Podcasts about nargles

Chapter 21 - The Tale of the Three Brothers“ ‘There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight —' ” “Midnight, our mum always told us,” said Ron, who had stretched out, arms behind his head, to listen. Hermione shot him a look of annoyance.We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Miss Granger?” Hermione opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, looking more confused than ever. She, Harry, and Ron glanced at one another, and Harry knew that they were all thinking the same thing. It so happened that a cloak exactly like the one Xenophilius had just described was in the room with them at that very moment. Q1 - Do you think Harry's cloak could be one of the Hallows?Q2 - If it exists, where do you think the Resurrection stone is?“So where do you think the Elder Wand is now?” asked Ron. “Alas, who knows?” said Xenophilius, as he gazed out of the window.Q3 - If it exists, where is the wand?“It's just a morality tale, it's obvious which gift is best, which one you'd choose —” The three of them spoke at the same time; Hermione said, “the Cloak,” Ron said, “the wand,” and Harry said, “the stone.” They looked at each other, half surprised, half amused. Q4 - Which is the best?Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath the Cloak. The printing press blocking the stairs was vibrating: Xenophilius was trying to shift it using a Hover Charm. Harry did not know what Hermione was waiting for. “Hold tight,” she whispered. “Hold tight . . . any second . . .” Xenophilius's paper-white face appeared over the top of the sideboard. “Obliviate!” cried Hermione, pointing her wand first into his face, then at the floor beneath them. “Deprimo!” She had blasted a hole in the sitting room floor. They fell like boulders, Harry still holding onto her hand for dear life; there was a scream from below, and he glimpsed two men trying to get out of the way as vast quantities of rubble and broken furniture rained all around them from the shattered ceiling. Hermione twisted in midair and the thundering of the collapsing house rang in Harry's ears as she dragged him once more into darkness. Q5 - What is Hermione doing here?Chapter 22 - The Deathly Hallows“Then she'll be in Azkaban, I expect,” said Ron. “Whether she survives the place, though . . . Loads don't. . . .” “She will,” said Harry. He could not bear to contemplate the alternative. “She's tough, Luna, much tougher than you'd think. She's probably teaching all the inmates about Wrackspurts and Nargles.” Q1 - Who could survive Azkaban the best out of everyone we've met?“Yes . . . and that's all very interesting,” said Hermione cautiously, “but Harry, if you're thinking what I think you're think —” “Well, why not? Why not?” said Harry, abandoning caution. “It was a stone, wasn't it?” He looked at Ron for support. “What if it was the Resurrection Stone?” Ron's mouth fell open. “Blimey — but would it still work if Dumbledore broke — ?”Q2 - Do you think that the stone is the ring?And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match . . . Neither can live while the other survives. . . . Was this the answer? Hallows versus Horcruxes? Was there a way, after all, to ensure that he was the one who triumphed? If he were the master of the Deathly Hallows, would he be safe? Q3 - What do you think of Harry's questions here?He turned his back on their strained, incredulous faces. He knew it was the truth. It all made sense. Voldemort was not seeking a new wand; he was seeking an old wand, a very old wand indeed. Harry walked to the entrance of the tent, forgetting about Ron and Hermione as he looked out into the night, thinking. . . . “Harry, this isn't a game, this isn't practice! This is the real thing, and Dumbledore left you very clear instructions: Find and destroy the Horcruxes! That symbol doesn't mean anything, forget the Deathly Hallows, we can't afford to get sidetracked —” Q4 - What did Dumbledore want?“But before we hear from Royal and Romulus,” Lee went on, “let's take a moment to report those deaths that the Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell.” “I'd tell him we're all with him in spirit,” said Lupin, then hesitated slightly. “And I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right.” Q5 - Are Harry's instincts always right?“And the rumors that he keeps being sighted abroad?” asked Lee. “Well, who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting in?” asked Fred. “Point is, people, don't get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking he's out of the country. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to, so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning on taking any risks. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but safety first!” Chapter 23 - Malfoy ManorQ1 - How unfortunate is the end of the last chapter and this one?“Like 'ell you are,” said the man called Scabior. “We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way.”Q2 - Is Stan actually bad?The emaciated figure stirred beneath its thin blanket and rolled over toward him, eyes opening in a skull of a face. . . . The frail man sat up, great sunken eyes fixed upon him, upon Voldemort, and then he smiled. Most of his teeth were gone. . . . “So, you have come. I thought you would . . . one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it.” “You lie!” Q3 - What does he mean that he never had it?Q4  - Why doesn't Draco identify them here?She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve — “STOP!” shrieked Bellatrix. “Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!” Q5 - Why is Bella so freaked out?Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized Hagrid's pouch from around his neck and groped inside it: He pulled out Dumbledore's Snitch and shook it, hoping for he did not know what — nothing happened — he waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless — the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a gleam of brightest blue — Dumbledore's eye was gazing at him out of the mirror. “Help us!” he yelled at it in mad desperation. “We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!” The eye blinked and was gone. Q6 - What was going on there?“Kill me, then, Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek. . . . There is so much you do not understand. . . .” Q7 - What does Voldemort not understand?Harry could barely breathe. “You're going to kill me?” Harry choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers. “After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!” The silver fingers slackened. Harry had not expected it: He wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his hand over Wormtail's mouth. He saw the ratlike man's small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: He seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness. “And we'll have that,” whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand. Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry's face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat. “No —” Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping it. The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes. Q8 - Poetic justice here? What do you think about Harry trying to save Pettigrew?At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw herself aside with a scream. The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions: Draco doubled over, his hands covering his bloody face. As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took his chance: He leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco's grip, pointed all of them at Greyback, and yelled, “Stupefy!” The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew up to the ceiling, and then smashed to the ground. Q9 - Does triple wand power work greater?The tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger pointing at his old mistress. “You must not hurt Harry Potter,” he squeaked. “Kill him, Cissy!” shrieked Bellatrix, but there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand too flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room. “You dirty little monkey!” bawled Bellatrix. “How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?” “Dobby has no master!” squealed the elf. “Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!”“Dobby, no, don't die, don't die —” The elf's eyes found him, and his lips trembled with the effort to form words. “Harry . . . Potter . . .” And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see. Q10 - Raise a glass to Dobby

