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The Need For Speed!

Writer's picture: Sara SeymourSara Seymour

Updated: Jan 21

One of the hottest talking points in dog agility at the moment is the ever-increasing speed of our dogs, and the impact this has on their safety. Speed has also been on my mind of late, but from a slightly different viewpoint...


I am strongly of the opinion that to go fast, we must be able to move slowly. Especially if we want to move at speed safely and efficiently. Many people think that the way to build speed is to practise speed, and whilst this is certainly one consideration it is by no means the only one.


Ask in any human running group about how to increase your speed and the answer will involve hills (and they don't mean going down them!) I experienced this for myself back in 2020. Having built up to running 5k over a route with an 8m elevation gain I was faced with having to start running a route with a 135m elevation gain - quite some difference! However, those hills impacted my speed; when I returned to flatter routes my average speed had increased (and believe me, I was NOT fast running up those hills). My strength had increased, and that was what had helped to increase my speed. I'd also taken up regular Pilates classes around that time, and much of Pilates involves slow, careful movements. Again, helping to build strength.


My running also improved over the course of 2024; again, not because I was practising running, because I wasn't. I had taken up targeted strength training (as well as continuing my regular Pilates). Once more, I was putting my body through slow, precise movements to build strength and that increased not only my speed, but also my accuracy and confidence.


Over the course of our competing season last year, Peak's speed increased. Following some slight tweaks in my training strategies he was getting more clarity. Clarity brought confidence, which in turn allowed him to increase his speed. This has brought some challenges! In one of his last runs of the seasons, I can remember telling friends that it had felt like driving with dodgy steering and broken brakes! Some very 'seat of our pants' runs 😂 Peak is LOVING moving fast. He's now doing everything he can at full speed. All the time. Movement has always been very reinforcing for him, but that has definitely escalated of late. I have long known that the longer he moves, the less he is able to think. There is a fine line between him moving with control, thinking about what he (and his body) is doing and just haring around for the sheer enjoyment of running FAST!


Recently I noticed that Peak was starting to rush through his Movement Puzzles. Because I video so much of our training, I've been able to look back at previous videos to assure myself that this is a new development. Whilst speed is desirable for agility, it's not what I want in Movement Puzzles. These exercises are about the dogs learning to move through different setups at a steady pace; they include different surfaces and help with building confidence and increasing body awareness. In short, I want a little more thinking and not Peak's preferred 'bull in a china shop' approach. I know that being able to do these puzzles slowly will help him to move more efficiently at speed as well. In much the same way that my Pilates and strength training help me to move more effectively.


Peak is never going to be the fastest dog in his height category; he is a relatively large and heavy springer competing against comparitively lighter and more lithe collies. He probably weighs around 5kg more than a collie of a similar height! However, he is VERY accurate - and that's because his confidence has been built up from learning to move slowly!


I have a few pieces to work on over the remainder of the winter. His dog walk performance has deteriorated because he learned to run it at the speed he was capable of at the start of his training. As he built in confidence moving over the dog walk, he got faster. So his body is no longer where it's meant to be to hit the criteria of stopping on the contact! He needs to learn to adjust his stride, and apply his brakes a little sooner. Due to the way I originally trained the dog walk, it won't take us long to fix this, and I can also make use of different reinforcement strategies to bring challenge as needed.


I'm also going to spend a few weeks (or more) working on cavaletti training. This should help to build some stamina and muscle memory for trotting. I'll incorporate some simple Movement Puzzles in our training as well, making sure that we stick to short sessions and that his gait remains consistent as I add in distance and other challenges.


Project 'Slow Peak Down' is probably not the approach many would take to improve their performance in the agility ring, but I know that it's right for us and for our longer-term agility goals.


A couple of additional side notes - dogs will sometimes go faster to mask pain; it's easier to adjust gait at a higer speed, and it also increases adrenaline. It is generally easier to identify issues at a slower speed so it's worth us taking time to observe them moving slowly in order to understand what their 'normal' looks like. Finally, our agility dogs absolutely also need to practise moving at speed away from agility! They need to access their full speed on the flat in order to be able to bring that into their agility runs. However, all the speed all the time is not what we want and I hope I've given you some food for thought as to why.


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