Developing Handling Skills
Clean Run Productions LLC
Author: Linda Mecklenburg
Format: Paperback, Full Color
Length: 304 pages
Release Date: 2011
Price: $39.95
After many years of observation, study, experimentation, and practical application, Linda Mecklenburg has arrived at a simple but comprehensive approach to agility handling that is appropriate for all dogs and handlers, from the beginner to the most accomplished competitor. Developing Handling Skills for Awesome Agility Teams describes how to communicate with your dog and effectively cue him to perform the challenges he will encounter on course.
This book will teach you what your dog already knows and wants you to learn—agility handling uses motion as the primary cue. Understanding how to use motion appropriately and in a timely manner is the most important handling skill you can
master. Inappropriate motion is responsible for the majority of handling mistakes on the agility course. Have you ever wondered why your dog jumps long, goes too wide, turns the wrong way, runs by obstacles, goes off-course, or otherwise doesn’t respond the way you expect? This book will help you answer these questions as it demonstrates various ways in which motion cues, when balanced appropriately with other cues, can create different responses from your dog.Developing Handling Skills will help you discover the best way to balance cues to guide your dog efficiently and accurately on course. Believe it or not, all you need to do is learn how to “run in the right direction.”
Developing Handling Skills is the most comprehensive book available on dog agility handling. It is designed to be a resource that you will refer to for many years to come. The sport will continue to evolve, but our dogs’ responses to the natural cues will not change, and motion will remain the primary cue. Use this book as a guide to determine the best way to communicate with your dog, and to personalize your handling cues to suit the needs of your team. Contains over 200 color photos and 500 diagrams.
About the Author
Linda Mecklenburg is considered one of the premier agility instructors in the United States, and her students have achieved top honors at the highest levels of the sport. She specializes in perfecting the teamwork between dog and handler. Each student comes to Awesome Paws with a different background and varying goals and objectives. Linda customizes her instruction for each team. Regardless of their aspirations, to stand on the podium at the World Championships or have an exhilarating run, helping her students achieve their dreams is Linda’s goal.
No doubt one of the most accomplished handlers in the United States, Linda has won numerous national championships. She has represented the United States in international competition on 14 occasions, with 6 different dogs. At the FCI Agility World Championships, she has earned both gold and silver medals in the Team competition, as well as several top ten Individual placements.
Considered one of the pioneers of dog agility since the earliest days of the sport, Linda is one of the leading innovators of training and handling techniques. She constantly searches for ways to improve performance and raise the standard of excellence and so remains a driving force in the evolution of the sport of dog agility.
