Agility Challenge Acres

01/05/2026

🏆 AKC ISC 2026 FIDELIS CUP SERIES 🏆

For 2026 we've got something extra lined up for our AKC ISC Events! We've teamed up with Ohio company Fidelis to offer prize money at each of our events this year! We enjoy the quality and convenience of Fidelis products, and we love supporting Ohio businesses, so this was the perfect match!

Check out Fidelis products TODAY, and mark your calendars for our 2026 AKC ISC Events!

https://www.agilitychallengeacres.com
https://www.fidelispet.com

11/27/2025

👉👉Not one but TWO Fun Runs in December!!

December 10, Wednesday, 6-9pm: AKC Masters/Open/Novice style course (nested)

December 13, Saturday, 6-9pm: FCI/AKC ISC style course

Check out details using the QR code in the image OR head to:
🔗 https://agilitychallengeacres.com/event/december-agility-run-throughs/

Pre-Pay, pay at the door, or shoot me Daisy an email if you *might * come :P

11/24/2025

⚡Weekend Warrior Tickets Now Available! ⚡

You asked, we answered: Not everyone can commit to all 4 days of the .ology Kynology Workshop, so now there’s a new option - Weekend Warrior tickets (pick your 2 days: December 11-14 in Troy, Ohio). Check it out at https://www.kynology.org/events

🤔So why am I promoting this so hard when I don't typically push other people's content? 🤔

Because Kynology isn't just another training methodology. It's what Dr. Stewart Hilliard calls "a way to engage your mind" - treating dogs as subjects for genuine intellectual discourse and inquiry, not just creatures we play with or get results from.

And honestly that’s what's kept ME in this sport for decades. Not the ribbons. 🏆 Not even the perfect runs. It's the learning - which, let's be real, means the failing, the figuring out, the bouncing back. 💪
Call it grit, resilience, persistence, whatever you want - but nobody gets to be great without a lot of failure. Our successes might be what puts us on the map, but it's our failures and the subsequent learning that gets us there. When it comes to building those qualities? That's true for us AND for our dogs. 🐕

The Kynology Workshop is one of the few places where we can have honest conversations about this stuff. Not just what techniques to use, but how dogs actually learn, how they build resilience, what they need from us to develop into confident, capable partners.

If you've ever felt like there's MORE to understand about training than just techniques and cues - if you want to be around people who think deeply about the hard questions - this is your spot. 🧠

Full 4-day immersion or Weekend Warrior - either way, you're in. 🔥

⚡Weekend Warrior Tickets Now Available! ⚡

You asked, we answered: Not everyone can commit to all 4 days of the .ology Kynology Workshop, so now there’s a new option - Weekend Warrior tickets (pick your 2 days: December 11-14 in Troy, Ohio). Check it out at https://www.kynology.org/events

🤔So why am I promoting this so hard when I don't typically push other people's content? 🤔

Because Kynology isn't just another training methodology. It's what Dr. Stewart Hilliard calls "a way to engage your mind" - treating dogs as subjects for genuine intellectual discourse and inquiry, not just creatures we play with or get results from.

And honestly that’s what's kept ME in this sport for decades. Not the ribbons. 🏆 Not even the perfect runs. It's the learning - which, let's be real, means the failing, the figuring out, the bouncing back. 💪

Call it grit, resilience, persistence, whatever you want - but nobody gets to be great without a lot of failure. Our successes might be what puts us on the map, but it's our failures and the subsequent learning that gets us there. When it comes to building those qualities? That's true for us AND for our dogs. 🐕

The Kynology Workshop is one of the few places where we can have honest conversations about this stuff. Not just what techniques to use, but how dogs actually learn, how they build resilience, what they need from us to develop into confident, capable partners.

If you've ever felt like there's MORE to understand about training than just techniques and cues - if you want to be around people who think deeply about the hard questions - this is your spot. 🧠

Full 4-day immersion or Weekend Warrior - either way, you're in. 🔥

11/18/2025

❌"I don't use punishment in training."❌

🧐Are you SURE about that?
🧐Do you actually KNOW what constitutes punishment for your dog?
🧐Do you know when a reinforcing stimulus becomes aversive?
🧐Or when a punishing stimulus becomes reinforcing?

I didn't - not REALLY - until I attended a Kynology workshop in May. Absolutely mind-blowing. 🤯

Now that I KNOW (and continue to learn), I can choose with confidence what I'm using and why.

👉Here's the thing: if you don't understand what the "negatives" on the contingency square actually mean, you can't accurately say whether you're using them or not. By "negatives" I mean 'negative reinforcement' and 'negative punishment'.

