TEACH (the foundations)
TRAIN (with consistency)
TRUST YOUR DOG

Current Workshops

2017 Workshops

2016 Workshops

2016 Workshops

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Holiday Style!

Friday, December 16, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Saturday, December 17, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

What do you get when you mix Christmas shirts, Christmas cookies and Hershey's Kisses? What we got was a lots of great agility with a fabulous sugar high! Everyone received Kisses from me for doing a great job with their dogs. We focused on obstacle discrimination, and had some good challenges on each sequence.

Thanks again to everyone for making this year's Focus on Friday Workshops so great. We will have more planned in 2017.

This is one of the 3 courses we worked through. There are a few options to wrap right or left, which everyone did well and I was impressed that everyone was able to finesse their handling to help their dogs to send to the backside of #7 and then turn to the weaves. Lots of smiles and laughs and applause as one by one, handlers mastered the skills and had successful runs.

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Agility Trial Prep Course - Part 2

Friday, November 18, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Thanks to everyone who attended the November 18 Focus on Friday! We had a great time where everyone put in some great runs, received a few helpful tips, chomped on some yummy snacks and was enthusiastically encouraged by the Peanut Gallery! So, let's hear it for the Peanut Gallery - warm fuzzies never go out of style!

If you would like to try some or all of these set ups, I think you will find some good challenges here. Enjoy!

The Standard Course for the night.

The JWW Course for the night.

3-day Workshop for Beginner and Advanced Agility Teams

November 4,5 and 6, 2016 :: LCCOC Training Facility, Baton Rouge, LA

What a great, sun-filled, 3 full days of agility fun! Thanks again to LCCOC for the invitation to present a 3-day workshop on their awesome field in Baton Rouge. Who wants to go to an LSU game when you can play agility instead? :-) Everyone was very receptive to going back and revisiting some foundation skills and then applying those skills to several short courses. Turns tightened, barking stopped and smiles erupted as we worked through several courses. Very thankful to be invited to work with such a NICE group of people with great attitudes!

Two short courses/drills from the LCCOC Workshop

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Agility Trial Prep Course!

Friday, October 21, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Saturday, October 22, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Not ONE, but TWO Workshops this time! Wow! We had a great time working through a Standard and a JWW course where everyone was able to run the course as if at a trial, and after finding the common problem areas, we worked our way through each course again. Looking forward to doing this format again on November 18!

The Standard course from the Agility Trial Prep Workshop

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Walking Courses and Building a Plan for a JWW Course.

Friday, September 30, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

We had such great feedback after the August 26 Focus on Friday Workshop, we repeated the format - this time, on a JWW course. There were a few who made it through with no mistakes on their first round, but just about everyone benefited from watching the video of their run, seeing their mistakes, and then trying the course again. We had lots of “WOW! That was awesome!” moments as well as sharing a laugh as many dogs took the tunnel again instead of the #18 jump. And, with the removal of the chute from AKC, we will be seeing the broad jump more often. The inclusion of the broad jump twice in this course was an eye opener – instead of jumping straight through and then turning to the #7 tunnel, many dogs jumped sideways across the boards. Thanks to everyone who attended!

The course from the Walking Courses and Building a Plan for a JWW Course Workshop

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Walking Courses and Building a Plan!

Friday, August 26 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Thanks to everyone who attended last week’s Focus on Friday. It was another great turn out and another fun and informative Workshop. We Focused on reading course maps, figuring out a plan and then making the most of those 8 minutes to walk and finalize our plan. New for this Workshop, was video analysis, which was a great hit. I was able to not just TELL a student what went wrong, but I was able to SHOW them as well. The course we ran wasn’t especially difficult, but did have several good handling challenges that everyone was able to work on through out the night.

The course from the Walking Courses and Building a Plan Workshop

Nashville Dog Training Club Workshops

Monday Night Advanced Workshop: July 11, 2016 :: 6pm-9pm at Nashville Dog Training Club

Thank you to the Nashville Dog Training Club for inviting me to present an Advanced Handling Workhop! We had a nice turnout with both working spots and auditors and lots of smiles and nodding heads as I explained the (Awesome Paws/Mecklenberg) handling system that I use and how to apply it. Everyone did great trying something a little new. Lots of "wow - it works!", which is always my favorite. I also appreciated the fact that everyone was on their feet to help with jump bars and anything else that needed fixing. Looking forward to a repeat visit sometime soon!

Tuesday Night Beginner Workshop: July 12, 2016 :: 6pm-9pm at Nashville Dog Training Club

Thank you to the Nashville Dog Training Club for inviting me to present an Beginner Handling Workhop! There were some true beginners who apologized for their lack of skill. I was impressed that they came to learn! Dog doesn't know the tunnel? No problem! Each attendend received lots of information that should help them on their training journey. And, I hope that the advanced people who came back to audit picked up some helpful foundation skills to add to their training program. Several people mentioned that they would like to see me again in a few months to see their progress!

For more information, please contact Diane Overstreet at K9essentials@comcast.net

Let's FOCUS on Friday: Go the DISTANCE!

Friday, June 24, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

THANK YOU to everyone who attended the most recent Let’s Focus on Friday! We had a packed house of dogs and people and a full table of great nibbles and goodies! For this past Friday’s Workshop, we focused on Distance and it was fun to watch everyone test their skills on some "distance" challenges. I sent everyone home with foundation homework that we all need in our regular on-going training. The One Jump Exercise can easily turn into distance work if we can send our dogs to a jump from 15-20' away. Can you send that far the first time you try? Probably not, but if you start at 2' away, then 4' away, then 8' away, in a fairly short time, your dog will have an understanding of what you are asking so that sending from 15' away won't be scary or hard or unnatural.

