2026 Intro
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[00:00:00] If you train, compete, teach, or simply love the sport of dog agility, you're in the right place. Hey there, I'm Megan Foster, creator of Fostering Excellence and Agility. Join me as we explore training, communication, handling, mindset, and all the little details that help build stronger and more confident teams both in and out of the ring.
Whether you're just getting started or working toward big competition goals, this podcast is here to support your journey with your individual teammate. Let's get started
Hello, hello. Welcome back. It is episode 82 of the podcast. We are getting closer and closer to 100 episodes, and that makes me think that we should do something special. So if you agree that there should be something special for 100 episodes, you should let me know your thoughts and ideas, because while I [00:01:00] like to celebrate these things, this is not where my creativity shines through.
So I am looking for ideas. Shoot them my way. You know where to find me But today I want to talk about training alone, training by yourself. Maybe you do have access to a group class, but it's only once a week and you primarily train on your own, or maybe you're in an area where you don't have access to a class that fits your needs, and so all of your training is, you know, at home or with rentals and you're by yourself.
This has been the case for me off and on my entire career of over 28 years in the sport. But most recently, since my work wife, Sarah Stremming, moved country, I have been training by myself for a little over a year now, and [00:02:00] that was significantly different, um, from how I raised Sprint. Sprint was lucky enough to train with Sarah weekly or bi-weekly for her entire life until the past year.
So I have had to make some changes and be more aware, and I want to talk about that. So in some ways, since, um, losing my training partner, I am more efficient. I am more efficient with my training because it is just me and one dog, and there's no social time. So there's no catching up or gossiping or just getting sidetracked with general training nerdery that Sarah and I would definitely get into.
But there are ways that I'm less [00:03:00] efficient. In fact, I have to stop and watch my video constantly because I don't have eyes on me. I have to check my handling. I have to check my running dog walk hits. This is really obvious when I'm training anything with blind crosses, like blind crosses on the dog walk, blind crosses on the weave poles.
I might miss if there's a mistake, and I have to watch the video sometimes between every single rep, and that does slow the process down, versus when I have a training partner and I have another set of eyes, I can get that immediate feedback And of course, a lot of times I'm building courses on my own, and that does take more time.
I am lucky enough that my partner does come and help me when it's big course build days or when I need to move the contacts, but he is not always available. The things that stay the same, whether [00:04:00] I'm training with someone or training by myself, is that I still have to have a plan. I still have to know what it is I'm training, what the setup is.
The dog and I still need a good warmup. We still need good rest and recovery between repetitions, and we need a good cool down Motivation is one of the things that I have noticed that has varied the most since losing my training partner. When I did have a training partner, it was a set schedule. We were gonna meet at this day at this time, and this day at this time, and it was that appointment, and that accountability to that other person because as much as she was there to support me in my training, the- I was that for her as well.
So as there was accountability and motivation and that appointment. So the [00:05:00] difference now is that I can break an appointment to myself so much more easily than breaking an appointment to someone else. So I really do have to write down the days and times in my calendar, block off that time, tell my partner, like, "Hey, I'm going to train during this time," and, you know, set myself up to have accountability to myself.
And having events that I'm preparing for or specific skills that I'm working on definitely help keep me focused and maintain that motivation. But even on the days that I really don't feel like training or I'm not 100%, I do have some backup skills. This is usually jumping drills or things that don't require me to be super precise at marking behaviors or doing a lot of hard [00:06:00] handling.
It's just something that I can set up. The setup is always the same. It's usually some jumping skill or grid that Sprint knows really well. So it, it, it allows me to not be my best, but still maintain that appointment, because I also have a hard time... If I break routine, it's then easy for me to continue breaking routine.
And I know that some of you listening are probably just like that. So maintaining that appointment is really the most important part of the motivation. I definitely miss the collaboration that having a training partner brought me, uh, because I like bouncing ideas off of people. And while I still bounce ideas off of Sprint, she just hasn't mastered the English language in talking to me.
[00:07:00] She 1,000% unders- understands exactly what I'm saying to her, and I usually understand what she's throwing back at me, but it would be a lot easier if she could talk in plain English. So my process for training alone is, like, four steps. One is plan. I cannot skip this. If I show up to the field without a plan, I might as well not be there.
It is the worst training that happens when I just kind of am there and I don't have an idea of what I want to train. So I always have a map, um, or two or three skills that I know that I want to put some effort into, and if I'm running a course, I know how I intend to work through it, right? So these practice habits matter.
Um, do I intend to do some clear round training? Do I intend to do some chunking? [00:08:00] Do I intend to do some skill training on it? So having a plan is so critical in this entire process, and y- when you are training with other people, you can kind of just do what they're doing. You don't both have to have a plan.
Maybe even one of you has half a plan. Like, you each have half a plan. So again, when you're training by yourself, this is so important because no one else is there to do it for you. The second Part of the process is rehearse. Um, go over the details of the training loop before you start. This is so important, um, to me just as a trainer, but I realized that when I had a training partner, we would just naturally talk about what I'm going to do.
And so going over these details was something that actually fell off the table [00:09:00] when I started training by myself, because I would just go start training, and it would be a disaster. And then I, when I was really thinking about, you know, "What am I missing here? This, you know, this is terrible. I can't train this way," it's the rehearsal.
And that goes back to that collaboration piece. So I literally do, I talk it out loud, I talk it to Sprint, I go over the details. I tell myself, I tell Sprint what we're going to do so that if something doesn't feel right or look right or sound right, I can catch it before I start the training session. So I'm definitely checking the reinforcement strategy and making sure that's going to work.
I'm making sure that I can describe the criteria and understand the criteria. And oh, my gosh, if it's any sort of course work training, I walk it and walk it and walk it until it feels s- smooth. Um, so basically there's no winging it in my world. [00:10:00] I try really hard to avoid that So third thing in the process is review.
You have to film your training, and you have to review it. And again, when you're training alone, you probably have to review it w- during the training session. You can... You don't have to analyze it frame by frame out there on the field while you're trying to train, but you do likely need to address the video quickly just to confirm what you think happened.
Because again, you don't have that second person, that second set of eyes giving you that immediate feedback. This does take time, but your dog needs rest breaks anyways, and this is the perfect time to do it. I put Sprint in a down stay in the shade with her water, and she knows she's on a [00:11:00] break, and I'm watching the video.
This is critical for making the adjustments that, uh, that you need to be able to do, and you have to be the second set of eyes that another person is not for you. And then finally, adjust. After you've reviewed your session, make necessary changes before rehearsing again. And so the rehearsal is important.
So within a session, it looks like plan, rehearse, do the training, review, adjust, rehearse, right? And then before I go to the field again for my next training day, I'm making sure that I have a plan, and sometimes that plan is dependent on the previous training session, and sometimes it's a brand-new clean slate.
So I feel like I have recovered from losing my training partner, and I [00:12:00] am getting the most out of my training again, but it was not super seamless.
I'd love to hear about your tips and ways that you get the most out of training by yourself. So come on over to the free Fans of FX Agility community to share your thoughts
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love for you to leave a review, share it with an agility friend, or connect with me on social media. Your support helps more handlers and teams find the podcast and be part of this community. You can also find all of my training programs, coaching, and resources at fxagility.com.
Remember, excellent agility is built one training session at a time, and every small step forward matters. Until next time, happy training
