Fostering Excellence in Agility
Fostering Excellence in Agility
Megan Foster
Megan Foster, Founder of Synergy Dog Sports and creator of Fostering Excellence in Agility, shares her passion, knowledge, tips and secrets for all things dog agility. Each episode, she will take you through a critical element of agility training and break down the history of it, the dos and don’ts, as well as some key action steps you can take today to continue your path to excellence. Discover how to approach agility training from a place of wellness and learn how to build an agility training program that fits your needs and fuels your passion for the sport. Megan has taken her experience over the last 25 years and developed a systematic approach to agility that applies the most innovative positive reinforcement techniques to both ends of the leash. Megan not only coaches students on their training and competitive goals but also mentors other dog agility coaches to hone their craft in the dog sport world. Ready to ignite (or re-ignite) your passion for this game? Hit subscribe & let’s go!
WCO & USO Prep!
081 This summer was abnormal and full of interruptions. We trained very little and trialed even less. So what have we been doing to catch back up for the opens this fall? This episode breaks down what we've been doing and what we will be doing to be our best at the West Coast and US Opens this fall.
Sep 3
14 min
Moving (not reducing) Reinforcement
In this episode, I unpack the three main types of training sessions agility people use, and how we reinforce during those sessions could be impacting our transition into the competition ring.
Aug 28
18 min
Adding Distractions to Your Training
079 To compete well, dogs need to learn to ignore distractions once they notice them. This begins with understanding what they should do when they see something interesting to them. Once they know that, the concept can be applied to a wide range of contexts, including your agility training. In a previous episode: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/podcasts/fostering-excellence-in-agility/episodes/2149220463 I talk about how to improve the clarity in your training and that is incredibly important to this conversation. Please join the conversation in the Fans of FxAgility Community: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup 
Aug 20
15 min
REPEAT: Expectations of a Q
078 You need clear rounds to progress in dog agility, but focusing on clear rounds isn't the answer. Dive into this episode to shift your perspective on the sport and how you train for and compete for clear rounds.
Aug 13
16 min
Stamina for Agility Dogs
077 Building stamina is a process. Working to increase the dog's workload over time and looking for ways to reduce their cognitive load during events will improve their performance inside and outside of the agility ring. Join the conversation in my free community: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup
Aug 6
19 min
What is Ring Readiness?
076 In this episode, Megan shares a list of things that might be different from training to trialing. Understanding these differences and how your dog might respond to these differences shapes the way we train and prepare our dogs for competition. She shares ideas for training these things and invites you into her free community to discuss training plans for your team. Join the community -> https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup  Other Episodes You Might Be Interested In:  Ring Prep Training Are You Ready to Compete? Ring Stress What Does Proofing Look Like? Recapping Sprint's Agility Debut
Jul 30
23 min
REPEAT: Training on their Timeline
075 Sarah Stremming, Cog Dog Coach, joins Megan to discuss how their two youngest dogs, Rayya (Sarah's Icelandic Sheepdog) and Sprint (Megan's Border Collie) have completely different training plans and are on really different paths, but how those paths ultimately lead to the same place. These two coaches dive in to why these differences are so important and the reality of the extra time and care it takes to adjust each detail depending on the day.
Jul 23
1 hr 5 min
REPEAT: Ring Prep Training
074 Preparing for competition-like situations is possible, even without recreating the entire trial environment. Listen in for what Ring Prep training is and how we can do it! Additional resources on this topic: Ring Prep without the Ring Live Session Ring Prep Bundle Ready to Compete podcast
Jul 16
22 min
REPEAT: Are You Ready to Compete?
073 When should you start competing and what does that look like for each team? How to plan to maximize success all comes down to the splits in behavior that we need our dogs to understand. While this is a repeat episode, the conversation happening in the Fans of FxAgility Community is not! Join us: www.fxagilityschool.com/signup 
Jul 9
38 min
Training and Using Stashed Reinforcement
Episode 072: Training and Using Stashed Reinforcement Humans understand that in order to compete, rewards have to be left outside of the ring, but does your dog understand that? In this episode, I break down how I train this concept from when my dogs are young puppies, and how I use the concept throughout their education and eventually competition. Interested in learning more? Join the conversation in my free Fans of FxAgility Community: https://www.fxagilityschool.com/signup
Jul 2
17 min
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