AgilityNerd - Latest Comments

Re: AgilityNerd : Learning the Rear Cross

jhon dim — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:28:41 -0000

Really interesting read. I like how this focuses on adjusting the process based on what the dog is actually offering instead of forcing repetitions. That kind of clarity and timing makes a huge difference with weave training, especially once handling and motion are added. Positive, structured approaches like this tend to produce much cleaner understanding and happier dogs overall.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Contact Resurfacing - Part 1: Removing the Old

AgilityNerd — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:22:06 -0000

I've never heard that! Please report back if you give it a try!

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Dog Walk Supports - Stabilizing My Dog Walk

AgilityNerd — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:10:14 -0000

Definitely bring them in every time. There is already a tiny bit of rust on the edges of the chromed release lever, just from leaving out with morning dew...

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Dog Walk Supports - Stabilizing My Dog Walk

Kathryn — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 18:42:40 -0000

How are these holding up for you? Have you been bringing them in the house or leaving them out?

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Contact Resurfacing - Part 1: Removing the Old

Karla Kruecke — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:19:20 -0000

I heard you could use flex seal rubber spray to recoat a rubber a-frame that is sun faded. Was just looking for anyone who has done this and any info on coats needed, etc. I bought the cans of spray rubber already. I know I saw a post on doing this, just can’t find it again!
Thanks!

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Facebook Posts on AgilityNerd

Brenda — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 21:26:33 -0000

New format will take a bit to get used to but I am sure it will streamline our search for information. Thank you.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Agility Jump Height Calculator

AgilityNerd — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 12:38:46 -0000

That is very strange. I've never heard of a dog measuring across a 4.5" range! The rule books for each organization usually have pretty clear instructions on how the dog is to be standing and exactly where to place the measuring arm on the dog's body.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Converting Weaves to 24 inch Spacing

CElliott — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 01:41:09 -0000

Thank you. I no longer compete, but I still have a yard full of fun agility play. In the old days, many of us made all our equipment.
This was a great read. Thank you for time and efforts. It is appreciated.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Agility Jump Height Calculator

Cat — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:58:13 -0000

two different judges have measured my dog differently (this was CPE) one was 18" the other 20" and in class my instructor had 22.5" It's hard to know what height he is, and where to measure.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Novice non-Weave Workshop Sequences

Tracy — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:17:14 -0000

I love the notes for this- I don't have the space or equipment to run it, but having an idea of the different ways to handle it really helps me visualize what I can do differently, and makes me think outside my little comfortable box!

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - PVC Moveable Ring Dividers/Gates/Fencing

Janette Ash — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 17:08:22 -0000

Thanks for the specs on the ring fence. I am considering "weaving" the construction fence onto the frame. Your thoughts on how that idea may or may not work.

Re: AgilityNerd : Adequan Canine Long Term Protocol for Milo

Erik — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 08:31:11 -0000

Our Great Dane (male, 152 lbs) had two TPLO surgeries and was doing much better after recovery but then started to have difficulty walking again. About a month into loading he was doing a lot better. Recently he has had difficulty on one leg so we are going to try to redo the loading phase to get him back to a good state. He is 8 years old so we know that with his arthritis we can't expect him to be great forever but given the good results we had before we think its worth it

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Dog Agility Podcasts in 2023

Tamie Rogers — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:47:48 -0000

Please add Kathy Keats to the list !
One of my favs

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

AgilityNerd — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 22:14:33 -0000

I don't think you read my proposal carefully. Teams are only capped when they reach 25 Double Qs! That is way more than 25 days. That is more than a MACH a year. I doubt more than a hundred teams in the nation are that consistent.

No teams competing in USDAA or UKI will earn that many AKC QQs. So no "back door". Right now some breeds get an invitation with single digit points; are they undeserving to go? They still go with my proposal. My proposal doesn't even effect most breeds!

I'd prefer AKC to choose teams who are the most consistent, not the ones who have the ability to compete the most. So that's why I came up with these proposals with a cap. A consistent team in the Dakotas who is willing to travel (a lot) could possibly earn 25+ QQs and they should be able to go IF they are more consistent/faster than a team that earns 25+ QQs in the East Coast for the same breed.

You are welcome to present your proposal or non-proposal to AKC. There is no reason to believe they are interested in my ideas any more than anyone else's.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

AgilityNerd — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 22:02:33 -0000

It won't matter at all. The people who are in the running for the invitational won't reduce the amount they trial enough for it to make a difference to local clubs. Clubs/facilities are kept open by competitors who are regularly trialing; not by the few who are trialing every weekend.

Also what makes you think those teams would be "bumped out"? I'm sorry, I don't know any teams who are earning 25 QQs easily. That is OVER A MACH each year. No team who is casually competing in AKC and spending time in other organizations is going to "take their spots".

They would only get bumped out if they have a worse Q rate and/or speed. Then the other team with > 25 QQs (I bet we are only talking about under 100 teams in the whole nation who earn that many each year) and a better Q rate deserves to go.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

An_alternative_opinion — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 21:29:42 -0000

What about the impact on the facilities that rely on teams coming out every trial weekend?

I think we will lose facilities if those 5 spots are opened up to teams that do not compete as frequently. Because why would those high volume teams want or need to compete so often once they learn they are going to get bumped out of invitationals by someone who does not trial as often?

Margins are thin on agility buildings. The numbers to open a building and keep it running rely on trial entries because you cannot cover the cost of high square footage, low use expensive floor space with lessons alone. Those trial numbers were cut into hard by the radius mileage change, and then clobbered by covid.

