🎯 Better Behaviour = Better Performance: The Secret Weapon Most Agility Handlers Ignore

🎯 Better Behaviour = Better Performance: The Secret Weapon Most Agility Handlers Ignore

Want cleaner runs? Tighter turns? Faster times?

Start with behaviour.

It’s easy to blame “excitement” or “drive” when your dog breaks a startline, sniffs, lunges at the ring crew, or takes off chasing another dog. But none of those things are just quirks—they’re trainable behaviours.

And if you don’t train them?
You’ll keep repeating the same chaos, no matter how skilled your dog is.

What’s Holding You Back Is NOT the Agility...

It's the behaviour between the obstacles. The habits outside the course map. The emotional dysregulation that shows up as:

• 🔁 Circling or spinning

• 🐾 Leaving the ring

• 🗣️ Excessive barking or screaming

• 🐕 Lunging at dogs or people

• 🧠 Over-arousal and crashing

• 🐽 Sniffing the ground

• 💨 Bolting on the start line

• 🪩 Disconnecting in queue

• 🙈 Ignoring cues mid-course

These behaviours don’t just “happen.” They’re patterns your dog has learned—or rehearsed.

And every time they get reinforced (even accidentally), they get stronger.

Performance Requires Regulation

You can’t hit peak performance if your dog is emotionally scattered.
Self-regulation, impulse control, and confidence under pressure are what separate good teams from great ones.

That means your training plan needs to include:
✅ Calm focus in high-stim environments
✅ Reliable startline routines
✅ Fast engagement and re-engagement
✅ Recovery skills after a mistake or distraction
✅ Neutrality training in queues and ring side
✅ Reinforcement strategies for staying with you

The Fix Isn’t More Agility… It’s More Foundation

If your dog is leaving the ring, melting down in queues, or spinning at the start line, it’s not a “drive” issue—it’s a coping issue.

You don’t need to squash their excitement. You need to channel it with structure, clarity, and confidence-building reps.

Because emotional stability drives physical brilliance.

Train the dog, not just the skills.
Work on behaviour—and watch your performance skyrocket.

Need help creating a behaviour-based performance plan? Book a session or join my workshop on emotional regulation for sport dogs. Let’s build focus and fire—together.