Nancy Gyes Seminar Nancy Gyes Seminar
Anyone familiar with the sport of dog agility knows of Nancy Gyes. Nancy is one of the premier handlers and instructors in the country. Nancy has been involved in agility since 1990. She and her Border collie Scud have represented the United States on all four AKC World Agility Championship teams from 1996 to 1999. In Dortmund, Germany, Scud and Nancy placed 6th in the 1999 Worlds, the highest placement ever of any open division American team. Scud is also the 1998 USDAA 30" champion, the 1998 USDAA National Steeplechase winner, and a member of the 1997 winning Dog Agility Masters National team. Nancy’s 4-year-old Border collie Riot is the 1999 USDAA National Grand Prix 22" Champion.
Nancy is a full-time agility instructor and competitor. Most weekends you’ll find her at AKC or USDAA shows. Midweeks are devoted to running Power Paws Agility in San Jose,California, along with her partner (and honorary CAT member), Jim Basic. In addition, she travels around the world teaching agility seminars.
This year, CAT was lucky enough to get Nancy for a two-day advanced handlers seminar. Fifteen participants and their dogs gathered along with about 40 auditors at the home and agility facility extrordinaire of CAT members Debbie and Tom Berkeley in Beaver Creek. The seminar committee went all out with covered bleachers, a good sound system and excellent lunches and refreshments. Debbie and Tom and the rest of the Berkeley family were wonderful hosts and the weather even cooperated.
Save
a foot, |
No, we're not talking about some obscure medical procedure. That's the Nancy Gyes philosophy of agility in a nutshell. This is a team sport. To give your team mate the maximum chance to succeed, you have to run with your dog! Not in shape? Get in shape! |
| Nancy sprinkles her teaching with lots of key phrases to help you remember important points. They're basic, but they're key even for advanced handlers. Over the course of the two day seminar, improvements in all the handlers were evident. |
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Stand up Straight! Keep your shoulders facing the path you want the dog to take! |
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Use
the dogs name as a first resort,....not LAST resort. Play with your dog!
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| This is Nancy's Riot. The only reason you
don't see Nancy in the picture is that Riot was being run by USDAA judge Dave Hanson.
Dave was trying to save several feet. When not demo-ing, Riot was lying
quietly with her trusty Riot-Stick, waiting to be called in to action. |
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Bring
the dog, |
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| The instruction was, at times, literally "hands-on." Here Nancy shows Lisa Nieushen how to turn Levi with her shoulders after he's taken a jump. | Now Lisa's got it. She's brought Levi to the jump and is beginning to turn him while Levi watches for cues. |
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Missing
weave pole entries? Aim the dog at an imaginary weave pole which is at least 3 feet
in front of (and stand up straight) |
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| Connie Dirks shows how it's done with her English Shepherd. | Barb White does the same with Dexter |
All in all, everyone thought this was an excellent seminar all around. We're hoping that Nancy can be lured back for another seminar in the not too distant future.
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