I don't think this proposal is fair to the people who make it possible for us to have our lovely playgrounds

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

An_alternative_opinion — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 21:12:39 -0000

I hope AKC does not adopt this proposal

I have no problem with teams needing lots of Qs to make the invitational. These are the teams whose entries make our top notch facilities possible.

With the radius mileage change creating increased competition for entries and then Covid, some facilities are struggling and the constant presence of invitational teams keeps the doors open.

Someone who trials in AKC 25 days out of the 150+ days available...less than once a month... does not merit an easy path into invitationals. Let's not kid ourselves here. We all know the teams who will benefit most from an invitational rule change prefer to trial in USDAA and UKI to better prepare for international teams. In other words, they don’t support AKC events enough to merit a back door into invitationals… like the one already provided for Nationals.

I’m perfectly ok with people making it into invitationals who spend their time and money trialing on their available weekends in AKC events. I trial a lot, but I have a high volume points breed and I participate in multiple dog sports. I'm ok knowing that I stand no chance of making it to invitationals because I don't trial enough in agility. I do not bedgrudge the invitational teams their spots. I respect their contribution to the agility community and the high rate of consistency they achieve that gets them to the top of the invitational leader boards.

Please don’t look for ways to take invitationals away from the consistent teams that come out, every weekend, to support AKC agility.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

AgilityNerd — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 16:13:26 -0000

Thanks! But, I think this is as far as I want to go with this. I hope AKC at least kicks around my ideas. They have all the data and could easily see what the impact would be on prior year data; would it even change the teams that were invited? They could tweak my proposed numbers: 30Qs and 10QQs, etc and look at the impact. As an engineer I think it would be a lot of fun to do!

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

AgilityNerd — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 16:09:57 -0000

Yeah, it all depends on AKC's motivation behind the AGI. If it is a reward for "those who trial the most" then the current formula will give the most points to teams who trial the most *and* have the most MACH points. Obviously, my assumption was it was for "those who trial a lot and are the most consistent and fastest".

This quote comes to mind:

“Perhaps what you measure is what you get. More likely, what you measure is all you’ll get. What you don’t (or can’t) measure is lost” – H. Thomas Johnson

Competitors who want to go to the AGI understand what it takes to optimize the current formula: trial more than other's in your breed. I'm just proposing tweaking that criteria a little to measure Q rate to prioritize that. A 25QQ cap per year is still a lot of trialing.

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

Sammi Marlene Flynn — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 11:35:44 -0000

Very interesting but any method of selection that cuts into AKC coffers isn't going to fly IMHO with AKC. They would just as soon see everybody needing 10000 points to get a breed spot. On the competitor side, I've always thought (and so have most) of Invitationals being a reward from AKC for those that trial the most and Nationals being the tournament of "performance". Not sure the diehard Invitational folks are going to like anything like this....

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog - Proposal of Alternate Formulas for Determining Invitees to the AKC Agility Invitational

fortheloveofdogsports — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 09:38:49 -0000

Excellent ideas! Have you considered also starting a petition so others can show support for your concepts?

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Puppy Agility: Connection Comes First

AgilityNerd — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 08:03:14 -0000

If you are truly connected in lessons(?) I would only run short sequences in trials and run to the exit for their reward - you don't have to run the full course. Run FEO/NFC and reward in the ring. Rent practice time at locations other than your lesson location. Seek out fun runs. The key is going to new locations, working short sequences so you can reward heavily before your dog gets distracted. Don't get caught up in trying to complete runs or qualify. Hope that helps!

Re: AgilityNerd Dog Agility Blog : Puppy Agility: Connection Comes First

asheltie — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 19:39:43 -0000

So, what do you recommend to have a great connection with my dogs? I'm having a hard time to connect with my dogs on the ring. I know that I need to work on foundation, but my dogs tend to get distracted so easily on trials. On the agility lesson, my two dogs run well, but I can't quite figure out what to do. Please help me! Thanks.

Re: AgilityNerd : Adequan Canine Long Term Protocol for Milo

Paw Prints Web Design — Sun, 23 Oct 2022 05:22:53 -0000

therapy is ALWAYS good. Water therapy, laser, ultrasound, chiropractic etc.....Why do you think Humans do therapy? same thing.

Re: AgilityNerd : Adequan Canine Long Term Protocol for Milo

Paw Prints Web Design — Sun, 23 Oct 2022 04:58:04 -0000

Adequan is a synthetic glucosamine. It works very well in almost all cases. It does have side effects as stated but my dogs have never had any. My dog has been on it for over 10 yrs. it saved her life. ZERO pain meds. Before Adequan she was on 4 different pain meds..and it didnt even hardly touch the pain. Adequan saved my girls life. I will always recommend it. the first month is costly for the loading...once thats done..it becomes dirt cheap and well worth it. My dog cant go past 3 weeks without a shot. Try it, i think you will be very happy. Also get your dog on a homemade diet and other joint supplements. Also fish oil (Iceland Pure), Vit E 3 times a week with it, Ostinol has been wonderful too. It aint cheap though. its for humans and perfectly safe for your dog. CanineActiv is used as a pain med although its nothing more than a supplement for dogs. works fast. Ostinol takes 2-3 weeks to kick in..sometimes sooner. I also use Actiflex for horses...in liquid form. it helps alot too. Alot can help your dog.