Aussie Acres Agility

10/29/2026

Aussie Acres Agility presents November Weekend Workshops

November 14: The Front Cross

The Front Cross is probably the most used handling technique in agility but the least understood. A recent UKI Stay Home trial course that was used in classes, showed me that there is work to be done to improve our FC's. Do you know when to use it? When to cue it? The footwork for it? Or how to handle the dog's path and not the obstacle!

November 21: Box Work Continued

Now that we have established some foundation work on the box, we begin to work toward movement transitions with the box.

Both workshops run from 11-2; Max 6 teams (minimum 4), cost is $50. Payment secures your spot. Your payment is nonrefundable 7 days prior to the workshop, unless a replacement for your spot is found.

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10/28/2026

The Jump Box workshop for Saturday 11-2 is on! I am so excited to present this information that has changed how I look at jumping!

November workshop schedule is coming soon.

10/25/2026

We spent some time Gambling at Aussie Acres Agility yesterday. We lucked out to have a beautiful October day with sunshine and no wind. It's great to still play agility outside!

Well if you missed it, we ran about 7-8 different closing Gamble sequences which included tunnels, teeter, the AF, jumps and weaves. I think the handlers were surprised to find out how well their dogs handled from a distance. I was super impressed and was glad to help with some tweaks or training moments for all to be successful.

Everyone handled the Elite ASCA Gamble closing sequences really well!! Congratulations to all!

I couldn't let the gorgeous afternoon pass without getting out there and running my guys on these set-ups. Great training for us too! Here is a video of many of the sequences.
Enjoy!

10/23/2026

We are ready to Gamble!!!!

10/21/2026

All my dogs want to do is play with me!!!!

Isn't that the best thing in the world??!!

It doesn't matter what we do, what training goals or activities I have planned. They just want to play with me!

Some days I don't feel like training or don't have a plan. They don't care!
They just want to play with me!
They don't care how inventive I am, how creative I am, or what the sequence I have set up.
They just want to play with me!!

Is this the kind of training relationship with your dog? You could!!!

Developing a training relationship (or any relationship) is about trust. Trust is built over time and requires effort! But the effort doesn't need to be a chore.......it can be FUN! Actually, it needs to be FUN, or why would either of you do it?

Training is about more than treats!!!

What do you reward your dog with? From the first moment I bring my puppy home, I begin building our relationship. Rewards are many and varied. A pat on the head, a belly rub, a game of chase, a walk in the woods, a rousing game of hide and seek, tossing or tugging with a toy, and yes some treats (the possibilities are endless). But only using treats can become pretty restrictive during training. Experiment with reinforcement. Find out what your dog likes and what is reinforcing to them. If you become the person your dog can trust, treats become just a little bonus reward (like winning a little cash from a scratch off ticket). Don't you think your dog might just prefer all the other rewards? Especially if you have made them valuable and FUN!

On this day, I didn't have a training plan. But they didn't care, they just wanted to play with me!

So we played.....I ran, they ran, I tossed a ball and we all ended up happy in the end (and a little tired).

Lesson of the day.....learn how to play with your dog. You'll be amazed what it will do to your training program.

10/14/2026

October Weekend Workshops Update:

Gamble 1- Oct. 17 is cancelled.

UPDATE: Gamble 2- Oct 24 is scheduled to happen and the weather is looking nice for all next week. Workshop is now FULL, accepting auditors.
🍁I am hoping our Oct. weather will hold out for one more workshop to be held outdoors. You don't have to be a good distance handler to participate. Working on Gamble skills now will help you know what to train for the future. All levels welcome.
Workshop will run from 11-2, cost is $50 (not refundable unless there is someone to take your spot).