👉I've watched well-known trainers with large followings mix up negative reinforcement and negative punishment while confidently explaining their methods and decrying all others.

How many of us are accidentally using the very techniques we claim to want to avoid?

💪🏻KNOWLEDGE IS POWER💪🏻
That's what this workshop delivers. Stewart Hilliard and Forrest Micke break down the learning theory most of us think we understand but haven't taken the time to really dig in to.

📹Want a preview? Check out the linked YouTube video. It's over 2 hours of great discussion, but I've started the link at around 2:10:00, where there's discussion on the ethics of aversives in the context of training for sport, and even agility. Check it out, then rewind and watch/listen to the whole thing!

https://youtu.be/m6sHU3VYGf4?si=rxrQuI9qekmwKUZj&t=7832

🗓️December 11-14, 2025, Troy Ohio
✅Register and attend in person or via livestream at https://www.kynology.org/events

In this episode of Kynotalk, Flo interviews Dr. Stewart Hilliard, a prominent figure in the field of dog training and kynology. They discuss the evolution of...

10/27/2025

👉NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT *IS* AVERSIVE CONTROL - DISCUSSING NO REWARD MARKERS WITH DR. Stewart Hilliard (VIDEO AT 📹1:20)

"Manipulating a reward can have aversive value. WITHHOLDING a reward can be aversive, and it kind of gives the lie to people who say 'I only work with cookies and toys, I don't do anything aversive at all to my dog, I'm a purely positive dog trainer.'"

"Now, obviously, the aversive value of being told you're not going to get a little bit of food is DIFFERENT than the aversive value of a heavy shock from an electric collar, right? But in principle, when purely positive dog trainers tell you that they eschew ANYTHING that causes their dog any stress at all, they're not accurate. It's just that they're in a different place on the continuum, and sometimes dogs react SURPRISINGLY strong to omission cues"

I've spent years working toward perfecting my reinforcement timing, criteria, and frequency.

👉And there's ALWAYS room for improvement there.

But there's a whole OTHER side to this conversation that never gets talked about - and this workshop is where we discuss it.

🧐THE ESSENTIALS OF MODERN DOG TRAINING - PAVLOV & PAUSE TABLES
(and yes, your understanding of dog training may be in need of updating, just like the pause table's presence in agility has been....updated 🤪)

🗓️ December 11-14, 2025
📍Troy OH - attend in person
📹Livestream available worldwide - includes limited replay access.

👉REGISTRATION: https://kynology.org/events/

🎯WATCH DR. Stewart Hilliard EXPLAIN: https://youtu.be/UYkJ7SHwcAs?si=rPsy5cnbR235hrmL&t=82

Join us for Kynology Symposium 3: October 15-20, 2024. Info & Registry: https://michaelellisschool.com/product/kynology-3-october-2024/Michael and Stewart an...

10/22/2025

🐾 Ready to transform your dog training skills? 🐶✨

Join us in Ohio for "The Essentials of Modern Dog Training" with experts Dr. Stewart Hilliard, Forrest Micke, & Daisy Peel! 🚀 Master new techniques and take your training to the next level! 📈

🗓️ When? December 11-14, 2025
📹 Can't make it in person? Livestream is available!

Don't miss out! Check out the details and secure your spot. 👇

🔗 https://agilitychallengeacres.com/event/kynology-dec-2025/

🐕💡 Ready to join? Click That Link! ⬆️

10/20/2025

👉Are you ready for this?! THE ESSENTIALS OF MODERN DOG TRAINING - Coming to Ohio! Join Dr. Stewart Hilliard, Forrest Micke, & Daisy Peel to learn how to 📈LEVEL UP📈 your dog training! 🗓️December 11-14, 2025 - 📹 LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE!
🔗DETAILS:🔗 https://agilitychallengeacres.com/event/kynology-dec-2025/

09/08/2025

WOW! Check out these amazing photos by the talented Epiphany Pet Photography from our last show!

09/01/2025

Day 3 of the Buckeye Bulldog Club’s AKC ISC only trial. Courses designed by Elpida Ismael judged by Suzi Schmitz.

08/31/2025

Our WTBE courses designed by Elpida Ismael. Looking forward to seeing who takes home the Golden Bulldog for high combined scores!

08/31/2025

Day 2 of the Buckeye Bulldog Club’s AKC ISC only trial! More great courses designed by Elpida Ismael , judged by Suzi Schmitz. The maps for our World Team Bye Event Classes A2 and J2 ( #2) will be posted on site and online once course building for the class has commenced. Good luck everyone!

08/30/2025

First day for the Buckeye Bulldog Club’s AKC ISC agility trial! Really fun courses designed by Elpida Ismael from Greece and judged by Suzi Schmitz.