Fostering Excellence in Agility

Episodes page 2 of 2

1. Making the Most of Your Trial Experience

   28 Jan 2025 · 12 min

   039 Megan shares 5 mindset skills she focuses on during every competition to ensure she's having a good time for herself, her dog, and her team.

2. Effectively Reducing Reinforcement

   21 Jan 2025 · 9:25

   038 In this episode, Megan shares her two ways for reducing reinforcement and the training strategies she implements for each.

3. Leaving the Ring Early

   14 Jan 2025 · 11 min

   037 When does Megan think about leaving the ring early and what does that look like? Listen to episode 37 to find out!

4. What Does Proofing Look Like?

   7 Jan 2025 · 19 min

   036 Megan explains how she proofs different behaviors to aim for her ultimate goal: ring sustainability.

5. Addressing Bar-Knocking Behavior

   22 Mar 2024 · 35 min

   035 Megan unpacks her thoughts about bar-knocking in this requested episode. Megan's favorite jumping experts: Linda Mecklenburg https://awesomepawsagilityacademy.com/current-classes/ Dr. Leslie Eide…

6. Adjusting Criteria in Training

   22 Feb 2024 · 22 min

   034 Should you make something easier in training or try to pivot in another way? Find out what Megan thinks in this episode!

7. Recapping Sprint's Agility Debut

   10 Aug 2023 · 45 min

   033 Megan shares her experience debuting Sprint, her two-year-old Border Collie, in agility competitions. Find out insights into what Megan saw change in Sprint's behavior over time and how well the debut strategy…

8. Are You Ready to Compete?

   20 Jul 2023 · 38 min

   032 When should you start competing and what does that look like for each team? How to plan to maximize success all comes down to the splits in behavior that we need our dogs to understand.

9. Using FEO and FnG Effectively

   8 Jun 2023 · 32 min

   031 For Exhibition Only and Fix and Go On are two tools we have in the competition ring that can help us narrow the gap between how our dogs perform in training versus how they perform in trials. In this episode, Megan…

10. Agility Course Analysis

    1 Jun 2023 · 34 min

    030 Megan talks about learning the course from the dog's perspective, the importance of sticking to the plan, the five phases of course analysis, and course memorization tips. Join Megan on June 1st at 6pm PT for her…

11. Repairing Startline Behaviors with Sarah Espinoza-Sokal

    2 Mar 2023 · 1 h 23 min

    029 Megan interviews Sarah Espinoza-Sokal about her experience repairing her Kelpie, Zi's startline performance. Megan and Sarah unpack the unique pieces of the training puzzle and discuss why each piece was important…

12. How Outside the Ring Behaviors Impacts Inside the Ring Behaviors

    16 Feb 2023 · 38 min

    028 Optimal level of arousal is necessary for optimal performance. Does your dog's arousal increase in the parking lot of the agility trial or is it later in the run, like at obstacle 15? Let's take a look at how your…

13. How Trialing Informs Your Training

    28 Jan 2023 · 23 min

    027 Data from our training sessions inform future training sessions, right? What about trial data? Are you practicing during the week the issues that come up on the weekend? Is your current way of analyzing that data…

14. Training on Their Timeline with Sarah Stremming

    19 Jan 2023 · 1 h 06 min

    Sarah Stremming, Cog Dog Coach, joins Megan to discuss how their two youngest dogs, Rayya (Sarah's Icelandic Sheepdog) and Sprint (Megan's Border Collie) have completely different training plans and are on really…

15. Who Should Know Better?

    12 Jan 2023 · 15 min

    025 When I hear, "Oh, they should know better", I cringe a bit. In this episode, I unpack how I understand the reality of needing to let criteria go sometimes, and what that means for the big picture of competing with…

16. Increasing Motivation

    7 Jan 2023 · 20 min

    024: In this episode, Megan shares her thoughts on building more desire for training in our dogs. Using reinforcement consistently and in the right situations gives our dogs the confidence to be all they can be! Follow…

17. Principles of Teaching

    8 Dec 2022 · 25 min

    023 Today I'm sharing my thoughts on teaching and coaching dog agility, or any situations where a human and dog are learning together.

18. Why Do We Enter Competitions?

    10 Nov 2022 · 26 min

    022. Let's all own up to our competitive nature AND hold up to our values of training and competing with excellence. We owe it to our dogs and to ourselves to be mentally, physically, and technically prepared for each…

19. Assessing Your Handling System

    3 Nov 2022 · 23 min

    021 When you learn something new, how do you know what to do with that information? How do you decide if you should put effort into using this new skill, or if you should put it on the back burner for another time? In…

20. What Are Seminars For?

    20 Oct 2022 · 25 min

    020 - What are dog agility seminars for and how can you prepare to get the most out of one? In this episode, Megan talks about different seminar formats, how to get the most out of your time as a worker AND an auditor,…

21. Community Q&A: Teeter Training

    29 Sep 2022 · 27 min

    019 In this episode, Megan answers questions from community members about all things Teeter Training. Listen in for insights, tips, and tricks for teaching and maintaining a confident and reliable teeter performance.