Here are two of the short sequences that we ran. Can you handle from behind the first line? How about from the second line of jumps - roughly 30’ away? We all were PARTY to lots of effort and success and the enthusiastic Peanut Gallery was great for rewarding both. Hope you can join us next time!

One of the courses from the Go the Distance! Workshop

Let's FOCUS on Friday: What are my OPTIONS?

Friday, May 13, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

Thank you to all who attended another very fun Focus on Friday. We made it through four courses and had a couple of interesting handler challenges, but I think that everybody did a great job of finding the best options for their dog. I was very impressed how everyone really worked hard to show the correct path to their dogs. I truly appreciate the enthusiasm and the willingness to try something different or new.

One of the courses from the What are my Options? Workshop

Two Workshops:
6-hours of Advanced Handling and 2.5 hours of Beginner Handling

Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 24K Retrievers, 165 Tobacco Circle, Cairo, Georgia

What do you get when you combine a beautiful location with a crisp, cloudless spring day? A perfect formula for an really fun agility workshop! Thanks to everyone who attended my Workshop this past Saturday and a special thank you to Destiny at 24K Retrievers in Cairo, Georgia! We had a great turnout and I enjoyed working with everyone.

Hope we can do it again soon!

One of the courses from the Advanced Workshop

Let's FOCUS on Friday: WEAVES!

Friday, March 4, 2016 :: 6pm – 9pm at Pets Behave in Niceville, Florida

We had a great turn out for the first Focus on Friday for 2016! We had a full house of great dogs and their handlers. Thanks to everyone who came and brought lots of yummy snacks to keep the instructor (yours truly) fat and happy! Here is one of the courses we ran last night - in addition to focusing on weaves, we also worked some tricky handling spots where showing deceleration is your friend. If you missed this Friday night Workshop, don't worry - there will be more to come!

National Agility Championship Tune-Up Workshop

February 6, 2016 at Pets Behave, Niceville, Florida

We really covered a lot of ground (pun intended) at this Workshop. It was great to see how each handler tackled every section as we strived to find the best option for each dog. There may have been one course that everyone ran the same, otherwise, for all the others, each handler ran it a little bit differently. Here are a couple of the drills that we worked through. I was especially pleased that everyone had a backside cue that, when combined with some decel coming off the DW, did keep their dogs out of the tunnel. The other drill is great for working threadles, which along with difficult weave entries, are sure to be presented in Tulsa. The goal for this Workshop was to include as many challenges as I could so that when my students are walking the courses at the NAC, they can say “I can DO this!"

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me: info@lisagrahamagility.com

Interested in holding an Agility Workshop at YOUR location?
Let's Talk!
Lisa and her Goldens are good travelers!

Suggested Seminar/Workshop Topics

Agility Foundations
Lisa can't stress enough how important a good, solid base of foundation skills is to every agility competitor. Through several years of teaching and coaching students of various skill levels, Lisa realized that Linda Mecklenburg's observations in agility's early days are still very true today. Lisa would love to show you how to use the 4 natural cues (motion, shoulders, positioning, eye contact) to easily and seamlessly maneuver your dog through any level of agility course.

Foundation Drills - putting it all together
Apply the Foundation Skills to common sequences and see how well your dog responds. Using the 4 natural cues only, you will run a short sequence and will be amazed at how your dog will focus on YOU! Calling your dog's name or yelling "come!" several times during a run will be things of the past.

Course Work - Beginner to International
Lisa can create sequences and coursework to meet and challenge any skill level. Participants can walk/run the sequences and suggestions will be made on an individual basis to help each dog/handler team maneuver to the best of their abilities.

Obedience
Are you sure your dog understands all of your commands - even for the most basic of behaviors? Lisa's Obedience "With a Twist" will engage both you and your dog through many exercises that you will not likely find in most obedience classes. The exercises she presents will test you and your dog's skills to perform with multiple distractions in a fun environment. While many of the skills are obedience related, they are designed to help the agility team on course and beyond!

Mini Workshop Topics

• Let’s Focus on WEAVES
  Yes! Your dog CAN perform the weaves quickly, reliably and with distractions! The theme of this workshop will continue the discovery of how our motion and position can affect our dog's performance. Be ready to help your dog deal with distractions and some more difficult entries. This workshop is for dogs who are proficient in the weaves and can do them with speed and confidence.
• Let's Focus on CONTACTS
  For this workshop, we will concentrate how to help your dog with smooth, safe approaches and exits from the contact equipment. Just how independent are your dog's contacts? Can you handle from a distance - even just a little? We will work on several common sequences, including turn back to and from tunnels, turning off the equipment and building confidence in all contact performances.
• Let’s Focus on DISTRACTIONS
  While we can't totally recreate a trial environment on the training field, we CAN try to recreate many of the distractions that our dogs are facing at a trial and in the ring. For this workshop, we will add as many distractions as your dog can handle. We will start slowly and as your dog accepts the challenge and is rewarded for ignoring anything pesky, we will add more as the session progresses. Our goal is to give your dog just enough that might at first make him a bit uncomfortable but not so much that he is unable to work through it.

If you are interested in hiring Lisa for a seminar of any type/length, please click here to contact Lisa for available dates. Please list location, topics you would like, length of seminar (4 hour, full day, two day) and number of people/dogs who would be attending.

• Foundation skills for Beginners and for the Advanced handlers who might have "holes" in their training program
• Focused Instruction for All Skill Levels based on the Mecklenburg Handling System - Beginner through International
• Obedience for Agility - asking for behaviors with distractions
• Positive/Clicker Training Methods
• Learn more about Lisa

Call for more information: 850-710-0988