The Agility Odyssey Podcast

The Agility Odyssey Podcast

Hosted by: Sarah Espinoza-Sokal

Observations, thoughts, and stories about making the sport of dog agility a great experience for dogs and humans.

All Episodes

Episodes

Hard Questions About Spire

In this week's episode I'm talking about my summer with Spire, the frustration we faced, and the hard questions it caused me to ask. When agility became the biggest problem in our relationship it was, in my opinion,...
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The Value of Slowing Down

In this week's episode I'm discussing the important of being willing to slow down when we want to make meaningful change in our behavior, our dog's behavior, or the overall quality of the results we're creating....
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Thoughts Inspired by AWC and WCO

In this week's episode I'm reflecting on some thoughts inspired by the recent Agility World Championship and West Coast Open. I really enjoyed watching much of the AWC livestream and of course competing at WCO and...
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Lessons from Spire's Line Up

In this week's episode I'm talking about one of the most drawn-out and complex training puzzles I've ever tackled -- Spire's line up or ability to set up for reps of agility training. I know this can be a challenging...
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Preparing for the West Coast Open

In this week's episode I'm talking about the preparation Zi and I have been doing for the UKI West Coast Open which is coming up NEXT WEEK. Big event prep is a little different with nine-year-old Zi and I'm sharing...
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Calm Behavior Around Agility

In this week's episode I'm talking about nurturing calm, regulated behavior around agility. I don't need or want my dogs to be asleep while waiting their turn in an agility context, but I do want them to understand...
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Ziya Turns Nine

On this week's episode of the podcast I'm sharing some thoughts and reflections I have about Ziya turning nine. Mostly, I feel incredibly blessed to have shared my life with her for the last nine years and I'm so glad...
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Preparing for the Agility Trial Environment

In this week's episode I'm talking about all the things I did to prepare Spire for the agility trial environment that happened outside the agility trial environment. In fact, outside of the agility context altogether....
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Mentally Preparing for a Puppy

In this week's episode I'm discussing my current thoughts on how I'd like to mentally prepare for my next puppy. I feel I did a disservice to Spire and myself by being clear on my agility aspirations for her, but...
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Thoughtfulness and Action

In this week's episode I'm talking about striking a balance between being thoughtful and taking action, because both are undoubtedly essential to making progress in agility. What do your natural strengths lie? How is...
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Intentional Agility Trialing

In this episode I'm talking about what it means to me to practice intentional agility trialing and why I think it's important. In my experience, competing with intent and purpose creates a more deeply satisfying...
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Building Engagement

In this week's episodes I'm sharing my take on building engagement. Engagement, enthusiasm, focus... these are essential to our dog sports partnership, and the specific ingredients or techniques that work best for...
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