Understanding agility from your dog’s perspective will be one of the biggest lightbulb moments in your agility journey! A deaf Border Collie named Tekla taught us how to listen. When her human, OneMind Dogs founder Janita Leinonen, could no longer use verbal cues, she had to find a new way to communicate. What she discovered changed dog agility forever.
Instead of teaching the dog to understand people, Janita learned to understand the dog. Tekla showed that agility can be smooth, joyful, and effortless when handled from the dog’s point of view. That moment became the foundation of the OneMind Dogs method, used by handlers all over the world today.
Our free eBook, 6 Things Your Agility Dog Wishes You Knew, shares the key lessons that started with Tekla’s story. It helps you see agility through your dog’s eyes, improve communication, and rediscover the fun of training together.
1. Your dog always gives you honest feedback
Your dog is never wrong on purpose. Every response, hesitation, or wide turn tells you something about how clearly you cued the course. If your dog goes off line, it isn’t defiance or disobedience. It’s information.
Dogs don’t interpret handling with logic or reason. They respond to body language, motion, position, connection, chest direction, feet and hands. When something doesn’t work, your dog is showing you where the communication broke down. The moment you start to see mistakes as messages, you’ll progress faster than ever.
2. Connection comes before control
True teamwork doesn’t come from trying to control every move. It starts with trust. Dogs naturally want to follow confident, consistent body language. When you focus on connection, your dog will stay with you even when you’re at a distance or facing distractions.
Connection means being present with your dog on course. It’s about shared focus, not force. The handlers who seem perfectly in sync with their dogs are the ones who understand how to lead clearly, not the ones shouting the loudest.
3. Timing is everything
In agility, the cue needs to happen before your dog takes an obstacle, not after. One stride too late can change the entire line. Timing can be tricky, but when you understand how early your dog needs information, you start to shape smoother, faster runs.
Handlers who train with the dog’s perspective in mind begin to see the course differently. They learn to look where the dog is looking and anticipate commitment points rather than reacting to what just happened. That’s the real secret to those perfect, flowing runs.
4. Your dog reads your body language naturally, not your words
Dogs are masters of nonverbal communication. Long before we speak, they’ve already read our shoulders, feet, and movement. That’s why body language is the most important handling tool you have.
When your motion and cues are consistent, your dog doesn’t have to guess. They can run confidently because they know what’s coming next. Think of your movement as the sentence, and your voice as punctuation. The clearer the movement, the easier the message.
At OneMind Dogs, we teach every handling technique from the dog’s eye level. What does your dog see when you turn your shoulders? When do they commit to a jump? Understanding that view helps you become a handler your dog can trust completely.
5. Confidence grows through clarity
Every dog wants to do the right thing. When cues are clear and consistent, dogs gain confidence. When cues change from one run to the next, they start to question. Consistency builds the trust that turns a good team into a great one.
If you’ve ever watched a dog hesitate, spin or slow down mid-run, it’s rarely because they’re tired or distracted. More often, they’re unsure what the next move should be. Training with clarity creates that magic feeling when your dog powers through a sequence with total belief in what you’re asking.
Clarity doesn’t mean perfection. It means being predictable for your dog. They don’t care if you take an extra step, as long as you always give information in a way they understand.
6. Agility should always feel like play
The best runs look like play because they are play. Agility is an expression of teamwork, joy, and movement. When training stays fun, your dog stays motivated and engaged.
Fun doesn’t mean chaos. It means creating an environment where both teammates want to try again. Every reward, celebration, and success keeps your dog eager to work with you.
Tekla’s legacy reminds us that agility was never meant to be about control or pressure. It’s about communication, understanding, and joy. When you let go of the need to be perfect and focus on learning together, every training session becomes something special.
Why understanding your dog matters
For many handlers, the biggest breakthroughs happen when they stop thinking about what they are doing and start seeing what their dog is seeing. Once you begin to understand your dog’s natural instincts and reading of body cues, you’ll find that handling choices make sense.
You’ll know exactly where to be, how to turn, and when to move. More importantly, you’ll feel the moment your dog understands you. That spark of connection changes everything.
This is the core of the OneMind Dogs philosophy. We believe anyone can learn to listen to and understand any dog. When you train from the dog’s perspective, every run becomes smoother, calmer, and more connected.
Learn from the source
Tekla’s story continues to inspire thousands of handlers worldwide. Whether you’re new to agility or have been competing for years, understanding your agility dog will change the way you train forever.
Our free eBook, 6 Things Your Agility Dog Wishes You Knew, walks you through each of these lessons in more detail. It includes practical examples, mindset shifts, and easy ways to apply them to your own training.
Start seeing agility from your dog’s eyes and feel what it’s like to move as two souls with one mind.