Chapter 22 - The Deathly Hallows“Then she'll be in Azkaban, I expect,” said Ron. “Whether she survives the place, though . . . Loads don't. . . .” “She will,” said Harry. He could not bear to contemplate the alternative. “She's tough, Luna, much tougher than you'd think. She's probably teaching all the inmates about Wrackspurts and Nargles.” Q1 - Who could survive Azkaban the best out of everyone we've met?“Yes . . . and that's all very interesting,” said Hermione cautiously, “but Harry, if you're thinking what I think you're think —” “Well, why not? Why not?” said Harry, abandoning caution. “It was a stone, wasn't it?” He looked at Ron for support. “What if it was the Resurrection Stone?” Ron's mouth fell open. “Blimey — but would it still work if Dumbledore broke — ?”Q2 - Do you think that the stone is the ring?And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match . . . Neither can live while the other survives. . . . Was this the answer? Hallows versus Horcruxes? Was there a way, after all, to ensure that he was the one who triumphed? If he were the master of the Deathly Hallows, would he be safe? Q3 - What do you think of Harry's questions here?He turned his back on their strained, incredulous faces. He knew it was the truth. It all made sense. Voldemort was not seeking a new wand; he was seeking an old wand, a very old wand indeed. Harry walked to the entrance of the tent, forgetting about Ron and Hermione as he looked out into the night, thinking. . . . “Harry, this isn't a game, this isn't practice! This is the real thing, and Dumbledore left you very clear instructions: Find and destroy the Horcruxes! That symbol doesn't mean anything, forget the Deathly Hallows, we can't afford to get sidetracked —” Q4 - What did Dumbledore want?“But before we hear from Royal and Romulus,” Lee went on, “let's take a moment to report those deaths that the Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell.” “I'd tell him we're all with him in spirit,” said Lupin, then hesitated slightly. “And I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right.” Q5 - Are Harry's instincts always right?“And the rumors that he keeps being sighted abroad?” asked Lee. “Well, who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting in?” asked Fred. “Point is, people, don't get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking he's out of the country. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to, so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning on taking any risks. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but safety first!” Chapter 23 - Malfoy ManorQ1 - How unfortunate is the end of the last chapter and this one?“Like 'ell you are,” said the man called Scabior. “We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way.”Q2 - Is Stan actually bad?The emaciated figure stirred beneath its thin blanket and rolled over toward him, eyes opening in a skull of a face. . . . The frail man sat up, great sunken eyes fixed upon him, upon Voldemort, and then he smiled. Most of his teeth were gone. . . . “So, you have come. I thought you would . . . one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it.” “You lie!” Q3 - What does he mean that he never had it?Q4  - Why doesn't Draco identify them here?She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve — “STOP!” shrieked Bellatrix. “Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!” Q5 - Why is Bella so freaked out?Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized Hagrid's pouch from around his neck and groped inside it: He pulled out Dumbledore's Snitch and shook it, hoping for he did not know what — nothing happened — he waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless — the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a gleam of brightest blue — Dumbledore's eye was gazing at him out of the mirror. “Help us!” he yelled at it in mad desperation. “We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!” The eye blinked and was gone. Q6 - What was going on there?“Kill me, then, Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek. . . . There is so much you do not understand. . . .” Q7 - What does Voldemort not understand?Harry could barely breathe. “You're going to kill me?” Harry choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers. “After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!” The silver fingers slackened. Harry had not expected it: He wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his hand over Wormtail's mouth. He saw the ratlike man's small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: He seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness. “And we'll have that,” whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand. Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry's face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat. “No —” Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping it. The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes. Q8 - Poetic justice here? What do you think about Harry trying to save Pettigrew?At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw herself aside with a scream. The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions: Draco doubled over, his hands covering his bloody face. As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took his chance: He leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco's grip, pointed all of them at Greyback, and yelled, “Stupefy!” The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew up to the ceiling, and then smashed to the ground. Q9 - Does triple wand power work greater?The tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger pointing at his old mistress. “You must not hurt Harry Potter,” he squeaked. “Kill him, Cissy!” shrieked Bellatrix, but there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand too flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room. “You dirty little monkey!” bawled Bellatrix. “How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?” “Dobby has no master!” squealed the elf. “Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!”“Dobby, no, don't die, don't die —” The elf's eyes found him, and his lips trembled with the effort to form words. “Harry . . . Potter . . .” And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see. Q10 - Raise a glass to Dobby

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp — go to http://betterhelp.com/super to get 10% off your first month. Go to http://factormeals.com/super50 and use code super50 to get 50% off. Get your tickets for our LIVE TRIVIA event in Roanoke :: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/super-carlin-brothers-go-fest-trivia-night-tickets-694221734897 Today J dives into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to reveal how Luna Lovegood is (almost) ALWAYS RIGHT! Does the Crumple Horned Snorkak exist? The Blibbering Humdinger? Wrackspurts? NARGLES? #supercarlinbrothers #HarryPotter  Edited by :: Riley Murtagh

Bob Delaney worked undercover in law enforcement, under the backboards as an NBA ref, and under the tutelage of mental health experts. His latest book is Heroes are Human: Lessons in Resilience, Courage, and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines. Plus, we're now shooting down sky detritus. And the perceived video game boycott over JK Rowlings' opinions was much Aparecium about Nargles. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up buds? On this week's episode we have Marcus join us, creator of multiple TTRPG platforms to discuss the cryptid known as the Pennsylvania Green Man, and also a brief segue on Nargles. Smoke some green and get ready to learn about the mystery behind the Green Man.

It is about time. Finally we get Andrew Keenan on the Anon Pod. Him & Lothian duke it out over their Twitter beefs and a longer history. 0:00 Intro song Don Toliver - Wasted. 0:55 Anchor Sponsored Ad. 5:02 What we sippin on? 6:50 Recap of Lothian v Keenan. 10:48 The Big Man Argument. 29:38 Keenan v Lopez. 38:47 Least favorite play styles in the league. 50:00. The Nargles story. 69:57 Outro song Reason - Extinct. Please subscribe! Follow us on Instagram @bm_league & Twitter @The_BMBL. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Happy holiday season, magical friends! It's our last episode of 2020 so I hope you have a warm, cozy December and I'll be back again on January first. See the transcript at WZRDRadioPod.WordPress.com Support WZRD Radio and Yes All Witches at Patreon.com/WZRDRadioPod

Can you guess what this podcast recipe is for? 2 / 3 cup of Laughter A teaspoon of talking too loudly into a microphone A dash of talking about the cat in the room 1 store bought Pound Cake A sprinkle of burps, claps, and mic bumps 3 cups of Nonsense You guessed it, if properly baked, this recipe makes an episode of Nargles and Other Nonsense. This week Paige and Casey found Harry Potter Recipes. They read the ingredients and everyone has to try and guess what the recipe is for. That's right, it's another episode where you listen and get frustrated when the Hags can't figure something out! And we complain about British food. Let us know if you could guess any of this recipes and if you've cooked up some Harry Potter treats yourself. Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonsensenargles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonsensenargles/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonsensenargles/ Donate! https://www.patreon.com/narglesandothernonsense Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB8bOkgHYVYNc8jqX2eAMXQ

You read the podcast description and find out that the hags from Nargles and Other Nonsense have posted a "Choose Your Own Adventure" episode. Do you 1. Listen to the episode? 2. Listen to the episode? You made the right choice! But it means you have to keep reading. Find out if Paige and Gab would survive a round of Wizard's Assassin, and see if they can make it to the Great Hall for then Halloween Feast. You even get to experience the greatest Harry Potter love story ever written. And of course, quizzes! Let us know what creature and character hybrid from HP you are and hit us up if you do these choose your own adventures! Links: Wizard Assassin: http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/0gqoydvaf0u2epsxamfj2a/wizard-assassin-a-harry-potter-choose-your-own-adventure Halloween at Hogwarts: http://www.mugglenet.com/2018/10/choose-your-own-adventure-can-you-survive-halloween-at-hogwarts/ Buzzfeed Fanfic Writing: https://www.buzzfeed.com/agh/can-you-write-the-sexiest-harry-potter-fanfic-possible?utm_term=.ubg86MNWjJ&_gl=1*1abznvi*_ga*RnEwRHJMd2ZmUmxmdTlpLUI1TXhfOXduMlR4blg1dUQ4akhjbndSQlREWGpGUzFZZGduTVpnckVRV1VJbGV0Qw..#.dbbpjAVlaQ Hybrid Quiz: https://www.women.com/ambercolby/hogwarts-student-creature-hybrid-quiz-102218 Soulmate: https://www.buzzfeed.com/feminist212/design-your-hogwartsa-life-to-find-out-which-cel-1zwcxstt7y   Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonsensenargles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonsensenargles/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonsensenargles/ Donate! https://www.patreon.com/narglesandothernonsense Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB8bOkgHYVYNc8jqX2eAMXQ

This new craze of putting charcoal in everything has led to the creation of a beast most foul. Join us this week as we discuss The Activated Charcoal Monster. Also, watch out for Nargles. And Lamping is a thing.

This new craze of putting charcoal in everything has led to the creation of a beast most foul. Join us this week as we discuss The Activated Charcoal Monster. Also, watch out for Nargles. And Lamping is a thing.