22. Concept Training for Improved Homeschooling

    8 Sep 2022 · 19 min

    018 It's a fact that instructors wish students would practice more outside of class AND students wish that it was easier to practice outside of class. Dive into this episode to learn how Megan uses foundation skills…

23. Improving Training Habits Based on Brain Research

    1 Sep 2022 · 37 min

    017 Megan draws parallels between how we practice dog agility and how musicians practice and her ah-ha moments when applying current brain research to both. Megan references Dr. Molly Gebrian's excellent and…

24. Stopped vs Running Contacts

    25 Aug 2022 · 24 min

    016 Today Megan breaks down why someone may choose to train stopped contacts vs running contacts and how the choices for each contact obstacle are not exactly equal. Spoiler: it has a LOT to do with your big picture!…

25. Feedback & Motivation with Liz Joyce

    11 Aug 2022 · 32 min

    Join me in this excellent conversation with fitness coach and my personal trainer, Liz Joyce. She is the founder of Canine Handler Fitness where she runs a speed and agility development program for agility handlers…

26. Technique Training

    4 Aug 2022 · 34 min

    Megan shares how she introduces new handling techniques to dogs and how she progresses the training overtime in order to build ring sustainability for both the handler and the dog. www.synergydogsports.com/community…

27. Foundation Skills for Agility Dogs

    28 Jul 2022 · 31 min

    All agility behaviors, no matter how complex, can be worked backwards to a series of skills that I teach as foundation behaviors to my puppies and dogs new to agility training. In this episode, I unpack these skills…

28. Essential Skills for Agility Dogs

    21 Jul 2022 · 32 min

    We all know how important foundations are, but what about the skills needed *before* foundations can begin? Those skills are what I refer to as essential skills, and I want to bring more awareness to them! These skills…

29. Why I Upgraded to Location Specific Reward Markers

    14 Jul 2022 · 32 min

    From frantic to fabulous! I unpack the turning point in my training, nearly 7 years ago, and how it has helped me reach unbelievable precision and clarity in my training. www.synergydogsports.com/community

30. Puppies Part 3: Agility Foundations

    7 Jul 2022 · 24 min

    Ok, but what CAN we be teaching our puppies that directly impacts their agility career?! Megan goes through her list of essential skills that prepares her puppies for agility foundations that can build, stack, stagger,…

31. Puppies Part 2: Stop "Should"ing Yourself

    30 Jun 2022 · 37 min

    009 Megan speaks to the mindset needed when embarking on raising and training your puppy for sports, and some top tips for planning your training with your puppy and how to maintain progress.…

32. Puppies Part 1: Life & Dog Sports

    23 Jun 2022 · 23 min

    008 Megan opens this puppy mini-series talking about life and how to build the habits you want for that puppy long term and to recognize that the dog you live with is the dog you compete with and they are always…

33. Training Plans

    16 Jun 2022 · 20 min

    007 Megan breaks down her process for planning a training session, and gives her top tips for staying efficient and effective in your training. FREE video course on training plans: www.fxagility.com/trainingplans…

34. Troubleshooting Your Handling

    9 Jun 2022 · 26 min

    006 Imagine it: you're running some sequences in your yard and something unexpected happens. Now what? Don't worry, there's a method for working out what went wrong and how to change it without sacrificing future…

35. Breaking Down Splitting

    2 Jun 2022 · 27 min

    005 Megan shares her tips in splitting apart the job of splitting apart the behaviors we teach our dogs. Focusing on splitting during the acquisition phase vs the generalization phase and what we can be doing to…

36. Your Mechanics Matter

    26 May 2022 · 32 min

    Be fair to yourself and your dog: practice your mechanics to fluency without them before adding your dog to the equation! Megan dives into why your mechanics matter so much in training, competing, and teaching.…

37. Loopy Agility Training

    19 May 2022 · 31 min

    003 Let's break down the components of loopy training and how focusing on these details can help you identify and correct problems in your training sessions. www.synergydogsports.com/community www.synergydogsports.com

38. The Big Picture

    12 May 2022 · 20 min

    #002 Combat comparison by getting really real about your aspirations and all the variables that contribute to the path you take to get there. Join the Community --> www.synergydogsports.com/community Bookmark the…

39. Story Time! Who I am and why I'm here!

    5 May 2022 · 11 min

    #001 Learn about Megan and why she's decided to start podcasting. A brief history of her 25 years experience in sport and how Fostering Excellence in Agility was born! Join the Community -->…