PRACTICE

PRACTICE & TRAINING

Capital Comets offers weekly practices for members year round at the Saanich Fairgrounds at 1528 Stellys XRoad in Central Saanich on Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, except in August and over the December holiday season. Most practices take place indoors in the Agriplex building on packed sand. When weather permits in late spring, practices move to outdoors.

TUESDAY NIGHT PRACTICE

Tuesday night practice is a time for members of the club to train their dogs and spend time with like minded people. At each practice the equipment is set up in an unique way, giving members a chance to work on different skills. The practice format changes every other week: two courses, usually a Jumpers and a Standard course are set up one week, and the next week three short sequences of obstacles are set up to allow handlers to practice particular skills. Participants can choose to follow the numbered set up or focus on specific skills, such as gambling or perfecting their dogs performance on contact equipment (the teeter, Aframe and dog walk).

The club welcomes new members to come to practice who can demonstrate that their dog has reached a level of training and skill to safely use al the different equipment independent of instructor help. All members at a practice have equal time (multiple 1 to 2 minute sessions) to try each course or short sequence. Practice nights are a great way for handlers to develop, rehearse or refine their dogs' skills, whether in preparation to trial, or just to have fun working with their dogs.

To participate in club practice nights, a person has to be a club member with practice privileges. To obtain more information about participation in Comets practice sessions please contact the Training Coordinator, or Capital Comets Secretary.

Dogs must be at least one year of age in order to participate in practice night, and they must be approved by the Agility Coordinator prior to taking part - this includes young dogs being added by existing Comets members. To participate, dogs cannot be reactive/aggressive toward people or other dogs.

At the discretion of the Agility Coordinator, members are welcome to bring younger puppies to practice night to work on familiarization to the venue or socialization around people and dogs. As a courtesy to felow club members please remember that not every dog loves a puppy and ensure that your training takes place at a reasonable distance from the practice set ups. As noted above, prior to being accepted for Tuesday practice night, puppies are not permitted to use the equipment set out.

Participants must be willing to help with the set up and/or take down of equipment, so that the workload doesn't fall on just a few.

THURSDAY NIGHT PRACTICE

Capital Comets Thursday night training sessions provide an opportunity to engage in practice and training with your dog in a supportive environment.

Full members may request to participate in peer-supported practices at the Saanich Fairgrounds at 1528 Stellys X Road in Central Saanich on Thursdays. These sessions take place between 4:30 to 8:30 PM. Practices take place indoors at the Saanich Fairgrounds Agriplex building on packed sand. Each session has a limited number of participants to maximize the benefit of each practice within the time allotted.

Waitlists will be established if the demand by club members to participate exceeds the spaces available.

Your peers participating along side of you will be more than willing to provide support if you request it. That includes placement of toys or food targets, supporting restrained start lines, videoing your sessions on your phone, giving feedback when you ask for it, etc.

Please see session descriptions below prior to requesting participation in any session. For further information, or to request participation, please email the Training Coordinator.

BUILDING & PROOFING FOUNDATIONS (4:30 – 6:30 PM)

This session is intended for both young, inexperienced dogs, as well as more mature dogs developing and proofing foundation skills. Limited to12 dogs. For young dogs, this might involve working on one obstacle alone or begin sequencing 2-3 obstacles.  For more mature dogs, this session provides an opportunity to proof existing skills or introduce more complex skill sets.  Although drills and sequenced obstacles will always be available, there is no expectation to perform any of them as numbered.

All dogs in this session are required to have reasonable recall, and must not be reactive toward other dogs or people.

Participants must be willing to help with the set up of all equipment so that the workload doesn’t fall on just a few.

 INTERNATIONAL SKILLS & HANDLING (6:30 – 8:30 PM)

Open to experienced agility dogs normally competing at the Master or Champion level. Limited to 12 dogs.

Sessions introduce complex handling, including higher level of skills to perform layering, distance work, independence, challenging discrimination and difficult weave entry/exits etc.  The latest national and international course designs used in world-wide competitions are used to negotiate courses at full speed.  To participate, dogs cannot be reactive or aggressive toward people or other dogs. Criteria for participation include the dog being able to safely perform each piece of equipment at reasonable speed. That is, skills should be present to allow the dog to run a drill or course in a way to be able to change direction quickly, while being able to maintain speed and precision and performing all obstacles safely.

Participants must be willing to help with putting all equipment back in the club’s lockers following the session so that the workload doesn’t fall on just a few.

PRACTICE COURSE MAPS (CLICK DOCUMENT ICON TO VIEW)

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