Movie Meltdown - Episode 477 This week we ask the question - can you turn any “property” into a theme park attraction? And as we realize that this is all an interesting psychological experiment - being conducted on us, we also cover... Newt Scamander, Idiocracy, The Wire, The Warriors, James Cameron, hey look it's a wild Gabor, Back to the Future: Part 2, a symbol of corrupt pseudo justice, Bring ‘em Back Alive and Tales of the Gold Monkey, The Journey: Absolution, they are transported to another realm because of solar eclipse occurred, he goes above and beyond filmmaking, the magical British Jack Hanna, I don’t care for his things, but I like him, that was a funny moment when I established myself as an idiot American, Isaac spoke to me, it just looks like Land of the Lost with a little extra money, Benedict Cumberbatch, how many weird pop stars did they create out of 80's soap opera dudes, I love my therapist... he died, so now I've got Marc Maron, it gets my entire mouth envolved, what Nargles look like, I can create a new technology so I can do whatever I want, the swordmasters of Braavos, I like to think about if my parents dog could drive me to the grocery, some sort of swamp multi child scenario, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, the thing with the gun and the thing… you know - that one, so he had met Bob Dylan, oh my God it's full of muggles, Elvis movies, Lowly Worm, Escape from New York, it was like everybody was a John C Reilly character, animatronic Carcetti, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Johnny Depp, how can I take this robot to the bottom of the ocean, and it's only because the kerning was off, throw a shoe… give a shoe and you can have a bad film and still be a great filmmaker. “Actually I really like those movies in one capacity… and I'm not sure what that is yet so when I figure it out I'll let you know.”

Welcome to Nargles and Other Nonsense! A Harry Potter Podcast full of spells, jinxes, and curses (the adult kind)! This week we're talking about the differences between the first two books and movies. Where's Peeves? Would you attend a death day party? Can Paige really read!?! As always, thank you for listening, let us know if you get that secret word!! Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonsensenargles Insta: https://www.instagram.com/nonsensenargles/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonsensenargles/ You can also hang with us on Spotify, Itunes and Pateron!

Welcome to Nargles and Other Nonsense! A Harry Potter Podcast full of spells, jinxes and curses (the adult kind)! Happy birthday, Harry! Get to know your hosts and take a walk down memory lane as we reflect on Harry Potter's best (and worst) birthdays. Our birthday wish is for Media Play to come back. Please. Keep up with the hags on: Twitter - https://twitter.com/nonsensenargles Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nonsensenargles/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nonsensenargles/ Thanks for listening!

