In this episode, we meet Barbara Stephens, a retired high school English teacher from Massachusetts, United States, who has been running agility with her corgis since 2004 and says she never stops learning.

Barbara has loved corgis since she was ten years old, when she picked the breed out of an encyclopedia. Today she lives with five-year-old Willow. She found OneMind Dogs by accident at a seminar, joined the site in 2016 as a birthday present to herself, and a year later travelled to Finland to train with our community.

Barbara shares how small movements of the handler's body can change everything for the dog. She also explains why she stopped trying to run faster and started giving cues earlier, from what her dog sees. When an injury to her previous dog and her own high expectations for Willow took away the joy of running together, Barbara found her way back through yoga, meditation, and a lot of patience. She also tells the story of "the year of weaves" and the moment it all came together in a snooker run.

Along the way, we talk about why short training sessions work better than long ones, what connection with your dog really means, and why one class is not the end of learning. Barbara also shares the one thing she would change in the world for dogs.

Links from the episode:

• Wet Nose Canine Connection
• Data Driven Agility

Barbara's favourite podcasts:

• Hidden Brain
• The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

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