3C’s Dog Training and Agility

04/04/2025

If one of the the top handlers in the country doesn’t rush her young dog into training, there is definitely no need for us to do so.
Enjoy that precious puppy time 😍

It’s such an exciting time isn’t it! So much fun to be had, so much to teach, so many first times of this or that to celebrate. I always look forward to the opportunity to make some of the training weaknesses I had with previous dogs a strength this time.
It can also be stressful sometimes too. It’s so easy to get caught up in comparing your dog to those of a similar age. Are you doing enough? What is too much? What if we get left behind? Why am I struggling with this or that and others seem to find it easy?
I’ve definitely felt all of those above at one time or another. But as we all know, you have to work with the dog in front of you. That means working at the speed that their brain and body is ready for and that will inevitably be different than the videos you might be watching of others on socials. It’s down to us to keep ourselves in check and look after our young dogs. Build the connection between you, always be ready to adjust and rework the intended training plan if they need it . Enjoy the challenges even if they seem tough and celebrate the little gains even if they may seem small to others.
www.thecaninesportscoach.com

21/03/2025

Loving our new tuggy togs from Tough Tugz

https://www.facebook.com/toughtugz

28/02/2025

3c’s on the road!

23/02/2025

Just under two years ago this group started training agility foundations with 3c’s Agility in conjunction with Trainer3Style.

They have developed their skills, and their dogs skills in a safe way, gradually building the layers with patience and kindness. Also developing a close bond of friendship giving each other huge support and encouragement

Look at them now - about to step into the exciting world of Agility competitions. When they step into the ring this spring I know that they will be ready to play! I’m so proud of them.

Thanks to Bonny for letting us hire your superb venue and giving the dogs a chance to stretch out and run!

10/02/2025

The 12 week course begins this Friday!
The learning platform is created with clear instructions, layout plans, explanations and demo videos to help build dog and handler understanding over the duration of the course.
There are just a few working spots left. These places give participants the opportunity to submit unlimited videos for detailed feedback to help support them to progress.
Auditing spots have access to all course content, are able to view working videos and my feedback. As well as being welcome to ask questions to help their own training.
To find out more info 👇🏼
https://thecaninesportscoach.com/p/jumping-skills-feb-may-25

02/02/2025

Sun’s out, feels like spring… get the contacts out and dust off the skills…

Waking up Ginny’s contacts after winter

06/01/2025

Brilliant course to gain or refresh jumping skills, or to get your dog match fit for the new season.

23/12/2024

Wishing a very happy time to everyone who has trained with me this year. You all have great things to look forward to in 2025. But now, downtime for dogs and humans!

22/12/2024

Dinner time!

14/12/2024

Coming up for Christmas. You know we don’t have to follow the Americans in every detail. We don’t have to have an inflatable reindeer on the roof, and we don’t have to dress up our dogs to look like an elf for the sake of an ‘amusing’ picture.
Let’s treat them with a bit of sensitivity and dignity this year - don’t be part of this process….

08/12/2024

Bit of a long post but I’m very aware of the pressure that social media posts can cause - the fear of being left behind, the ‘compare and despair’ syndrome. There are quite quite a lot of posts about of puppies doing agility handling skills using a variety of equipment. With Hazy coming up to five months it made me think about what I would like for her when she starts to do her ‘agility training’ when she is about a year old.

First and foremost I want to keep her safe from harm, physically and mentally. So accident prevention is high up the list, being aware of environmental dangers - roads, cliffs, barbed wire, grumpy dogs…

Secondly I want her to love me, to be a happy, healthy and confident member of our family, both people and dogs. To learn appropriate behaviour, to understand what is acceptable and what isn’t, to understand and respect her boundaries. I want her to be comfortable with grooming, vet visits, fireworks, thunder.

I am happy that she is already very adaptable, ok to be left in house or vehicle, with or without the other dogs or to come along for the ride - sometimes to have an adventure, sometimes not. I want her to be able to focus on me no matter what is going on around her, and we are building that - it takes time.

She walks nicely on a lead, for a short distance, and by the time she is a year I’d like her to be able to walk with fewer rewards, and to be able to walk on lead alongside the other dogs.

In terms of ‘agility’ skills, at the age she is now I am looking for her to love playing with me, to be building a solid retrieve and a s**t hot recall. We are starting on some basic positions, sit - down, building duration for these with distraction and learning to listen to simple cues in arousal.

We have started circle work, and basic flat work and will build on this over the coming months. She does a nice hand target and we will build on this. When she is a bit older we will do some gentle conditioning exercises, learn directional cues, and keep doing all the above and add in other things I’ve forgotten to mention.

I am perfectly confident that if things go according to plan then WHEN we decide to start working on equipment I will have a happy, confident little dog who loves to work and will pick up everything I want to teach her in a very short space of time.
She will have a rock solid startline, great play drive, will also work for food, have a great retrieve and an awareness of positional cues. It will be an exciting time, but I don’t feel in any rush - I’m loving my little puppy and enjoying our precious time together learning about this big wide world through her eyes.

21/11/2024

18/11/2024

Little Hazy, starting to do some Big Dog stuff - not too much though!