Those who have attended seminars with me have heard me say this time and time again;
“If you want distance, your dog must have confidence”
I love distance handling; I love the feeling of having that connection with my dog from 40 or more feet away. But the key to that kind of distance work is, and always will be confidence.
I train with confidence in mind from the very beginning, from the time I bring that little eight-week-old puppy home, I train them with confidence in mind.
Part of building that confidence in my dog is letting them have a choice. My dogs always have a choice from day one, they choose what “kind” of agility they wish to do. I never force distance upon my dogs, if that is a path they wish to take, I will support them in my training and my handling.
By giving my dogs a choice they have freedom. Freedom to be who they want, to run at the speed they want, and by letting them choose their path in agility we will connect as a team; and that is more important to me than any distance between us.
Amanda Nelson is well known for her distance handling skills, and she has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20+ years. She has traveled around the world to Australia, Japan, Netherlands, England, Switzerland and the Philippines teaching all levels of agility, with nearly all dog breeds. Amanda focuses on teaching teamwork as well as how to create a strong connection between dog and handler. She works with all styles of handling, from running with your dog to distance handling. Amanda tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and handler to help bring out the best in the team. Her training techniques consist of a large amounts of targeting, food rewards, and toy rewards. Creating a fun learning environment for the dog encourages a fast, fun, and motivated dog in the agility ring. Amanda uses a combination of Upper Body Cues, Lower Body Cues, and Verbal Cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Handlers are taught how to use all of these cues, together, to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All of these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous titles with her dogs including the MOD SQUAD award, Purple Achievement Cup, and over 40 NADAC Championship titles. She has won the NADAC Championships multiple times, including winning the Super Stakes and Starter Stakes division. She has also been Top Bonus Dog, Top Purple Dog, and Top Dog of the Year several times in NADAC.
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How do you build that confidence? I have all the confidence in Chances not so much in jumpers. My BC does not have any. She is a rescue so
I do not know all.
Fluid Motion Agility 
How do you build that confidence? I have all the confidence in Chances not so much in jumpers. My BC does not have any. She is a rescue so
I do not know all.
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