Bad Dog Agility Podcast

In the third live podcast of the Run Happy series, Esteban, Sarah, and Jennifer walk through the eight things happy handlers do differently, then take on real problems submitted by listeners, from weaves that fall apart in the ring to start line stays that disappear at trials. It is the practical follow-up to the Valley of Despair: how to think about the work, and what to actually do about the problems in front of you.

• The eight mindset shifts that separate handlers enjoying the sport from those stuck in the Valley of Despair
• How your own emotional state travels down the leash, and what to do when you feel yourself slipping into the valley
• How to approach problems with: weave poles, broken start line stays, treat-dependent dogs, and stopped contacts that turn into fly offs at trials

• This podcast is relevant for both the start line stay (dogs that break) and the release (dogs that freeze at the startline): Episode 134: Priming Your Dog Before an Agility Trial
• Episode 111: The Myth of the Ring-Wise Dog
• Click Here for the Live Unedited Podcast Replay!
• Missed the second podcast in the series? Listen to it here: Special LIVE Podcast Episode: The Valley Every Handler Hits
• Missed the first podcast in the series? Listen to it here: Special LIVE Podcast Episode: Are You Having Fun?

In this episode, Sarah, Esteban, and Jennifer go deep into the lowest point of the Emotional Cycle of Change. They cover what it looks like in agility, why it happens, and the two ways out, only one of which actually works.

• How to recognize the valley of despair in your own training, and why landing there doesn't
• mean something is wrong with you or your dog
• The two ways out of the valley, and why the one that feels best may not be helpful
• Why context is key for both the dog and the handler when you're working your way out of the valley

• Click Here for the PDF Worksheet
• Click Here for the Live Unedited Podcast Replay!
• Missed the first podcast in the series? Listen to it here: Special LIVE Podcast Episode: Are You Having Fun?
• Episode 282: Should You Switch From Stopped to Running Contacts?

• Canine Handler Fitness

In this episode, Sarah, Esteban, and Jennifer kick off the Run Happy series, a special three-part run of podcasts taped live on video. They walk through the emotional cycle of change, from the honeymoon phase of a new dog all the way through the hard middle and out the other side, and explain why losing the fun in agility hurts both your enjoyment and your training.

• The five stages of the emotional cycle of change and how each one shows up in agility
• Why agility that stops being fun is a double whammy
• Why hitting the valley of despair is not necessarily a sign that something is wrong with you or your dog

• Click Here for the PDF Worksheet
• Click Here for the Live Unedited Podcast Replay!
• Episode 373: Burnout in Dog Agility
• Serpentine, Threadle, Backside Drill

• Canine Handler Fitness

In this episode, Sarah, Jennifer, and Esteban tackle a question from a VIP member about life in an agility desert and what it means to live hours from the nearest instruction or trial site.

• What actually defines an agility desert, and why distance from trials and distance from instruction are different problems
• How community keeps remote handlers connected and motivated
• Why online training has become the mainstay of survival in the desert

• Interactive Map Showing AKC Agility Trial Locations in 2025
• The VIP will Open Soon! Join the Waitlist: https://baddogagility.com/train-with-us/

• Canine Handler Fitness

Course maps are one of those tools every handler uses but few of us really think about. On this week's episode, Sarah, Jennifer, and Esteban dig into how they each use course maps, when course maps actually help, and when staring at one might be holding you back.

• How to use a course map
• Jennifer's "changes in concavity" theory
• Sarah's "no 2 plan A's" theory

• Episode 324: Resource for AKC Agility Course Maps
• VIP members: We mentioned the excellent webinar with Zach Davis, you can find it under the "Webinars" tab in the VIP members area. Non-VIP: Your chance to join is coming soon!

• Canine Handler Fitness

A listener wrote in asking for advice on planning their first long-distance trip to a major event, and the three of us had a lot to say. We talk through how dogs and humans experience the same travel day differently, whether you're better off with fewer long driving days or more shorter ones, and whether it's worth stopping to practice along the way. If you've got a big trip on the horizon, this one's for you.

• How dogs and humans experience the same travel day differently, and why that matters for planning
• The case for fewer, longer driving days versus more days with shorter drives
• Whether stopping to practice agility en route is worth the added planning
• Practical considerations that often get overlooked by first-time travelers

• Canine Handler Fitness

In this episode, Jennifer, Sarah, and Esteban address a question from a listener who felt overwhelmed at a big event under the bright lights of the cameras and the importance of the moment. The team shares their own experiences competing on live televised finals and dig into what the research says about choking under pressure and the techniques that actually help.

• Why pre-performance routines matter and how to use them strategically
• How post-performance processing routines can also impact high stakes performance
• How to handle it when your routine gets disrupted before a run
• Four research backed techniques for overcoming choking under pressure

• Why we choke under pressure — and how to avoid it | Sian Leah Beilock
• Episode 357: Preparation Checklist for Big Events
• Episode 188: Handler Desensitization
• Watch Rebecca "feel her own power"

• Canine Handler Fitness

Sarah and Jennifer tackle a listener question about timing: when is the right moment to add a puppy to your pack, and how will it affect your relationship with your current competition dog? They share their own histories with bringing in new dogs and talk through what they'd recommend.

• The age range for your current competition dog that Sarah and Jennifer think makes for the smoothest puppy transition
• What to expect (and what not to worry about) when it comes to your older dog's relationship with you after a puppy arrives
• Whether having an older dog around really helps a puppy learn, and the downside most people don't consider

• Canine Handler Fitness

In this episode, Sarah and Esteban welcome Dr. Arielle Pechette Markley and Dr. Abigail Shoben to discuss their CARIS research update analyzing data from 1,385 trials and over 300,000 runs per obstacle. They break down the findings from the largest coordinated safety study in agility history on contact obstacle incidents and what the numbers actually mean for handlers and dogs.

• The actual incident rates by obstacle: dogwalk leads at 2.1 per 1,000 runs, followed by teeter (1.04) and A-frame (0.40)
• Why 91.5% of contact incidents result in no apparent injury, with actual injury rates as low as 1 in 33,000 runs for dogwalks
• How these prospective findings compare to previous retrospective studies and why the methodology matters for interpreting risk
• Which agility obstacle has a much higher incident rate than any of the contact obstacles

• The CARIS Research Update everyone is talking about: https://www.caninesportsscience.org/post/caris-research-update-what-we-re-learning-about-contact-obstacle-incidents.
• The "speed study": Increasing course speeds in canine agility: a decade of trends from American Kennel Club competition data

• Canine Handler Fitness

The AKC International Sweepstakes Class launched mid-2023, bringing European-style FCI course design to AKC trials at three levels of difficulty. Now, with two full years of data in hand, Sarah takes a deep dive into the numbers to see where the program stands and what the trends might tell us about where it's headed.

• How ISC entries compare to overall AKC participation, and what the 2024 vs. 2025 growth numbers actually look like
• Why big dogs dominate ISC entries, and how the 20″ and 24″ height classes compare to their share of the broader AKC entry pool
• What the shift away from Level 1 toward Levels 2 and 3 suggests about who is running ISC and how the competitor base is maturing

• Episode 323: The Past, Present, and Future of AKC ISC
• Episode 351: The Inaugural AKC ISC Championship

• Canine Handler Fitness