At last, what you’ve all been waiting for, the schedule of seminars taught by Mary Ellen Barry here at Quicksilver in April 2023. First, in case you aren’t already familiar with this excellent competitor and teacher, here are a few words about her. if you have not worked with her before, I and many others cannot recommend her highly enough.
Mary Ellen has been participating in agility for 27 years and has been involved in all aspects of the sport including: training, competing, teaching, coaching and judging. She is a 3 time member of the IFCS team, a 5 time member of the WAO team and is currently the coach of the WAO Team USA. She has won multiple medals on the national and international stage at WAO, IFCS, Cynosports, and the US Open. She began judging in 2018 and her courses have shown to be fast and flowing for the dog, yet challenging to the handler. She lives in Norristown PA with her 4 border collies and runs a full time agility business, KineticDog, LLC which offers training and competition events.
Schedule of seminars offered:
- Friday April 28
- Layering – 12:00 – 3:30 pm – 7 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
Learn how to layer easily using effective lines of motion and where to look! Sequences will also include either/or options so your dog knows when to come in towards you vs when to layer. - Introduction to International Skills – 4:30 – 8:00 pm – 7 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
Your dog has some good traditional agility skills, maybe is titled in AKC or CPE, but you’d like to try UKI. This session will show you how to train the “fancy moves,” and get greater obstacle commitment.
- Layering – 12:00 – 3:30 pm – 7 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
- Saturday April 29
- Walking Agility – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
Stop rushing! You will only be allowed to walk – no running. The purpose of this is to help you slow down your mind so that you can focus on reading your dog and giving handling cues at the correct time versus always running to try to “get there.” - Distance Skills – 2:00 – 6:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
Being successful at agility is not always about “running fast”… it’s about giving the dog the information it needs in a timely manner and training them to be able to do it regardless of your position. The focus of this workshop is to improve teams’ communication at a distance. Using sequences, you will find out what your dog can do, what needs improvement and how to handle your dog from a distance.
- Walking Agility – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
- Sunday April 30
- Deceleration – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
This is MEB’s latest signature workshop. Whether your dog is fast, doesn’t like turning or is undermotivated, this is a much-needed skill for all agility competitors. Most agility courses consist of many more turns than straight lines and most of these turns need deceleration skills. While it may seem like a basic skill, deceleration is often underutilized and misunderstood. In this workshop, you will learn why, when, and how to use deceleration. We will cover the elements of handling including connection, footwork, timing, and your dog’s response to your cues. We will cover the differences between the rhythm change, send, and turning into your dog. We will start with very short sequences and progress to 10-12 obstacles of jumps and tunnels only. - Discrimination Skills – 2:00 – 6:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
This workshop will focus on how to teach your dog common discriminations of 2-3 obstacles in close proximity to each other. This workshop is geared towards training the discriminations on mainly verbal cues with very little handling involved. Dogs should already have an understanding of verbal cues. Weaves will likely be included but can be skipped for younger dogs.
- Deceleration – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – 8 working spots, $150. FULL – 3/15 – To be put on waiting list email Leerie.
Unlimited audit spots, $75 per session. For any questions email Deb Norman at: quicksilvercanine.deb@gmail.com.
Payment
You have two options for pre-payment:
- Send check or money order to:
Quicksilver Canine
4620 Hale Rd
Climax NC 27233 - Paypal to quicksilvercanine@gmail.com
Registration
