Hear what experts are saying about Agility Right from the Start

“With this book any competitor can qualify sooner, with fewer errors and faster runs. With this book any dog owner and dog, competing or not, can reach new levels of teamwork and understanding. The authors build a rock-solid foundation of dog and human skills and reliability before going anywhere near an obstacle. Above all, what they are doing is FUN. This is training the way it ought to be.” –Karen Pryor, Animal Behaviorist, author of Reaching the Animal Mind, CEO of Karen Pryor Clickertraining

“Oh how I wish I'd had this book when I started learning agility! I am truly blown away by it. Everybody involved in the sport, instructors, competitors and students, at every level, should commit each page to memory. Talk about a training bible--this book has it all. After skillfully explaining learning theory and its applications to agility, Bertilsson and Vegh go on to cover all of the foundation, handling and obstacle skills with extreme clarity, making exercises that tend to confound beginning and even advanced students seem totally simple. Plus, readers will learn to harness the power of TAGteaching and use it to train themselves to become awesome handlers. The authors' purely positive approach and sense of fun would get anybody excited to learn agility! I will never start a puppy again without referring to this book.” –Leslie McDevitt, MLA, CPCT, CDBC, Author of Control Unleashed

The authors “have a deep understanding of the science and a great passion for training. This book takes the reader through a truly systematic approach that I believe all trainers will find extremely valuable…” –Ken Ramirez, Vice President, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

“From the start you understand your job and your dog’s job and learn how to communicate clearly with your teammate. Eva and Emelie never leave you hanging; you always know what the next step in training is.” –Marty Becker, DVM, “America’s Veterinarian,” veterinary contributor to ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” and “The Doctor Oz Show.” Co-author, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul

“Wow, what a text book! Easy to understand, logical progression and the detailed instruction splits the training behaviors down small enough so that even the first time agility trainer can achieve success without all of the traditional frustration a normal sports how-to-do book can create. Not only does the book address training the animal using operant conditioning but has specific lessons for the human counterpart on how to “do” agility without the dog. Fantastic! It will become the bible for my foundation classes.” Moe Strenfel, owner of Momentum Dog Sports and author of the DVD “Foundation Training For Agility – On The Road to A Perfect Partnership” –Moe Strenfel, Moment Dog Sports

“I LOVE this book! Eva and Emelie have done the impossible they have written a fun book that breaks agility down into foundation games that are very clearly explained. My favorite parts are the creative ideas for how to teach agility foundation behaviors using dog food bowls, card board boxes and other items you would have laying around the house. Agility Right from the Start delivers as promised and belongs in the library of any agility coach. Beginners will have a fun resource to guide them in their training. Especially the teeter training is broken down ideally with the clearest description to date. The author’s voices are happy, patient and kind modeling the desired emotional state of the trainer. Many world-class competitors can lose sight of the fun that brings the masses to agility but clearly Eva and Emelie live in a world of happiness which is reflected in every sentence of superb training advice. This book will become a classic, not just for agility, but as an example of stellar foundation training for any dog sport. I particularly applaud Eva and Emelie for their commitment of building motivation through training games rather than using deprivation to increase drive. Every page reflects the synergy between these two authors and shows you how to master agility. Hats off to you, you have written a master piece!” –Angelica Steinker, M.Ed., PDBC, CDBC, CAP2, author of Agility Success and Click and Play Agility

“Emelie and Eva have presented us with a fantastically detailed and brilliantly structured program for teaching dog agility entirely with clicker training principles. I am particularly thrilled to see the elements of foundation emphasized as that is the heart and soul of agility and, even today, is often missing in agility classes. Their continued emphasis on having the dog reinforced at a high rate with setups for success is just what we need. These two Swedish women have outdone themselves in bringing us detailed explanations based in good science and phrased in positive language. The training exercises are easy to follow - perfect for home-schooling your agility dog if a compatible class is not available! The addition of tag teaching so that the human learns her part right from the start will go a long way to giving agility competitors the skills to positively reinforce ourselves while we learn how to be clear, consistent and concise.

I am particularly interested in digging right in to learn Aim For It and Race to Rewards - excellent examples of getting behavior while reinforcing diving into the task! Ever present throughout the book is their consistent reference to "good agility practices". Emelie and Eva role model for us how to have a set of over-riding principles and how to carry those through our training - and not just for agility! This book illustrates application of clicker training principles to many other dog sports - it's a long-awaited gem. Clear explanations based in science, detailed training steps for both humans and dogs, consistent goals, and positive phrasing - oh yes, a gem!” –Helix Fairweather, Karen Pryor Academy Faculty and owner of Cyber Agility