SUMMARY: Amanda has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20+ years, teaching all levels of agility with nearly all dog breeds. She focuses on teaching teamwork and how to create a strong connection between dog and handler. She works with all styles of handling, from running with your dog to distance handling, and tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and handler. She's always looking to help bring out the best in each team. Amanda's handling system, “Cues for Q's,” works off her three base cues: Upper Body Cues, Lower Body Cues, and Verbal Cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Amanda teaches handlers how to use all of these cues together to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All of these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous top agility titles on her own dogs. Next Episode:  To be released 6/15/2018, featuring Denise Fenzi, talking about camp this year! TRANSCRIPTION: Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high-quality instruction for competitive dog sports using only the most current and progressive training methods. Today we'll be talking to Amanda Nelson. Amanda has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20+ years, teaching all levels of agility with nearly all dog breeds. She focuses on teaching teamwork and how to create a strong connection between dog and handler. She works with all styles of handling, from running with your dog to distance handling, and tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and handler. She's always looking to help bring out the best in each team. Amanda's handling system, “Cues for Q's,” works off her three base cues: Upper Body Cues, Lower Body Cues, and Verbal Cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Amanda teaches handlers how to use all of these cues together to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All of these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous top agility titles on her own dogs. Hi Amanda! Welcome back to the podcast. Amanda Nelson: Hi, it's so great to be back again. Melissa Breau: Awesome. To start us out, can you just refresh our listeners' memories by telling us a little bit about your dogs and what you're working on with them? Amanda Nelson: Technically three dogs, although one of them is my boyfriend's. My older dog, Nargles, is 9 years old, and I'm spending most of this year getting her ready to go to the NADAC championships in the Stakes Division, which is a distance class, basically. My young dog, Ally, is 5 years old, and this will be her first year going to championships, again hopefully in the Stakes Division. So I've been practicing a lot of distance stuff with them, really trying to fine-tune Nargles and build up Ally's confidence and all that good stuff for her pushing out and doing all that good distance stuff. And then my boyfriend, Jimmy, has Tripp that I've trained with him. He, too, is going in Stakes, hopefully, so it's a whole group of them all going together, so that's a lot of fun. Melissa Breau: I don't train agility with my dogs — at least not yet. I do know that most competitors who do have a lot of foundation skills they work on with dogs for jumps and tunnels and contacts. How common is it to include foundation skills for distance specifically in that “beginner” work? Amanda Nelson: I think it's fairly common, especially if that's something that you're wanting to do in the future, it's a goal or something that you're looking towards. I think it's fairly easy to go ahead and incorporate those distance skills in with the foundation skills. I do it a lot with my young dogs. With that being said, I listen to the dog quite a bit, and I don't want to push them too much or ask for too much distance work right off the bat. But I do start incorporating some of that confidence work and some of those skills to help build up that confidence and build up that drive to want to work away from me, especially with those younger dogs, and get them used to that kind of work and that kind of distance right from the get-go. Melissa Breau: When you're training your own dogs, at what point do you start that, do you begin working on those distance skills? Amanda Nelson: It really depends on the dog. Nargles, right from the very beginning, was very much into … she liked moving away from me, she liked doing the distance work. So I started incorporating it pretty much right from the start. When I started doing even my groundwork skills with her, my targeting and working with cone work and things like that, I started asking for quite a bit of distance from her because that's really what she wanted and really what she liked. Ally, on the other hand, who I said was 5, she is just now this year really wanting to get into that distance work. She's just now coming into her own and thinking that maybe she would like to do something like that. So her foundation I did incorporate distance work and distance skills, but I definitely didn't push for it or ask too much of her, just because she just wasn't mentally quite ready. So with her, I let her tell me when she was ready to start adding more and more distance. But I still incorporate it, I guess, in her training. I just didn't push it, I guess would be the best way to explain it. Melissa Breau: You mentioned cones a little bit in there. What do those early steps in training look like, for those that are out there and interested? Amanda Nelson: I start with the cones, and pretty much the early steps when I start doing foundation work, with my distance training even, the cones are great, even if your eye is not looking towards distance, you're just looking at handling and commitment skills. I start teaching my dogs to work with the cones — when I say “out,” that means go to the outside of the cone, “here” means come to the inside of the cone — I developed working with the cones and working my dogs on those because I didn't have a lot of space and I still don't, and I travel extensively without equipment. Using the cones, I can set them up at campgrounds, or I can set them up just about anywhere, and I can work my young dogs on all their distance and directional skills with four to six cones, depending on how much space I have. So when I'm beginning with them, it basically is just, “Here, we're going to send you out around a couple of cones,” build their confidence to go out away from me to get around those cones, and then I can also work on my handling timing, because my dog's definitely going faster just going around a cone, as opposed to going over a jump and things like that. So it improves my timing quite a bit by using the cones, and I can also work on not only their distance skills but their directional skills as well. Melissa Breau: How do you then take those and build on them? What are some of the intermediate steps between go around a cone, and sending to an obstacle that may be a few yards away? Amanda Nelson: What I usually do  — it's what I did with Ally, I think again is what really helped build her confidence and build her drive to want to work away from me — is once I have my dogs doing what I call cone work, so they're doing six cones and we're doing a bunch of directional changes, distance work, and things like that, I'll take the cones and I'll place them next to jumps or hoops. They can be placed next to the wing of a jump, and because I've done so much foundation and value-building for those cones, when I give my dog an “out” cue, or whatever directional cue I want to use, they're going to see that cone and go, “Oh, OK, I know that cone, I know that,” and be able to push out around that jump wing and start applying the cones to obstacles. I can also use them in sequences. What I really like to use them for is in-between, say, a contact tunnel discrimination, so when I say “out,” they can go out tunnel, or here into the contact walk-it. I like to start blending them in with my equipment, and it gives my dogs something that is a visual. So when I say “out,” they see that cone and like, “OK, yes, I need to go out around that cone,” and then I can start fading that cone back a little bit. I've also brought them back in for my older dogs. As an example, Nargles, for some reason she's having a brain fart on her discriminations. In her old age she's forgotten what that means. Melissa Breau: It happens to the best of us. Amanda Nelson: That's right. So in her training sessions I've actually brought the cones back, and I've put them in-between the contact and the tunnel and just helping her remember that “out tunnel” really truly does mean “out tunnel.” So they're great for that too — to help those bring older dogs, if they need a little tuning up or something like that, to bring it back into perspective for them. Melissa Breau: I know you mentioned “out” and “here.” Do you mind repeating which ones which way again? I know people are always interested in cues. Amanda Nelson: My basic cues, “out” means for my dog to move out away from me, “here” means for my dog to move in towards me, just like a discrimination “out” would be out to the outside obstacle, which is usually a tunnel, and “here” would be to come to the inside obstacle. A “switch” means for my dog to turn away from me, so if they're on my left side, they're going to turn away from that left side. And then I have a “tight,” which is basically just my wing wrap cue when I want them to wrap a hoop, or wrap a jump, or something similar, and I need them to turn very tightly back towards me. Those are my base cues, and I tend to blend them together. For instance, today I'm at an agility competition, and Ally needed to change directions, so I needed to give her a “switch,” which meant I needed her to turn away from me, and then I needed her to wrap the jumps. So I would say “switch,” which meant for her to turn away, and then I would say “tight,” which meant for her to wrap the jump towards me. Melissa Breau: That's awesome, because it really helps communicate all those different spatial things, the different directionals. Amanda Nelson: Yeah, yeah. Melissa Breau: I know distance is a pretty big element in the competition venue you usually compete in. Is it beneficial for dogs in other venues too? What advantages does training for distance really give an agility team? Amanda Nelson: I definitely think it's beneficial. A lot of venues now, I think, are all asking for more and more distance, and I think it's beneficial no matter what agility venue you want to do with your dog, especially for the distance classes — NADAC, Chances, or Gamblers, Fast, any of that, it's great to have those skills. Each venue asks for just a little bit of a … they're all a little different in the distance skills they ask. But the core quality or core skill that you're looking for is for your dog to move away from you, and so I truly think distance is great for that. And distance is great to be able to use to get where you need to be as a handler. To be able to send your dog out away from you to go do that jump so you can get somewhere else — that, I think, is the biggest benefit of distance. Especially for me, I'm not perhaps the speediest handler in the world, so I like to use that to my advantage that I can send my dog out and away, and then I can get to where I need to go to help them on a piece of the course where they really need me to be there as a handler. So I love using distance for that. Melissa Breau: Is this something that all teams can learn? Is it something that all teams can at least work on? Amanda Nelson: I definitely think so. Between teaching online and teaching in person, I feel like I've dealt with just about every breed in the whole wide world, mixed breeds, it just feels like I've seen them all, which is fantastic because I love going to seminars and seeing all these different breeds. At one seminar I taught last year, in the same session I had a Great Dane and a Chihuahua and it was fantastic. It made my whole year. But each dog is going to