Two years, two evenings a week, one small set of jumps in a forty by sixty yard. Notes from a hobby handler who never planned to compete.
Two years, two sessions a week, one border collie mix and the same six cones. What the TRIXIE hurdle set does well, where it stops being enough, and what 8.5 inches taught us.
Two routes to a first jump in the back yard, weighed by someone who has owned exactly one of them.
Two years, two sessions a week, one set of cones. What actually earns its place in a back yard training kit when you are just starting out.
Two years, two evenings a week, one small set of jumps in a forty by sixty yard. Notes from a hobby handler who never planned to compete.
Five steps, one dog, about two months of Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The sequence I actually used, including the parts I got wrong first.
Two years, three jumps, and the honest list of what a starter hurdle set will and will not do for a beginner handler.
Eighteen months, two sessions a week, one back yard. What held up, what got muddy, and what I would tell a friend before they buy a first tunnel.
Two tunnels, two different jobs. One is 18 feet of staked open tunnel for grass and speed. The other folds flat and lives behind a door. Here is which one earns its space in a small back yard.
Eighteen months, two sessions a week, one border collie mix. The tunnel did more for our start than the jumps did.
Eighteen months with an 18 foot tunnel in a 40 by 60 foot yard, including the mud, the stakes and the drying over the fence.
Five steps I used in my own back yard, in the order I did them, starting with a tunnel that was a lot shorter than the one in the box.
Eighteen months with one tunnel in a small back yard: what held up, what annoys me every single session, and who should spend their money somewhere else.
Twenty-two months, one replacement, and a back yard that measures 40 by 60 feet. Notes on the rope tug that ends every session.
A hobby handler compares the rope tug that lives in her treat bag with the leather bite tug she has watched at the field but never owned.
A hobby handler's plain notes on the one reward that lives in the treat bag pocket and comes out at the end of every sequence.
A back yard handler on the one piece of gear that marks the end of a run.
A plain spoken, five step method for turning a rope tug into a clean training reward, using the Mammoth Pet Products Flossy Chews Rope Tug as the main tool.
The plain version of this knotted rope: what it does well, where it stops working, and the two cases where you should leave it on the shelf.
Twenty-two months, two pockets, and one magnet. Notes from a hobby handler who got tired of fumbling treats in the grass.
I trained Juno out of a jacket pocket for two months before the OllyDog Goodie Treat Bag arrived. Here is what actually changed, and the two things a pocket still does better.
A hobby handler's plain notes on the OllyDog Goodie Treat Bag, from the jacket pocket phase to nearly two years of Tuesday and Thursday sessions.
Two months of fumbling treats out of a jacket pocket, then twenty-two months of the same small bag on the same hip.
A five step routine for getting the treat to the dog inside two seconds, from a hobby handler who spent two months fumbling in a jacket pocket first.
22 months of twice weekly sessions, one retired jacket pocket, and the two things I still do not love about this pouch.
Twelve months of Sunday morning throws in a fenced back yard, with a dog who never cared about balls.
One is a disc I have thrown for a year in a small back yard. The other is a launcher I have never owned. Here is where each one actually earns its place.
Ten plain reasons, from a hobby handler with one dog and a small back yard, that the disc keeps its spot on the shed shelf.
One disc, one dead Sunday morning, and a dog who never once cared about a ball.
A back yard method for teaching a dog to chase, track and catch a flying disc, using one disc and a handful of pea-sized treats.
A year of Sunday morning throws in a small fenced yard, including the two weeks when my dog would not chase it at all.
Two years, two sessions a week, one border collie mix and the same six cones. What the TRIXIE hurdle set does well, where it stops being enough, and what 8.5 inches taught us.
Two years, three jumps, and the honest list of what a starter hurdle set will and will not do for a beginner handler.
Eighteen months, two sessions a week, one back yard. What held up, what got muddy, and what I would tell a friend before they buy a first tunnel.
Eighteen months with one tunnel in a small back yard: what held up, what annoys me every single session, and who should spend their money somewhere else.
Twenty-two months, one replacement, and a back yard that measures 40 by 60 feet. Notes on the rope tug that ends every session.
The plain version of this knotted rope: what it does well, where it stops working, and the two cases where you should leave it on the shelf.
Twenty-two months, two pockets, and one magnet. Notes from a hobby handler who got tired of fumbling treats in the grass.
22 months of twice weekly sessions, one retired jacket pocket, and the two things I still do not love about this pouch.
Twelve months of Sunday morning throws in a fenced back yard, with a dog who never cared about balls.
A year of Sunday morning throws in a small fenced yard, including the two weeks when my dog would not chase it at all.
