Dog Swapping for Agility and Tricks

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Dog Swapping for Agility and Tricks

Written by Lorrie Reynolds

Lorrie has been an agility enthusiast since 2002 and has taught tricks, family obedience, agility, and canine conditioning since 2005. When she's not writing articles, developing courses, or training dogs, you can find her curled up with a book in her hands and a dog warming her feet.

Feb 18, 2022 | Dog Agility Foundations and Skills Development

Table of Contents

Pixie’s Agility Lottery Day

(Or how my agility dog earned her 5K points award with 12 different handlers.)

In November 2017, I had major reconstructive knee surgery. I was supposed to be on crutches for 6 – 8 weeks (it was closer to 10).

Being ever the optimist, I entered an agility trial in January. Pixie’s distance meant I didn’t have to run, and I figured I’d be walking pretty well by then.

I was wrong.

The trial date rolled around, and I was still stuck on crutches. I decided to go anyway, and when I got there, someone suggested a “Pixie lottery” for her trial runs.

Pixie had been my demo dog for several years at my seminars. When people struggled with an exercise because their dog didn’t have a skill yet, or when their dog got tired, I often let them run Pixie instead.

There were quite a few people who wanted to see how they’d do with her at a trial.

And so the Pixie lottery was born.

We put everyone’s name in a jar, and I let one of the kids draw a name for each run. She ran with a bunch of different people that day, and ended up earning her 5K NADAC points award.

The agility community is awesome and people are always willing to step up if you need help, but it wouldn’t have been possible if Pixie wasn’t accustomed to running with other handlers.

Dog looking between his owner's legs at the start line

Today’s Dog Training Tip

Today’s training tip is to explore letting other people run your dog. (I walk this talk – the Border Collie at the top of the page isn’t my dog).

Dog swapping isn’t right for everyone, and some dogs just won’t work for others, but I’ve had fantastic experiences running other people’s dogs and letting them run mine. Yes, even at trials!

I did actually end up “running” Pixie in two chances runs that day, if you can call directing on crutches “running,” but that’s a story for another day!