be a little different in how they learn. Each dog is going to be a little different in how much distance they can give. I have three Border Collies, and all three of them are vastly different in what they're comfortable with, what distances are comfortable. I really tend to listen to the dog, and I do believe all handler and dog teams are capable of distance. It's just a matter of, in my opinion, confidence is the biggest thing with distance. Being clear in your cues and your dog having the confidence to perform those cues away from you is huge, and I think once you've crossed that bridge, once you've taught your dog that “When I say ‘out,' I really mean ‘out,'” and you've built so much value for moving out away from you, whether it's with the cones or whatever system you would like to use. But once you've built all that confidence, and built that drive to move away from you, I think dogs really like it. I loved watching, for instance, the little Chihuahua I worked with. She just lit up. Every time her owner said “out,” she was like, “I can, I can, I can,” and her little legs were going a hundred miles an hour, and she was so excited because she got to do something all by herself sort of thing. She was so happy to go show that she really could do that. It was very cool. Melissa Breau: I was waiting for that c-word to come up, because I know what we talked about heavily last time was the fact that confidence is such a huge component of good distance skills, and so I knew it was going to come up sooner or later. Your class on Intro to Distance — I know you're teaching that this session, so it starts on June 1st. I can't remember if this is coming out right before this or right after that, but would you be willing to share a little more about the class itself, what you'll cover, maybe who would be a good fit? Amanda Nelson: Yeah, definitely. I love this class. It's definitely one of my favorites. I love the beginning stages of teaching distance. I love watching dogs light up when they start putting pieces together. So this class is going to be … it covers all of my foundation work, so it's very minimal equipment. I do think towards about Week 5, Week 6, we start using jumps and hoops, but it's very minimal. A lot of it is focusing on the handlers, making sure that our handlers are all using the feet in the right direction, the arms in the right direction, that the verbals match what all that should be saying, and teaching the dog to really … a lot of it, again, is confidence — building that confidence to go out around that cone, building value for the body language and the verbal cue of “out,” so every time they hear it that they light up and they want to go out do it. This class really focuses on building that up. As far as who it's good for, the last time I ran this class, I had a bunch of foundation, like puppies and young dogs who were just coming in and really wanting to get that foundation training right from the get-go and really wanted to build that confidence. But then I also had about three older dogs that came in, and the dogs are competing, they're high-level competition dogs, and the dogs just weren't giving that same spark that they were, so the students really wanted to see if this class would help bring that back, and that was a ton of fun. So it is a foundation groundwork class, but whether, I think, you have a young dog or even an older dog who maybe you want to start working on some distance skills because maybe you haven't previously, or want to build that confidence back up, I really like this class in that respect. The focus is all about bringing up that spark and bringing back the confidence and that push to get them to want to go out and do things all by themselves sort of thing. Melissa Breau: This wasn't necessarily in the questions, but I know earlier you mentioned that one of the reasons you like using your cones is because it lets you work in a fairly limited amount of space. How much space is somebody going to need to work on the exercises from this class? Amanda Nelson: Very minimal. Like I said, towards the end of class I set up some more advanced-type exercises that have a couple of jumps, a couple of hoops, that sort of thing, but they're more like bonus lessons. Most of the stuff is focused around the four cones, and most of the lessons that you'll see if you sign up for the class, most everything, all my lessons are filmed, I'm in a very tiny little area. I would say maybe, oh geez, 25 feet wide maybe by 25 feet. It's very small, if that. Enough for four cones set up. Some of the videos you can watch my progression of travels because they're filmed in a different location almost every week. So it's a very small little area. I think I usually recommend people have about 30 by 30 feet, somewhere in there, so they have enough room to get around. But I tend to modify any of the lessons if it doesn't quite work for someone's space. Melissa Breau: Gotcha. Now, in addition to that class, you're also teaching an agility Handler's Choice this session. I'd love to hear a little bit about what kinds of problems students could work on if they wanted to take that class. Amanda Nelson: Again Handler's Choice. That's again another favorite class. Apparently all mine I like a lot, so that's probably a good thing. Melissa Breau: That is a good thing. Amanda Nelson: That's a good start, right? I was just getting ready to say that's my favorite class. Handler's Choice I think is a ton of fun. There's other instructors in the school that offer Handler's Choice, and I always sign up for them at least at Bronze because I love seeing … in one six-week class you get to see so much stuff. It's just so awesome. The last time I ran Handler's Choice we had people wanting to work on weave poles, we had distance, we had handling. I had one handler who wanted to prep for an upcoming championship, and then I had a couple of puppies that were just working on cone work. I believe one dog didn't want to do any agility. She just wanted to focus on her start line and things like that. So the Handler's Choice, as long as it's agility-related, so obviously equipment-related, you want to work on your weave poles, jumping contacts, that sort of thing. Also, skill-wise, you want to work on your directionals, distance, start line. We cover it all, as long as it's related back into agility at some point for me. But the Handler's Choice I think is so much fun. Again, anytime I see an instructor in the school offering Handler's Choice, I always sign up at Bronze because it is such a wealth of information. You get to watch all these Gold students working on a ton of things. It's like having … if there's ten Golds, it's like watching ten different classes all at once. It's fantastic. I think Handler's Choice is fantastic. Melissa Breau: It's definitely, I think, one of the more undervalued classes on the schedule. Folks don't really realize that even if they were to hire an instructor for private lessons for six weeks, compared to the cost of Gold class they'd be in a very different situation, and they'd be working once a week, not several times a week. So basically anything agility-related that's not on the schedule specifically in the class they can come to you for. Amanda Nelson: That is right. That's right. Melissa Breau: Awesome. Well, for our last question here I want to try something new, and I'm hoping it goes well. Originally we had those three questions at the end of every interview, which was one of my favorite parts of doing a call with somebody, especially asking for favorite pieces of training advice, and I used to get all kinds of great feedback on them. Now that we've had all the instructors on a couple of times, it makes it a little bit harder to … we don't ask the same question over and over again. So I've been coming up with a new way to ask a new question for returning guests, and I think I've finally come up with one. You get to be the first guest to try and answer it, so no pressure! What's a lesson you've learned, or that you've been reminded of recently, when it comes to dog training? Amanda Nelson: Honestly, it just happened today. I'm at a competition right now — see, this is perfect timing. That's a good question. I'm actually at a trial this weekend. Nargles isn't competing this weekend, so I'm putting all my focus into Ally, and I found myself today … because I've never put a lot of pressure on Ally because I've let her blossom and become her own little doggie, but I've always had Nargles to run. I realized today, I was running Ally and I found myself just putting all this pressure on her of … now Nargles can't run for a couple of weekends because she's got a little injury, so I'm letting her have some time off, and all of a sudden I just found myself putting all this pressure on to “Well, you need to do this, and you need to do this, and we should be doing this.” I learned today, and I've been doing it for the past couple of weekends, patience and let your dog be your dog. Let them just be. I found she completely changed. She was really coming up, and I was running her and Nargles together, like, “Wow, look at Ally go, she's giving me so much good stuff.” Then all of a sudden these past couple of weekends, to me, until somebody pointed it out, I keep telling myself, “She's going backwards, she's not doing well, she's not doing her contacts very well, she's not doing this very well, and the big thing she's not wanting to change directions really well, she's regressing, I need to do this, I need to retrain this.” And then I took a step back, and a friend of mine was like, “You know, you're treating her like she's already this elite-level competition dog, and she's not. Because all your focus is on her.” Definite lesson I learned, but I think everybody — I think every dog trainer, every handler, no matter what sport — you find yourself falling into that trap of “My dog needs to be this. My dog is this old, and all these other dogs have all these titles, and my dog should have that title,” or “The littermates from that litter are all going to World Team, but my dog is not.” That sort of thing. I found myself doing that. I found myself going, “She's 5, she should do this and she should be this and we should be here.” I've never felt that way with her before because I've always had my other dog to focus on, and I found myself falling into that trap. So it's a lesson I don't quite know how to put into words. I guess the one word would be behind it, but I guess it's more of let your dog be who they are, I guess is what I'm trying to say in a roundabout jumble of words. Melissa Breau: I honestly think it's a great lesson, because I think anybody who's ever competed in anything, not just agility, knows that feeling. You start to get nervous before a competition, especially if you only have one dog that you're running. You get a little hyper-focused, you get a little hyper-attentive, you start to stress about little things that maybe wouldn't bother you if you had another dog to think about running before them, or something else to think about or focus on. I totally get that. That seems like it's something that will resonate big-time. Thank you so much for coming back on the podcast, Amanda! This is great. Amanda Nelson: Thank you so much. I love this. This is just fantastic. Melissa Breau: It was fun to chat. And thank you to all of our wonderful listeners for tuning in! We'll be back next week, this time we'll actually be back with Denise Fenzi! We'll be doing a short recap of Camp from this year, and I'll share a recording of her opening talk, so you won't want to miss it! If you haven't already, subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or the podcast app of your choice to have our next episode automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available. CREDITS: Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty-free by BenSound.com; the track featured here is called “Buddy.” Audio editing provided by Chris Lang.

