IN THE ZONE AGILITY
LISA BONKER SEMINAR QUOTES

I must tell you it was the BEST environment ever at Dillsburg -- just perfect and I loved the surface, the temperature inside -- my van stayed at 60 with the sun -- and so organized as you and Dwayne always do -- and it was FUN and like memories trials of long ago. You stimulate fun and no stress at your trials -- and it carries over to all the competitors.
Rae Hart 12/3/2007
Thanks for loving agility......it makes it easy for us to have fun trials to go to!
Jayne & Eric Secor  12/3/07
Good Morning,

Hope you arrived home safely.  I just wanted to thank you for a great trial once again.  It is alot of fun with very little pressure-especially for me and my Golden Retriever, Becca (pink collar and all). Dwayne was an awesome judge, and Lisa, you are a pleasure to watch running your dogs.  You really are having fun-which trialing should be about.  Hope to see you soon.

Patt Callahan

Hi Lisa and Dwayne.....

Just wanted to thank you for one of the most enjoyable trials I have been to in a long time !!
You made me once again realize why I do agility ! 
Have a great rest of the summer and hope to see you soon.
Thanks again.
Ellen , Cassie and Weaver  7/7 08
Every trial you are involved with is such a pleasurable experience because of your management and your upbeat personality.  Thank you so very much.

Bye for now,
Chipper and Catherine  11/18/08

Lisa,

Like most folks, I've been to my share of seminars.  Yours was, by far, one of the best.  The information was exactly what I was hoping to learn.  However, what you taught was not the best thing for me...it was how you made me FEEL. 

I'm not the most graceful human to ever do agility.  There's not an athletic bone in my body.  Because of that, I'm always self-conscious when it is my turn to demonstrate my skill, or lack there of, during a seminar.  I know I have a great dog.  I just always feel like no one ever knows how really good she is because her handler is so inept! 

Not once did I ever feel like I was "standing out" in a negative way.  You have this unique ability to make people comfortable, which then allows them to learn.  You have the heart of a teacher.  Believe me, that is the most important thing.  It doesn't matter how much you know if you can't teach it in a way I can understand.

As for skills, yeah, I know, Clear, Crisp, Consistent ....and an extra C for me....CALM.  I'm working on that 4th C!!!

Gayle

went into the seminar with an eager and open mind, but also realizing my dog's specific limitations.  Lisa asked me to try different body language than my dog Emma was accustomed to, and Lisa would not believe me when I told her that Emma only knew "my way".  Needless to say I went out to try Lisa's method to show Lisa that Emma would not recognize it.  Low and behold, my girl Emma did it - SEVERAL TIMES.  Absolutely blew me away that Lisa flat out proved to me - via my own body language - that my dog read the cue instantly without any repetition training.  In other words, I was messing her up the whole time.  WHO KNEW I could confuse my girl so much - no wonder she had grown weary and frustrated with my training - I had no idea that I was being so unclear.

Thanks Lisa, for helping me to trust my dogs, helping me to communicate more clearly, helping me to get away from them and let them do their jobs, and for proving to me that they will read my body language - even if I tell them the wrong obstacle.  Can't wait for the next seminar......

Karen Echternacht

Lisa was great and we had so much fun. We've been to a lot of non-NADAC agility seminars over the years, some have been fantastic and some have been the pits. Lisa was terrific!! She made sure to give each handler their fair share of attention and worked with them on what they needed making some things easier and upping the ante for others. Each team was able to learn something helping them become Crisp, Clear and Consistent!
 
Lisa was energetic with a contagious smile all weekend long even though she was stuck out in the heat and the sun while we all sat in the shade. We had a great time and have lots of things to work on with both dogs. Can't wait for her to come back again! Lisa was AWESOME!!  If you ever get an opportunity to work at a seminar with her run don't walk and sign up as fast as you can!!!!

Greg & Jackie Brasen with the TN Shedding Wonders

I was encouraged to go to this seminar. I was so glad to have followed through with going. I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot things from Lisa and watching her work with the other students. Lisa is very encouraging in showing how these methongs does work with our dogs even though I had never worked with my dogs like this.

It was very inspiring and it gave me lots of homework to take back with me to start my dogs on (that i am currently working on now). Lisa worked with each one of us on a one-on-one and also as a whole group. She pointed out things for our individual needs & things that we learned from others by watching. Yes, and she also gave us to main things to remember as an underlying foundation: 1) always be "Clear, Crisp & Consitant" with your dog 2) play with your dog & 3)"Do you feel it?". And everytime she would ask one of us "do you feel it?" She would have the biggest grin on her face. :)

It was an awesome seminar!

Thank you Lisa for doing this seminar!!

Julie