I have been teaching handling to obedience students for a long time. Some students have no issue incorporating and even changing their handling to use specific footwork. But most students have a significant amount of trouble keeping their footwork consistent. It might be fine without the dog and without a judge calling commands. But insert the dog or the judge into the picture and you get a stressed and even paralyzed handler that can only think about their feet when there is a lot more to think about. These handlers worked many days, weeks, months, and some had worked years perfecting the footwork without the dog. Why does this happen?

I decided to experiment with ideas that could help most handlers in obedience. Can you handle your dog without footwork? Do dogs really need handlers to stop or start on a certain foot. Do handlers need to place their feet in a certain way to cue the perfect a turn? Because of my experience in agility and other sports, my instinct was saying, “Yes. No. No”.

I created a unique way to look at obedience handling without any emphasis on footwork. This technique shifts the emphasis away from footwork and lower body movement into upper body cues. When you depend on footwork, you need to translate each maneuver into foot placement when the judge gives you the cue. That translation can take lots of time and that delay causes all kinds of problems for the handler. No need to translate when you work with my system of handling, because you don’t need to be concerned about foot placement.

In agility, your dog gets information by motion, where you are looking/upper body, and where your feet are pointing. Obedience is no different than agility, dogs get information the same way. For instance, let’s look at about turns. Most people spend months working on footwork for about turns. It is so much simpler to focus on your upper body and spatial awareness. Here is a chalk talk that goes through the about turn mechanics within this system.

On February 1st, I will be teaching an online class through FDSA on handling. This is the 4th time I’ve taught “Healing Your Heeling Handling” class through FDSA. Check it out here:

https://fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/5554

Registration for this class starts January 22nd at noon PST. If you are interested in a Gold (working) spot, this class will fill fast.

If you want to read some testimonials from students in previous classes, you can read them here:

https://fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/5554#testimonials