SHOW NOTES:  Summary: Amanda Nelson has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20+ years teaching all levels of agility, with nearly all dog breeds. She focuses on teaching teamwork and how to create a strong connection between dog and handler. She works with all styles of handling, from running with your dog to distance handling, and tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and handler. She's always looking to help bring out the best in each team. Amanda's handling system, “Cues for Q's” works off her three base cues: Upper Body Cues, Lower Body Cues, and Verbal Cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Amanda teaches handlers how to use all of these cues, together, to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All of these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous top agility titles with her own dogs. Links mentioned: www.fluidmotionagility.com Next Episode:  To be released 6/30/2017, featuring Sara Brueske. TRANSCRIPTION: Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports podcast brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high quality instruction for competitive dog sports using only the most current and progressive training methods. Today we'll be talking to Amanda Nelson. Amanda has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20 plus years teaching all levels of agility with nearly all dog breeds. She focuses on teaching teamwork and how to create a strong connection between the dog and the handler. She works with all styles of handling from running with your dog to distance handling and tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and the handler. She's always looking to help bring out the best in each team. Amanda's handling system, Cues for Q's, works off her three base cues, upper body cues, lower body cues, and verbal cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Amanda teaches handlers how to use all of these cues together to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous top agility titles with her own dogs. Hi, Amanda, welcome to the podcast. Amanda Nelson: Thank you for having me. This is great. Melissa Breau: I'm excited to chat. I'm not an agility person, so it'll be fun to learn a little bit more about the sport and hopefully learn some things that I didn't know before. Amanda Nelson: Yeah. Melissa Breau: So to start us out, do you want to just give us a little bit information about your dogs and what you're working on with them? Amanda Nelson: Yeah. So, in the house I actually have three dogs, but one of them belongs to my boyfriend, who's Trip. I obviously work with him in a lot of stuff, but Jimmy runs him and competes with him and all that, so he's in my house but he's technically not my dog. I have Nargles who is 8 years old, and everybody always asks me what her name is and it's from Harry Potter because I'm a huge nerd like that, so Nargles is 8, and this season I'm working towards doing conditioning with her and getting her prepped to go to the NADAC Championships in Ohio in October, so that's my focus with her this year. Then I'm also working towards earning her Platinum Speed title, which is a NADAC title that consists of...it's a certain number of runs that all have to be extremely fast. In NADAC there's DRI which is the dog's run index, and you earn so many DRI points kind of for how fast your dog goes and a Platinum Speed Star, an award, that focuses on how fast your dog is. So I'm working on running that with her this year as well as taking her to the NADAC Championships. And then Allons-y, again, I'm a bit of a nerd, so Allons-y is from Dr. Who, that's where her name comes from, I call her Ally for short. She's 4 years old this year, and her main goal and my main goal I guess with her is prepping her for the NADAC Championships, so that'll be her first year competing in that, but I want to take her...and I'm not focused on winning as much as I'm just really wanting to go and experience the atmosphere of it and have a good time. So, I'm doing a lot of prep work with her and bigger agility trials, and let her get used to atmosphere of all the dogs and all the people and all that sort of stuff, and then just working on her skills that she'll need for the championships themselves. Melissa Breau: Now, are they Border Collies? Are they Shelties? Amanda Nelson: Yes. All three are all Border Collies, yes. Melissa Breau: Okay, Border Collie household, for sure, huh? Amanda Nelson: That's right, yes. Melissa Breau: So how did you get started in dog sports? What was kind of the beginning for you? Amanda Nelson: I've actually been involved in dog stuff and dog sports since I was extremely young. I actually did obedience with my Cocker Spaniel when I was I think maybe like 4 or 5 years old. My mom was very much into obedience at that time and then she later was very much into agility, so I kind of grew up with it. So I started, like I said, with my Cocker in obedience and then agility kind of really started taking off and it was a lot of fun. So I had a corgi also, named Sunny, and I started with her in agility. We did USDA. I competed in the European Nationals many times with her. I think I started doing agility when I was like 6 or 7. I don't remember a lot of it, but there's pictures to prove it, so I can only remember bits and pieces every now and then. Melissa Breau: So you definitely grew up in this world, so to speak. Amanda Nelson: That is right. That is right. Melissa Breau: What kind of Cocker was it, an English Cocker, American Cocker? Amanda Nelson: American Cocker. Melissa Breau: Okay, okay. My grandmother breeds English Cockers so I've always kind of followed Cocker Spaniels. They have a special spot in my heart, so... Amanda Nelson: Oh, that's very cool, very cool. Melissa Breau: So, starting off in obedience a while ago, have you always been a positive trainer? If not, kind of what got you started down that path? Amanda Nelson: So at heart I know I've always been a positive trainer. I'm pretty sure I took some detours now and then, you know, as I learned. I try to surround myself with people who are also positive trainers, but I would have to say that I really...you know, because I started so young you kind of just do as everybody else is doing sort of thing, but I really wanted to start training my own dog. I had a Border Collie before Try and he was 10 and I did agility with her, but I don't remember really training her, if that make sense because I was young. Try was my first dog that I really...I had her from when she was a puppy and she was really, you know, I trained her I guess - as odd as that sounds. Honestly, my mom helped a lot with my dogs when I was younger, so Try I felt like was my first, I'm going to train her, train her, you know? And so, I just went in to want to read all these books and I had this cute little angel puppy and she was...she really, really loved clickers and shaping, and I really started getting into it because she loved it so much that she had thought that that was the coolest thing in the whole wide world, so then that really shoved me into the positive world and I just wanted to immerse myself in everything. And so, any book I could get my hands on, YouTube videos, anything I could do to learn more for her I guess, and really I wanted her to be so happy, and then that kind of...I started bringing it into agility, you know? She didn't really at that point in time, the way I was teaching the weave poles, like it didn't work for her, like she didn't get it, and I'm like, well, I don't understand why we're not getting it. So, I started doing all this shaping with the weave poles and then all this targeting and stuff like that and I'm like, oh, my gosh, she really likes this. So I started, you know, what else could I do in agility that I could shape, and that really opened a lot of doors and it also opened my eyes to...then also like a lot of the business work that I do, shaping is a huge part of it now because it really brings it into the dog's realm that they can...they're learning. You know, it's not just kind of a forced thing, and I don't say that in a negative way like I'm dragging the dogs out there forcing them, but more of the dogs are making their choice. I don't know if that makes any sense, but they're making that choice. They're being shaped and going, okay, I'm going to go out here and do this and my, you know, Amanda really likes that so I get a click, you know that sort of thing, and she really, really opened the door for that. She was the kind of dog that any sort of correction, even just me kind of going, oh, you know, and I can't help it sometimes, you know, something would happen and I go, oh. She would really take it to heart, so I really learned that she liked all that positive, and it really changed the way I looked at things and the way the dogs look at how I could teach something. Melissa Breau: As someone who hasn't really done much in the agility world, I definitely did a little bit of research before we had got on the call and it seemed like you can be pretty heavily in NADAC? Did I pronounce that right? Amanda Nelson: Yes, you did. Melissa Breau: So, would you mind talking a little bit about how that differs from some of the other agility organizations out there and maybe why it appeals to you so much? Amanda Nelson: So a lot of focus within NADAC is it's floating courses that test the dog's ability to collect and extend. So for example, it might be a really kind of open wide sequence that then comes into a really tight serpentine or pinwheel and it goes back into this really fast extended sequence. So NADAC really focuses on testing the dog's ability to really extend, really stride out, and then collect in for this nice tight sequence, and then really extend out again, and it tests the handler's ability to read those sequences, to read, okay, I need my dog to really extend and go fast through this loop here and then run in to collect, collect, collect, and do this really technical sequence here, and now I want them to extend again. So I like the variety as far as, you know, there's definitely dog tests I guess on the course as far as testing the dog's ability to do that kind of collection/extension, and then it tests the handler's ability to know the dog, know what the dog needs, and to read those sequences. NADAC also has some focus in distance handling and they have awards aimed at the distance handling, and that's something that I've done for a long time and I really...again with Try, she loved doing that distance work, so NADAC also was a big part of that and I could do a lot of that big distance stuff that she really liked and we liked doing it together as a team. So, I like the variety with NADAC, but I can go out and I can run right with my dog and be with her and do that sort of thing, and then the next course I look at and go, oh, I'm going to try a distance on this one and I can now work on distance skills all at the same trial, so I really like that variety within NADAC, but I can do different things with my dog whether it's distance or running with them and looking at the course for those collection/extension sequences and all that sort of fun stuff. Melissa Breau: Just having watched some distance handling type stuff, it's just so cool when you see somebody who, you know, they can send the dog out and they have good control and the dog's doing the things in the right order and you have that distance, it's just really an impressive skill to watch, it's really pretty to watch. And I know that one of your specialties at FDSA is teaching distance, so I wanted to ask a little bit about the kind of skills that a team needs, I guess partly as a team, right, but also just like what skills the dog needs before they can start to introduce distance into their training and before they can really...what they need to be successful with that, right? I would imagine it needs some special skills. Amanda Nelson: Yeah. So there's many different ways to teach distance and the way that I do it is my whole philosophy with distance