I believe COVID19 has hurt dog agility quite a lot. There have been long periods of time without training and competitions and the world is full of young dogs that haven’t been able to get used to other dogs, different people and situations freely. No, this is not a huge problem if we think about all the people who have died or suffered from a health or financial perspective. However, the problem exists. And I didn’t even mention trainers who have lost their income or agility clubs who have struggled to keep their heads above the water. However, here are 6 things I have learned when struggling with the crisis.
Success doesn’t just happen by getting the right dog. Susan admits that she’s always been very intense with everything she’s done, first with field hockey and horse riding, then with agility: “I’m always pushing my limits and wanting to become better and better.” This may explain her success to some extent. But it’s important that whatever your goals are, you feel good about what you are doing.
We asked Rosa-Maria Ikäheimonen, the coach and founder of Speed Up Agility, to explain how an agility handler can get in top condition for the most important competitions of the year, how a year should be divided into different training periods and what these different training periods actually mean.
Martina Magnoli Klimesova from Czech Republic has had an amazing agility career with her mudi Kiki. They have 7 medals from World Championships, of which three are individual gold, the latest of which is from 2018. Watching them run, one would never guess that people actually condemned Kiki early on: “A lot of people told me that she is not good enough. But I did not listen to them.”
Christine is worried about the trend of trying to find the golden puppy. “I love agility, but I love dogs even more. We aren't perfect, neither are dogs. I think every puppy deserves a chance. They aren’t machines or sport equipment, they are living beings.” Read what actually is important when choosing your puppy.
Our dogs are so important to us, and we want to take care of them in the best possible way. But what is the best possible way as regards an agility dog’s nutrition and hydration? The variations in seasons and even during a competition day or weekend, bring challenges that differ from dogs in general. So how can we take care of our best friend’s nutrition and hydration in the best possible way? We interviewed Sanna Attola from SLN Import (Acana, Orijen), Laura Strömberg from FitDog and Mikko Griinari from Nutrolin to find out.
Imagine that you’d suddenly get the flu, that just wouldn’t go away, and, instead, it would get worse and worse. Months and years would pass but instead of getting better, your muscles and joints would be sore and get cramps, your blood pressure would be high, and your body would just shut down. The pain would be so bad that you would pass out and you would lose your muscles, not being able to even brush your own hair. And doctors would keep saying that you would never get better. All this happened to young Angelica Prytz, who, until then, had been very active and loved life. Read how agility saved her life!
During the almost two years we’ve spent building the concept, there have been several times when I almost gave up. But I didn’t and here’s why: I love dog agility. I really do. And I love dogs. And I love competing. And I think most of us would succeed even better if we had more data and more focus. Here’s how the whole idea of AgiNotes started.
![How many jump cues do you need for your agility dog? [Template]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a59dc41e9bfdf26441e3fa4/1638883948287-VIS0G0W20LZJ7HT3FBJL/verbal+cues+fair+2+www.jpg)