📦Box Work Introduction- Oct. 31 will be held inside. (Spaces still available) All levels welcome.
❓Don't have a box, no worries. I am working on that!
🐾🐾This introduction will prepare dogs and handlers for more Box Work throughout the year. This addition to agility training is growing in the US. Don’t pass on this incredible opportunity to introduce your dog to more efficient jumping mechanics.
😁I am very excited to introduce Box training. I have been working with Sequence on a jumping program for a year now, which has included Box Work. I am also taking an online class that takes the Box Work further. I can attest to how valuable this training has been in improving Sequence's jumping. This valuable topic will help all our dogs to be better jumpers by teaching them efficient mechanics to help them through their agility career.
Enjoy this short video of some of the introduction work with the box. I can't wait to provide more training with the box throughout the year. Fall/Winter is the best time to begin this training, since space is limited and our busy trialing season is behind us.

10/09/2026

Updates on a few things:

👚👚Aussie Acres Teeshirts: I will be placing a new order by the 16th. If you missed the first order, now's your chance. I am looking to have enough to get a cheaper price. If you want long sleeve instead of short, let me know that too. PM with your order.

🐾🐾UKI Stay Home Trial: I will be offering SS only this time. It will be set up outside in the small ring. The began on the 7th. You have until the 12. It will be available from Oct. 15-26.

🍁🍂Weekend Workshops:

The deadline to sign up for the Gamble 1 workshop is Oct. 14. If there is not enough interest it will be cancelled. Right now it's is looking very unlikely that it will be held. So if you are waiting to decide to come, you might just be out of luck. If you know someone who may be interested, let them know.

10/06/2026

Aussie Acres Agility is moving into Fall🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁

I still can't believe summer is over and Fall has arrived. The cool temps, wind and decreasing daylight are coming on fast!

Aussie Acres had a great summer: students got a lot of training in and it was wonderful to see so many participate in the UKI trial! I made it to Colorado for my ASCA Nationals, enjoyed great results, and now am home preparing our Fall/Winter training.

Our outdoor training days are numbered, but no fear we have the Aussie Acres Arena to continue our Winter training without any interruption.

As I make plans for classes to be shifting to the Arena, I am also working to make plans for starting up Weekend Workshops again. Weekend Workshops are short training sessions geared toward a specific topic. The October schedule is ambitious, but I am excited to get going on the topics I have lined up. I hope you will consider attending some of them to foster your agility skills.

The first two workshops will focus on helping handlers better understand the game called Gamble. In the past weeks, I have run 11 ASCA GambIes. In my experience they are the most challenging Gamble of all the venues. The workshop will be broken up into 2 parts. One with a focus on the Opening (point accumulation portion of the Gamble) and the second workshop emphasizing skills important for completing the Gamble itself. I realize it's short notice, but hope you will consider coming out for these training sessions. If you are not ready for doing a Gamble, no worries!!!! Skills can be adjusted to meet your dog's skill level.

🍁🍁Saturday Oct. 17:
Gamble skills #1- Opening point accumulation period.

The focus of this workshop is to learn how to have an efficient (for the dog and handler) plan for point accumulation in the Opening period of the Gamble. Gamble courses are not usually set up for optimum flow; so how do you make it work for you and your dog. Also planning the opening so that your timing allows for an easy transition to the closing. This workshop will be held outdoors (dress for the weather).

Participation limited to 6 teams (min. 4), cost $50. Session will run from 11-2

🍂🍂Saturday Oct. 24:
Gamble skills #2- Handling skills for the closing or "Gamble"

This workshop will focus on the Gamble or "closing". What skills does a handler team need to be successful in the completing and Gamble successfully. Several Gamble closings will be presented for practice. This workshop will not run full Gamble courses. Weather permitting, this workshop will be held outdoors.

Participation limited to 6 teams (min. 4), cost $50. Session will run from 11-2

🎃🎃Saturday Oct. 31: Introduction to the Jump Box

Jump box training is growing across the US (it has already been used in Europe for quite some time). The Jump box is a wonderful new tool to have. It helps your dog learn proper weight shifting and the mechanics for efficient jumping (for both take off and landing). I have been using it myself for the past year and have seen the benefits in Sequence's jumping skills. During this workshop, I hope to help handlers understand the beginnings of jump box work and the importance to teach proper jumping education. I hope this will be the first of many Jump Box training workshops.