handling is it has a very unique skill in the fact that you're asking the dog to move away from you and that can be moving out of their comfort zone, and so confidence plays a humungous part in everything I do with my dogs which kind of goes back into all that shaping and clicker training stuff that I do, is that I want my dogs to be super, super confident. I want them to be confident in my handling, confident in their skills, you know, they'd know how to do dog up, they'd know how to do a jump, all that sort of stuff. So when I start working with a new handler or a new dog or even someone who's been competing but they want to start introducing distance, the first thing that we sit down and do is like, okay, now let's see where is your dog at and what is their confidence level at. Are they okay 5 feet away, 10 feet away, you know, where's their limit? And if say their limit is at 10 feet and their handler really wants them to be 15 feet away, we're going to build the dog's confidence up at 10 feet. And my biggest thing is because of that confidence I want my dogs to trust my handling, I want them to be confident in my handling. So for example, if I tell my dogs “out” and I want them to...out means for them to move out away from me. So I tell them out, and so they understand that, and let's say I'm at a trial and I've forgotten all the core skills, so I've said out but in all reality I actually need them coming in towards me and I'm like, oh, no, I've given them the wrong cue. So my reaction and almost all reactions, the same reaction happens for every handler, is you know we're trying to save that cue so we're going, no, no, no, no, come in, come in, come in, you know, and we'll try to save it and get the dog in, and dogs are forgiving and dogs are awesome so they'll just turn on a dime and come in, but what happens with that is then the dogs don't trust their handling anymore. You know, we've said out, they're going out, but now in our heads we're telling ourselves, oh, I screwed up, I screwed up, I needed to say “come in”, but in the dog's head they're viewing it as, well, she said out, I went out, and now she's saying no, no, no, come in, and so that's what kind of chips away at that trust. So the first thing I really, really get into with all my students is if you've given a wrong cue sometimes you just have to suck it up and go and know that you just lost that run, but you're going to gain ten more down the road because if the dog doesn't have confidence in our cues then when we do need that distance and we tell our dog out I never want my dog to look back at me and go are you sure? Like I just want them, when I say out they go, yeah, all right, here we go, she means it, you know, and off we go. So that's a big thing. I do lots of ground work. I use road cones and teach my dogs a lot of confidence work around just the road cones because it's a nice, easy ground work exercise, and also teaches me, myself, and all my students, the timing that they need for all their cues. I teach them the speed the dogs are going to run, and it's all about equipment so that we're not also working toward dog knocks a bar and it's like oh, no, no, we have to fix that. We can just focus on getting our dogs to move out away from us and build that confidence. That's basically my training philosophy. Everything revolves around confidence. Melissa Breau: No, I mean that makes total sense because especially when, you know speed is also important and obviously agility, speed is important. Getting a dog to move away from you and not doubt. If they doubt you they're going to move slower than if they believe that they're doing the right thing. So even if the dog did come in right, like you might have shaved some seconds the wrong direction... Amanda Nelson: Exactly. Exactly. Melissa Breau:...your next run. So, even though I haven't done agility I do Tribal and that's also kind of a distance sport, and I know that for me when I was training distance, reward placement was just so important to kind of get that confidence and get the dog to understand, you know, to stay out there and not come back in for a treat, so I'd assume that was a big part for you for training agility too. Do you want to speak to that a little bit and talk about...I mean you can totally correct me if I'm wrong too, you know, I'm kind of guessing a little bit but... Amanda Nelson: No, no, reward placement is huge, huge, huge, which is why I love using toys when it comes to distance work and it's super easy, you'll be able to pass that toy out there, reward at a distance, you're either handler talking or get toy placed down or something like that. You have to understand they maybe aren't a big fan of toys, they only want food which Ally absolutely hates toys, she has zero interest in them, but she loves food so for her, you know, reward can be a little bit difficult with her because my other dogs, you know, they love going after the toys so it makes it “a little bit easier.” With Ally I use those Lotus balls, you know, and they're Velcro, kind of open, you can put food in, so I use those as some I would be able to...she does a really nice distance sequence. I can either have it placed out there for her out away from me or she can then open it up and get her treat, or a lot of times I just always carry one on me so if she does something really awesome out there at a distance, I can just toss that toy and reward right there. I also have students that the Lotus ball, it does not work for them. Either the handlers don't really like tossing it, maybe the dogs don't like it, that sort of thing, so even tossing food is good. I still vary my rewards because a lot of times, at least with something like distance they get so focused on all this distance and distance and distance, and so they reward  all this distance out-away, out-away, out-away, which is great but there are some courses where the dog has to come in, and so sometimes we get a little bit stuck on, oh, my gosh, I'm not going to let my dog out there and the dog gets used to always being say 10, 15 feet away from a handler, but then when we go out of sequence where they need to be say 5 feet within the handler the dogs don't want to come in. So, I still do kind of vary my rewards in that sometimes they will come in to me for a treat so that we're still kind of keeping a nice balance between my dog going really far out and staying out away from me or coming in, but I would say I definitely reward out-away a lot more than I do next to me because I want them again it's all about that confidence. I want my dogs to feel confident and high reinforcement way out there away from me as well. Melissa Breau: Yeah, some dogs really struggle with distance and building that confidence to go out there. I have seen that in my own sport, and I think it's kind of neat that reward placement really can make a huge difference in just communicating and building that confidence. So I wanted to ask if there was a particular aspect of distance training or really kind of anything in what you do that people usually struggle with, and if you kind of walk us through a little bit how you might problem solve that or some of the solutions you might try out. Just kind of give people a sense of what you teach and how you teach it. Is there anything that jumps out at you? Amanda Nelson: Yeah. So for me I would say across the board the biggest aspect that I see with all handlers whenever they want to get into distance is they want to stop all movement. They get nervous, especially if there's a Gamblers line on the ground or _____(20:01) or something like that, and they see that line and we just stop dead. So a lot of...the way I handle and the way I teach is all based on my body. So my lower body, my feet, are...that's what creates impulsion. So even, you know, like my videos I use it a lot because people say, “oh, you tell us when we have to keep moving, but your video doesn't, you know, you're not.” But I am. It just has to be, even if it's a small non-movement, even if it's just one step, one step, you're still creating movement, and dogs if they see us just kind of come to that brick wall, you know, when we stop right at that line, well, that's cueing a collection, you're telling them to stop. So what I try to tell my students all the time is if you want your dog's feet to move, your feet need to move. It doesn't mean you have to race them, it doesn't mean you have to run. Even the smallest step, that motion is going to help them continue to move and continue to push out there. So again, back to road cones, I do tons of work with footwork for the handlers teaching them, you know, I want you to practice this distance, but you need to always kind of be moving a little bit, you know, always be creating a little bit of motion in your lower body so your dog will continue to read that. And I do a lot of work laying lines on the ground and teaching handlers not to be scared of them, they don't have to stop right at them, and even staying off that line just by a foot gives you that little bit of cushion that you can still kind of push it on up and they get a little bit of movement, and I would say that to me is the biggest aspect because dogs naturally read our body language. You know, when you take a little 8-week-old puppy and you start to walk, they're going walk with you and you stop, they stop, you know, they naturally will read it, whereas we can teach distance with just a verbal cue and teach the dogs to get out there. I know many distance handlers that don't use a lot of body language, it's all verbal, and they do extremely well, but it's a taught skill, it's not natural to the dog, and I like to do as much natural stuff as I can for the dog so that it makes things easier, and I think for both of us as a team it just makes things easier. I don't have to teach something that is harder for both me and the dog to teach them, okay, I'm standing perfectly still, but I want you to drive out 30 feet, and it's harder on the dog and it goes again back to that confidence. It's harder to gain that confidence when the dog doesn't feel that level of support from their handler, so I would say that's the hardest thing that I've across with handlers and it's just a matter of just muscle memory. You know, teach them that you really...it's okay. You can keep moving at that speed, you'll be okay, sort of silly -- the line is not going to bite you, I swear. Melissa Breau: So I mentioned in the bio, and I mean you talked about it a little bit there in that last answer that you have your Cues for Q's handling system, and I want to make sure we talk about that a little bit more. You kind of mentioned the idea of adapting to what the dog does naturally and building on that, but can you explain the concept a little bit more and maybe touch on how the system can allow a team to really create their own unique handling system? Amanda Nelson: I kind of break things down into...I have lower body cues, upper body cues, and then my verbal cues. So my lower body cues, that should be basically my primary cue, that should be the first thing my dog sees. So I always want to point my feet or point my foot, you know, if you're running you're not going to be able to point both feet at the same time, but point this way where you want your dog to go, so that's going to be kind of their first cue. Your foot is pointing at that jump you want them to take. And then your upper body is going to define that cue. Do you want them really continue to push, you're going to have your arm out because you're really driving them down that line, or is your dog closer to your body because we're going to collect after that jump? So your upper body is kind of defining what your lower body is doing, and then your verbal cue should be kind of backing that whole thing up. So, the picture that I would want to see is if I have a student who, they need to do an out-tunnel is that their foot should be pulling at the tunnel, the hand should be pulling in at the tunnel, and then their verbal cue should be backing all that up by