this fast moving course from class last week - it obviously has tunnel/A Frame discriminations but it has more: Serpentines…
Small Space Courses for a Fun Fourth!
04 Jul 2014
For the Fourth of July I took a small section from one of my class course working on tunnel/A Frame discriminations and came up with three…
Frank Holik Masters Challenges Jumpers - Video
02 Jun 2014
Frank was kind enough to let me share his course - thanks Frank! The course was set fairly close to the diagram. If you look at the video…
Rafael Quiñones "Minions" Practice Course - Video
25 May 2014
Rafael Quiñones was one of the judges at the USDAA North Central Regionals this year and prior to the trial he posted a fun exercise…
Oops I Did It Again... and Almost Felt Bad
30 Apr 2014
I guess I was subconsciously inspired by a challenging international practice course I liked when I came up with these courses for my…
Westminster Agility Finals Inspired - Video & Analysis
18 Feb 2014
The Westminster dog agility finals round had an interesting challenge that I wanted to set up in my weekly class courses. The dogs came off…
Don't Judge a Run by the Score!
17 Jan 2014
Here's the video: One of the best parts was missing the second jump after the A Frame. I was too close to the A Frame with my Front Cross…
Shoulder Pull to Blind Cross - Video
25 Dec 2013
Here's another "specialty" dog agility handling combination that I found interesting and wanted to share with you. As usual Dana Pike had…
"Add One Obstacle" Dog Agility Course Game
22 Nov 2013
I think I have Stuart Mah to thank for this fun dog agility course visualization/memorization/handling game. In what I'm calling "Add One…
More Gabi Steppan Inspired Backyard Sequences - Video
18 Aug 2013
I really enjoyed playing around with my Gabi Steppan Inspired Course and left it set up in my yard all week. I came up with some more…
Gabi Steppan Inspired Backyard Course - Video
12 Aug 2013
Here is her original course: I especially wanted to work the Back Sides at jump 2/19 and coming through the box in front of the A Frame…
OMG! A Back Side in AKC Standard!
01 Jul 2013
Surprisingly that was the reaction from more than a few competitors when faced with Linda Robertson's Masters Standard course at the recent…
Hanson - MC Standard - Video/Play-by-Play
21 May 2013
The course was designed by veteran USDAA judge Dave Hanson and judged by Seth Dunn. This course had a number of interesting challenges and…
WAO Team USA Practice Inspired Course - Video
29 Mar 2013
This week's class course was inspired by the interesting A Frame jump sequence in WAO USA Team Practice Course #4 . I only have a 60' x 6…
What's International? International Two Jump Drills
06 Mar 2013
You don't need a lot of equipment to train yourself and your dog to master the "International" handling challenges that are coming to USDAA…
Masters Challenge Courses w/Video
21 Feb 2013
The judge was Francisco Berjon from Mexico. I really felt for him traveling to Wisconsin in February! It was a smaller trial with about 3…
Full & Small Space Sequences
03 Feb 2013
Here's my class course from this week at FYK9 from which I also created a small space sequence. This sequence contains a bunch of handling…
Seventy Two Backyard Courses!
05 Dec 2012
For today's Dog Agility Bloggers' event on the subject of Backyard Training I put together seventy two training sequences that should…
Challenging Full Size Course
03 Dec 2012
I came up with this interesting course with a couple challenging sections for class this past week. There are Threadles , Back Sides…
Blind Cross to Ketschker on Dana Pike Course
17 Nov 2012
I put color coded handler/dog icons and some description in the following diagram of Dana's course to help demonstrate this handling…
Full Size and Small Space Sequences
20 Oct 2012
I came up with a fun and challenging course for class this past week and broke out a couple small space sequences from it. You can work on…
Dana Pike/Steve Small Space Challenge With Video
24 Jul 2012
Dana had weaves along the left side of the course ending around jump 7. Her challenge was obstacle sequence 7-12; I found it interesting for…
Can You Handle It? Novice & Intermediate Courses
10 Jun 2012
I gave my first Novice and Intermediate level Can You Handle It? Seminar this past Friday night at Agility at the Farm . It was…
Mother's Day Course
15 May 2012
I was giving some private lessons at Agility at the Farm this past Sunday and came up with this course based on some changes to the…
Four Small Space International Exercises
15 Apr 2012
I've created four small space exercises based on the opening jump layout of my International Flair! Seminar Course from a couple weekends…
Back Side of Jump Handling Combinations - Video
27 Mar 2012
After giving my International Flair! Seminar I thought I'd put together a diagram showing the handling combinations possible for Pushing…
Challenging Full Course & Exercises
29 Feb 2012
Here are the two Masters level full size sequences from my class at For Your K-9 and I've created four small space exercises based on them…
Back Side Jump Wrap Exercise - Flyer Video!
