Tips For The Novice Agility Competitor

As penance for making one particularly horrible and embarassing mistake at a recent trial that cost a fellow competitor a run, I promised to write up a list of tips for all the other green (and not so green) competitors.  Tips I've struggled to learn in drips and drabs.  Little pieces of advice given by one competitor or another, or a judge, sometimes in painful fashion after I've screwed up.   It's a work in progress, but I have posted it in my sidebar for anyone's use and enjoyment.  Dog clubs are free to use it for a handout.  No strings attached except I'd appreciate a link back to this blog.

Starting out, I thought it would be 3-4 pages, but it's already grown to 9 pages.  There is so much to learn in this sport besides training your dog and improving your handling skills, no wonder I've been feeling so overwhelmed these past 2.5 years.  So much easier it would have been if someone had just handed me a list.  Voila!  My list! 

I've added suggestions from other competitors already, and continue to welcome comments and suggestions.  One experienced competitor observed that we are all still novice in this sport.  We all make mistakes.  It will do us all good to review the rules and especially the etiquette.

Upwards and onward!