Let's be perfectly honest, there are a lot of different skills one can be training at once time when it comes to dog sports, agility in particular. There are so many pieces to train and put together! I get asked a lot about how to keep track of ALL the things you're currently training, without keeping detailed notes and providing data for each training session I've sketched out a way that some of you may enjoy trying out!
I've divided the page into 4 sections: handling skills, obstacle skills, ring prep skills, and essential skills. These are just the four pillars that I build my program on, so you can make this completely your own if you have different pillars.
Then, add some skills that you're working on above the coordinating pillar. It can just be any “open” training projects, or things you want to work on in the future.
For each training session, use a highlighter to fill in some of the box. Over a period a time, say a month, you'll be able to turn to this page, and see where you've been spending the majority of your training time, just based on how much each box is filled in. It may help you decide what to train, or at least shine some light on the things you like training the most and the things you've been avoiding.
You could easily make this more detailed, by using different colors to fill in your boxes. For example:
Green = great session, keep progressing.
Yellow = pretty good, would like to repeat with minor adjustments.
Red = need to return to the drawing board and making major adjustments.
With that extra amount of detail, you may decide a box full of green means you can move on from that skill in the following month, and if you're seeing a lot of yellow or red, it may be time to pull in a fresh set of eyes with some outside help.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and ideas with me in the comments!
This is a great idea! I’m going to test this out with my clients as well, thank you for sharing: )
I’m glad you like it! I hope it goes well for you & your students!
Hi Megan,
Do you keep one journal per dog with multiple sports or one such journal per spot listing multiple dogs? What have you found to be the most useful?
I have done it both ways; one journal for all of the things with dividers to keep things organized, or an individual journal for each dog. Go with what feels easy for you – I prefer to only carry one journal with me everywhere, vs 2-5, depending on who is getting trained on what 🙂
I have started with my most recent puppy keeping her very own, just to be very diligent in writing down everything that she experiences.