19 Feb 2012
I've created an exercise from my class course at For Your K9 for working on Pushing to the Back Side of a jump and Wrapping the dog…
Small Spaces: Weave Entries & Fun Handling
08 Dec 2011
Thought I'd pull out a fun sequence from my class course at For Your K-9 and turn it into a mini course for smaller spaces. These three…
Advanced Class Course: Attentive Handling - 09-Nov-2011
10 Nov 2011
My Advanced class course at For Your K-9 incorporated an interesting challenge from a Silas Boogk handling seminar I attended at Ann…
Dana Pike - Awesome International Sequence - With Video
22 Aug 2011
If you want to work on some international handling challenges Dana Pike designed this little beauty as part of her class course last…
Advanced Class: Would You Be Skunked? - 18-Aug-2011
19 Aug 2011
Typically at least one of my Advanced (i.e. Masters/Excellent level) students gets through my class course with only a bobble or two (it may…
Advanced Class Course: Where Did This Come From?
25 Jul 2011
Sometimes my students will ask me things like this when they come to class. I tell them I have about 15-30 minutes and whatever equipment is…
Advanced Class: Run This Course, Really! - 15-Jun-2011
21 Jun 2011
The week I set up the Northeastern regional IHC jumpers course in my backyard I decided to base my class course on the middle of the IHC…
Advanced Class: Run This Course, Really! - 15-Jun-2011
21 Jun 2011
The week I set up the Northeastern regional IHC jumpers course in my backyard I decided to base my class course on the middle of the IHC…
Advanced Class: A Little Piece of Evil - 01-Jun-2011
04 Jun 2011
Thanks to a Linda Mecklenburg International Handling Seminar I attended last week, I was inspired to add a double Back Side handling…
International Flair - Dan Butcher AKC Courses
25 Apr 2011
There have been discussions on various agility email lists lately about AKC courses getting more difficult and/or including more…
Advanced Course: International Evil - 20-Apr-2011
21 Apr 2011
I've been playing around with more International style courses lately and came up with this course primarily to work on Back Side to 18…
Advanced Class: Analysis and Execution - 23-Mar-2011
24 Mar 2011
Here's a sequence containing 270s , Jump Wraps , Pull Throughs , and some interesting handling options from my Advanced classes this week…
Advanced Class: Just a Dash of Evil - 16-Mar-2011
18 Mar 2011
Here's a course setup with two different sequences containing Jump Wraps , Pull Throughs , Threadles , a Pin Wheel , and general…
Advanced Class: No Frills Course - 23-Feb-2011
24 Feb 2011
Here's a course setup with two variations on a sequence containing Jump Wraps , Pull Throughs , Threadles , a Pin Wheel , a Back Side…
Advanced Class: Kinda Evil Courses - 09-Feb-2011
09 Feb 2011
Here's a course setup with two sequences containing 270 s, Jump Wraps , Pull Throughs , Threadles , Pin Wheel , and general handling…
Meeker Qualifies for Steeplechase and Grand Prix
23 Jan 2011
The judge was Judy Reilly from New York state and I really liked her courses a lot. They were challenging but fair; there was a little of…
Dana Pike - Awesome Course with Video
17 Jan 2011
I've said it before, but you have to set up this Dana Pike course. If you don't have room for the whole thing at least set up 5-10, that's…
Fun Course - Sorry That Page Doesn't Exist
15 Jan 2011
Here's a course where probably only web developers and other technology nerds into agility will see the joke. If you want to try running it…
Dana Pike - Another Class Course w/Video
01 Jan 2011
In the diagram below there are two ending options, Dana had me run the second closing in the second run in the video. My "take away lesson…
Dana Pike - Class Course w/Video
22 Dec 2010
This week Dana Pike came up with yet another course I really liked. This sequence had a 270 with off course potential, Jump Wraps , a…
Dana Pike - Super Serpentine Course
25 Nov 2010
In the opening there are at least three ways to handle the 3-4-5-6 Serpentine : What to do 17-18-19-20? There was some "gnashing of teeth…
Double Box Sequence Generator
08 Nov 2010
The seven jump Double Box offers handlers and dogs longer training sequences than the Box Layout and adds the ability to train 18…
Star Box Sequence Generator
02 Nov 2010
The six jump Star Box offers handlers and dogs even more training opportunities than the venerable Box Layout . To help other agility…
New Jump Box Sequence Generator
26 Oct 2010
One reason I created AgilityCourses was to have a place to experiment with software I've had in mind for generating practice courses and…
