Blog
Latest Post
Money in the (mindset) Bank!
Here's a lecture I wrote for my FDSA Class EL140 Mindset Training for Dog Sports, but I thought it would make a great blog post for those of trying really hard to build up new habits and behaviors for ourselves as trainers, teachers, and competitor. You have to give...
We Need to Take Care of Our Human Learners, too.
My least favorite thing about agility is that the standard practice is to teach the humans and the canines at the same time. Not only is this incredibly inefficient, it can be frustrating for all involved: instructor, handler, & dog. It’s time to change this...
Loopy Training for Agility
When we are setting up a training session, we should be paying close attention to the following details: Antecedent: how are we going to arrange the conditions so that the desired behavior is most likely to occur? Behavior: what behavior are we looking for from the...
Reward Your Dog, Thoughtfully.
If you’re taking an agility class, you’ve probably heard your instructor say “reward your dog”. Many times, this is because the handler has perceived an error (either our own or the dog’s), and the handler has momentarily forgotten that they have a dog with them, and...
Beginning of Run Routines: Evaluating Your Dog’s Readiness
Over the years, I have had the chance to prepare for many of training sessions and competition runs, with a wide variety of dogs. They have all needed something different from me, and overtime, I've become very open to having my dogs tell me how ready they are. I...
Why Self-Evaluation Matters
What separates good competitors from great ones? I believe one of the dividing factors is the ability to self-critique and adjust their path from there. Filming every training session & competition run and then being able to watch those videos objectively is a...
About
Megan Foster
FOUNDER, SYNERGY DOG SPORTS
I have been training in agility nearly my entire life. With seventeen years of experience, I have had the opportunities to work with hundreds of dogs within a large variety of breeds.
I began my agility journey with an American Eskimo and a Westie. In 1999, I began competing with my first Shetland Sheepdog, Buddy. Buddy’s lesson to me was about connection and bond. While running him, I knew that agility was what I was meant to do.