Participation limited to 6 (min.4) , cost $50. Session will run from 11-2

Have questions or want to sign up- don’t hesitate to send me a message.

Remember: payment secures your spot in these workshops.

10/01/2026

Rally/Obedience training with Kate continues at Aussie Acres this fall with a Oct/Nov class
🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃🍁🎃

Rally Your Way will be at 10am on Wednesdays starting October 14th. This class will be open to teams working at all levels and will have nested courses based on the needs of the teams. Prerequisites: sit, down, short stay.

If you have questions or would like to sign up, you can reach Kate at [email protected]

Kate grew up training and showing dogs in a variety of sports. In obedience she has earned two (CDX) Companion Dog Excellent titles (and hopes to one day get a UD!), and in Rally she has earned one Rally Championship (RACH) and is working on two more. When not training for competitive sports, she and her dogs love trick training, going for long walks, and sharing snacks.

Cost: 6 week Rally class is $180.Tr

10/01/2026

Home Sweet Home! Back where the Aussies roam!

We have settled back in at home; unpacked, did laundry, cleaned up the house, built a course for classes, and of course took a picture of all our ribbons! After a whirlwind 2 weeks: traveled 4,000 miles, spent 3 1/2 days on the road each way, saw some fun sites along the way, played 6 days of agility, saw old friends, make new friends, enjoyed the company of the Aussie community and enjoyed watching the Versatility of the Australian Shepard. What a tremendously wonderful experience.

I went to ASCA Nationals without any high expectations. I went for the experience and fun, and to see where are training was. What we came away with was just WOW, and it was FUN!

This was Solar's fourth time running in Finals (6x qualifying), and it was Sequence's first. I was blown away by the results my two boys gave me and am still on Cloud 9. It's an huge feat to get 1 dog to finish in the top 10 of Finals, let alone 2.
I am so so so proud.

🥉🏆Solar 3rd place in Veteran's Finals (of 45 dogs qualifying to compete)
👏🏆Sequence 6th place in Standard Finals (of 60 dogs qualifying to compete)

Then there was ASCA Nationals. Nationals are open to anyone and dogs can compete in Novice, Open and Elite. Only the top dog in each category receives prize and ribbon recognition; so it's a great honor to finish 1st. Results are tallied so that you can see your overall placement.

🥉🏆Solar continued to be my rock STAR and finished 3rd in Veterans Nationals with 6/6 clean runs and only 1 1/2 seconds off of first place. He definitely showed that he is the Champ I know he is!

🐾🐾Sequence's Nationals showed us some holes in our training, and gave me some good homework to take home and get to work on. He will be ready for the next one for sure!! We both will!!! He and I continue to grow as a team in every trial we attend. I have a lot to learn about what he is thinking and how I can help him to understand the path I want him to take.

The boys worked hard in every run; from pre-shows to Finals to Nationals. I also worked as hard as I could to be the best partner. I learned what worked well and kept an open mind when it didn't work well (those are the lessons to learn from).

Our dogs are teachers, and we are the students. If you keep this in mind, you will learn so much from them. Dogs are amazing animals! Their understanding and responsiveness to us humans cannot be understated.

Here is a little story that shows how connected we are as handlers and competitors: During a walk thru in one Nationals course, a handler was looking for advice on a challenging sequence. I told her to have patience in that handling element, nothing that I would not have told any one of my students. Later, I was thrilled to hear that she managed it and qualified. For the rest of the Nationals, this handler would come up to me and reiterate "have patience"(my words to her). It was helpful and meant a lot to her and it said a lot to me!

Love them 🐾🐾❤️, understand them and have Patience!!!! They do this for us every moment and every day.
You could at least return the honor!

Now back to training 🐾🐾