saying out or whatever cue that student uses. Where I go from there is that I don't feel that every dog can handle the same way. I've had multiple dogs and worked with multiple students' dogs and run student's dogs, that every dog is unique, every dog is different, and not everything is going to be exactly the same, you know? Like I have all Border Collies and every single one of them is different. I handle every single one of them different. They don't all just kind of come out of the cookie cutter that just because they're Border Collies this is the way I'm going to handle them, you know, they're all very, very different. So I can adapt this handling system into something that works for each dog. So for example, Trip, that my boyfriend runs, he is much more dependent on Jimmy's upper body, then he has his feet, and he was trained, you know, all my dogs go through the same foundation training as every other one before them and one after, and Trip and Ally, the two youngest, they were trained in exactly the same way, but for some reason Trip just, he responds better to upper body. So we just adapt the handling a little bit into, okay, instead of Jimmy's foot is now pointing where we want to go, we really focus on his upper body. His arm really needs to be pointing, this is the jump we're going to take, and then his feet then become more of a defining cue and not a verbal, if that makes sense. So it just kind of swaps the order. Whereas now Ally, Ally 100 percent reads off my lower body and then upper body is her defining cue, and what she doesn't like, and maybe it's just a phase she's going through, it's a teenager phase, she does not like to hear me talk. So verbals cues are just a no-go for her. Every time I say something to her like go or something like that, she barks or she gets a little angry or yeah, I feel like we're having a teenager stage, you know, don't tell me what to do. So, for her I use very little verbal cues and she reads my lower body like there's no tomorrow, you know, she'll pick up that foot cue and she just goes with it. So, we just mold and adapt things within that. I have my students kind of follow the base of it, you know, most dogs are going to read your foot and here's your arm and your verbal, but I let my students pick. They can use any verbal they want as long as it makes sense to them and it makes sense to the dog. They can say spaghetti for all I care as long as it works for them and we all understand it and that's awesome. I want them to be happy. My biggest thing and I guess I learned this years and years and years ago. I taught a seminar and I was working with this woman who just, you could tell she was struggling, like she was just having a hard time, she couldn't get her cues out right, and her handling was very stiff, and so I sat and talked to her, like what's going on? What's the issue? She's like, well, I've been taught that I need to handle like A, B or C and I need to do this and I'm like, well, but it's not working. You know, you're not happy, which in turn is now making your dog not happy. So I said what would you like to do? Let's talk about it. So she had shown me and said, okay, now this is how I wanted him. I'm like, well, let's do that. As long as it works for you and your dog let's do that. So my biggest thing is take kind of the baseline basically, you know, here's how most dogs respond to things, but then mold it into what you like and what works for you. You know, just like Jimmy and Trip, if I were to force them and say no, no, no, you must use your leg and that is what's going cue him, but if he doesn't like that, you know, if the dog doesn't respond and that doesn't work for him then it's just a constant battle. So my biggest thing when I'm teaching any seminar or anything online is my poor students have to hear me say and over and over again, do what works for you and your dog. Don't get caught up in this, that, or the other that you saw online or whatever. Take something, take an idea and go, okay, how can I make this work for me and my dog, how can I mold that into a training idea or how I handle that makes sense to me and my dog because a Bulldog is not going to remember the same as a Border Collie and they should be handled and trained in each of their own unique way basically. Melissa Breau: Right. So you kind of mentioned that each dog has their own unique handling system. Is it hard as a handler to have two dogs with a slightly different...I mean I know you mentioned your boyfriend's dog, but your down dogs I'd assume and also slightly different. Is it hard as a handler to remember which dog you're handling? Amanda Nelson: Extremely...extremely hard. So, yeah, I ran with Nargles and like I said, Ally, I'm assuming it's a phase, perhaps doesn't like my talking, but Nargles on the other hand loves it, she likes the verbal. So sometimes I'll work in the ring and I'll start talking to Ally and she starts barking... I'm like, oh, wrong dog. It is extremely hard and I know I forget and I'm actually working with a student online right now who has two dogs and they are like night and day and she is just having a hell of a time. I'm like, well, you know, when you figure it out you let me know because... Melissa Breau: I'd imagine that's the hardest part in some ways because like you said, part of it is muscle memory and you're trying to teach yourself to remember to do the same things and be consistent for your dog and when you have two different dogs who want to do things differently you have to learn two sets of muscle memory. Oh, goodness, it's funny. So, I want to end the episode the same way I kind of end most of the episodes which is asking you what's the dog-related accomplishment that you're proudest of? Amanda Nelson: Oh, my gosh. So the 2011 NADAC Championship I won and it is one of the proudest accomplishments I have. So I was competing against Super Stakes which is a distance class, and it's a very, very hard distance class. Most of the time the distance challenges, your dog is 60 feet, if not 80 feet away from you, extremely hard, and I was competing. It was in Springfield, Illinois and my friend Sunny and I were competing and I was running Try, and we were basically kind of going back and forth between first and second and her and I were probably both having absolutely the best weekend of our lives in dog agility terms, like she was on, I was on. Her dog, Vanessa, we train together all the time, so it was just awesome to go out, and I would  have this amazing run and then out comes Sunny and she would have this amazing run. It was absolutely fantastic. So we ran in the finals. I ran first and oh, my God, it was just a fantastic run, an amazing connection I had with Try. It was one of my best runs. To date it still was one of the best runs I ever had with her. Sunny and her dog, Vanessa, ran after me and they again...it was an amazing breathtaking run and we were 24 seconds apart and Sunny ended up winning. It was the most amazing weekend of my life as far as I just every...you know, four days is how long the championships are, and the level of connection that Try and I had that weekend was absolutely amazing, and to lose to my friend was fantastic. For her to have such a fantastic weekend as well was just awesome, and that second place ribbon, I love that second place ribbon because every time I look at it all I can think about is we were on fire that whole weekend. It was just such an amazing weekend and competing there with my friend, who was also having the best weekend of her life, it was just one of those things that is just amazing. So I have to say it's not a title or award or anything like that. It's my happiest second place ribbon I've ever gotten. Melissa Breau: That's awesome. Sometimes, you know, there's really something to be said for the relationships you form in the sports world, right, and you're cheering on your friends and  your teammates and your training buddies and it's not always just about you and your own dog, but that's awesome. Amanda Nelson: Yeah. Melissa Breau: Well, my favorite question of the whole series always, what is the best piece of training advice that you've ever heard? Amanda Nelson: So this is again from Sunny, she told me just to let it go. I feel like I should start singing Frozen or something. You know, things are going to happen, mistakes are going to happen, you know, what kind of mistake you had as a handler is a mistake you had as a trainer, you know, stuff is going to happen and just let it go because if you keep dwelling on it, you keep thinking about it, you keep beating yourself up over, oh, my gosh, I would've handled that differently or if my dog hadn't missed that contact, you know? Learn from it. Learn from it, move on, and just let it go and think about your next run.  That's the best training advice I've ever had. Melissa Breau: And finally, who is someone else in the dog world that you look up to? Amanda Nelson: I would say all of my students. Every time I teach a seminar and in all my classes, all of that, I learn so much from all my students. They inspire me every day to be a better handler, a better trainer. Even I'm in the middle of a Fenzi class I'm teaching right now, I am learning so much from them. The questions they ask, you know, they'll ask me a question like, oh, you know what, there's probably a different way to teach this and it brings about how we can approach things differently, how we can train things differently. I have to say working on all of those awesome people, they inspire me and I look up to every one of them, you know, how we can train different things, you know, all that sort of stuff I just...as corny as it sounds, it's probably all of my students. I love every single one of them and they do, they truly inspire me to be better, to just be better in general. Melissa Breau: That's not corny at all, it's sweet. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Amanda. It was great to get to chat and to learn a little bit more about what you do. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. Amanda Nelson: Well, thank you so much. This was fantastic. Melissa Breau: Yeah, it's always good to learn a little bit more about some of the different sports out there, and agility is pretty mainstream but it's still new to me. And we'll be back next week, this time with Sara Brueske to talk training and competing for disc sports. If you haven't already, subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or the podcast app of your choice to have our next episode automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available. CREDITS: Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty-free by BenSound.com; the track featured here is called “Buddy.” Audio editing provided by Chris Lang and transcription written by CLK Transcription Services. Thanks again for tuning in -- and happy training!  

Welcome to episode #16 of Potterwatch.  In this episode we have a talk with Matt Maggiacomo the executive director of the Harry Potter Alliance.  During "Inside the Pensieve" we hear about Matt's array of roles he has played in the Harry Potter fandom, including wizard rocker and fan activist.  Matt carries a lot of history from both worlds.  Matt shares his personal story of being a fan moved by how his own story of tragedy, triumph, and friendship follows Harry's.  During Voldemort's corner we look more closely at Matt's experience with the HPA and examine how Voldemort might have approach his leadership role had he the awareness of how to lift others up as a leader.  Finally, we take a listen to one of Matt's wizard rock tunes from the Whomping Willow, "I Believe in Nargles".  

“So I swear I do believe in Nargles.”  This totally clean episode is devoted to a unique musical act known as the Whomping Willows.  If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter books, reading, equality, owning who you are, and using your imagination, then this is an episode to which… Read More» The post GE33: Wizard Rocking with The Whomping Willows appeared first on Geeks Explicitly.