Running Naked

This story is part of a series of adventures submitted by Sharon Burnett on KerryBlues-L. Sharon and her Kerry Rascal are having fun with their agility training.

Just when you thought good heavens that girl in Washington can't possibly have yet another story about training her Kerry in agility...well here's a new one: The Naked Kerry. Most of the time in training, dogs at the Novice level wear a collar. At some point the handler begins to realize that they had better get their dog used to working without a collar because in 2 of the 3 main agility trial giving organizations the dogs do not get to wear anything. Yes, agility is a challenge. Its not only off-lead, but now no collar.

No collar doesn't seem to be much trouble for allot of dogs. Of course the 2 Border Collies in my class run fine without one as does darn near everyone else. Enter me with Rascal...without a collar. I put her on a sit-stay...she has a really good sit-stay. I can usually walk ahead of her 2 - 3 jumps no sweat. I take her collar off. She is transformed into The Naked Kerry!

Naked Kerries have no sit-stay. They are true free-range Kerries that have no training, know no commands, have no name nor relations with humans. Like wolves, they gait limp wristed across a training arena. Only when cornered
and recaptured, forced to wear the magic collar do they regain their semblance of domestication.
Okay, back to my normal style...Rascal without a collar was just not buying into this agility thing at all. We've entered a NADAC trial, so we've got to get this sorted out. We practice twice a week. So at the end of each practice, I've been asking her to just do 2 jumps without her collar. Last week she tackled 8 obstacles including the teeter without showing a trace of The Naked Kerry. Tonight we did an entire jumpers course without a collar. She was perfect!

You wouldn't think this would have been such a big deal. But I've come to realize over the months that these Kerries are exceptional. They are extremely bright and are sensitive to most changes of most things. However, coached the right way...easing into a situation and building confidence through a positive attitude, Kerries are more than apt students.

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