Motivating Drills for Maintaining Skills
Like with many sports, it's nice to have some drills to set up and run! Drills can help us maintain skills. They can also surface gaps! We may also find we aren't pushing ourselves for more challenges when the dog is ready!
Course Details
Like with many sports, it's nice to have some drills to set up and run! Drills can help us maintain skills. They can also surface gaps! We may also find we aren't pushing ourselves for more challenges when the dog is ready!
Heck, having some ready made drills can simply get us out to train which is great stimulation, enrichment and even some decompression when we might be feeling overwhelmed and stressed with the world!
Specific drill details will be provided - the where, what, how! Each search will be reviewed for skill competency for next steps: is there is a gap that needs nurturing or are ready for more! Setups will be generally straight forward to minimize fuss, including some pre-planning to be ready to go on a moments notice!
Teaching Approach
This class offers written lectures, no verbal lectures, and videos of varying lengths. It is rare that relevant speaking takes place within a video; they are designed to be watched and follow the ideas presented in the lecture. Lecture videos may run from 30s to 3 minutes long, with the average between 1-2 minutes. The lectures are designed to help a student understand the purpose of the drill and how it might vary by dog. Care is taken to keep lectures short. Each week 4 drills are rolled out at the start of the week. This class will work best for students who learn by reading text lectures, watching videos and who like having structured lesson plans.
This class will have a Teacher's Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the Bronze and Silver students! Directions for joining will be in the classroom after you register.
Syllabus
Four drills will be rolled out each week covering the following setups along with handling goals:
- Unique search locations
- Hide Placement challenges
- Working with distractions
- Search space considerations (tight/open)
Week 1:
- Unique Search Location - Containers in the woods or along a trail
- Hide Placement Challenge - Blocking Hide
- Working with Distractions - Proofing Novel Distractors
- Search Space - Wide Open Spaces
Week 2:
- Unique search locations - Courtyard/Area between buildings
- Hide Placement Challenge - Fight to get to hide
- Working with Distractions - Intentional Distractors in Interiors/Exteriors
- Search Space - Elevated Flooring
Week 3:
- Unique Search Location - Woodsy area or uneven footing
- Hide Placement Challenge - Lows and Highs
- Working with Distractions - Unintentional distractors
- Search Space - Scent Hurdles
Week 4:
- Unique Search Location - Unkept area
- Hide Placement Challenge - People next to hide
- Working with Distractions - Novel Distractors in Containers
- Search Space - Maze Search
Week 5:
- Unique Search Location - Aisles and Rows
- Hide Placement Challenge - Hide Behind You
- Working with Distractions - Handler Distraction
- Search Space - Area with no boundaries!
Week 6:
- Unique Search Location - Raised level
- Hide Placement Challenge - Hides in bathrooms
- Working with Distraction - Pooling Odors
- Search Space - BLANK areas
- Bonus Drill
Prerequisites & Supplies
For teams trialing or training post-Novice level.
Equipment:
- Camera/Tripod/Go Pro
- Containers (any kind)
- Travel kit for organizing on the road training.
- 24 pack of large tins (share with friends!) here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FY7OH80/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Sample Lecture
Week 1-1: Unique Search Location - Containers in the woods or along a trail
We'll kick off the class with a search that matches the thumbnail of this class!
This setup also overlaps with distractions - the environment. Critters, smells, possible people around!
Simply take up to 8 containers or a few more and head to a walking trail or woody/leafy/sandy area. Pick what makes sense for your climate/landscape/location.
- Decide on how many to make hot.
- Grab a few containers headed out to the recycle bin - cereal boxes, take out containers. Something you won't keep and hoard but will go right to recyle bin when back home!
- Plan to say finish after your dog has cleared the containers .
- You can give your dog 2 passes and then call finish.
- Have a plan if you return to found hides when you go back down the line. Feed again, or say something like "good boy, find another". I'm moving away from saying "you found that one" as it's not very clear ... cuing them to find more is clearer!
Here's Ellen and CIder who were able to set this up at home.
For a more advanced setup - you can scatter the boxes in the woods, some partly hidden.
Instructors
Julie Symons (she/her) has been involved in dog sports for over 30 years. Starting with her mix, Dreyfus, in flyball, she went on to train and compete in conformation, agility, obedience, herding and tracking with her first Belgian tervuren, Rival. Rival was the first CH OTCH MACH Belgian...
Registration
Gold
$260
Enrollment limit: 12
- Access to all lectures and homework forums discussion
- Read all posted questions and answers
- Watch all posted videos
- Post general questions to discussion forum
- Submit written assignments
- Post dog specific questions
- Post videos (unlimited)
- Receive instructor feedback
Registration dates:
January 22, 2026 - February 15, 2026
Silver
$130
Enrollment limit: 25
- Access to all lectures and homework forums discussion
- Read all posted questions and answers
- Watch all posted videos
- Post general questions to discussion forum
- Post dog specific questions (video only)
- Post videos (up to 2)
- Receive instructor feedback
Registration dates:
January 22, 2026 - February 15, 2026
Bronze
$65
Enrollment limit: Unlimited
- Access to all lectures and homework forums discussion
- Read all posted questions and answers
- Watch all posted videos
Registration dates:
January 22, 2026 - February 15, 2026
Scholarship available! Apply here
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