February schedule

This class will focus on classical conditioning and basic operant conditioning techniques for creating a strong competition dog.  you will learn how to introduce your dog to the competition ring and how to make it the best place in the world to be!

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This class continues on with the foundations begun in TEAM 1! This class is designed to cover all the exercises in the TEAM Level 2. The TEAM program systematically lays out the building blocks for developing solid skills/behaviours your dog can perform in a variety of ways, in a variety of circumstances or sports.

Have you been dabbling in obedience but hesitant to actually take it to the next level? Or maybe you even trialed and realized your dog doesn't know how to heel unless you have a treat in your hand or can talk to them constantly?

There are lots of fronts and finishes in obedience! Fronts and finishes are incredibly complicated. They consist of many pieces that all need to come together. Because they are so difficult, the error ratio tends to be high. Which leads to frustration for both dog and handler. It’s not uncommon for the dog’s return to the trainer to become slower and slower in anticipation of the dreaded front or finish. In this class we are going to break fronts and finishes down into small components. We will teach each piece thoroughly before moving on to the next step. Breaking them down this way gives the dogs a solid understanding of the behaviors. The dog’s success ratio is high which builds success. We will start by teaching the basics of front and finish. Then I will teach fun games to keep the dog animated and build a love for fronts and finishes. We will look at how to add them to the exercises in a way that maintains enthusiasm and accuracy. We will look at how to teach our dogs to work through distractions and pressure in a fun way. We will develop a communication system that will clearly explain to the dog how to fix errors. I will talk about the role of props and how to wean off them. This is a comprehensive course that covers fronts and finishes from basics through advanced skills. Whether you are just starting out, looking to fill some holes, refine the behaviors or work on advanced skills, this course will have material for you. Most importantly, my goal is to teach you how to make fronts & finishes fun behaviors that become inherently self-reinforcing for the dog.

Most dogs are not innately confident. Especially when it comes to obedience. A sport that is not inherently self-reinforcing. A sport where dogs must learn to perform complex behaviors under a lot of pressure. In this course we will explore what we can do to improve our dog’s overall confidence and confidence in the ring. This starts with clear, consistent communication. We must learn how to read our dog’s most subtle cues in real time and adjust our response. We must understand our dog’s learning style and structure our teaching accordingly. We will look at how to create a training session where the dog has a high success rate while using a small ratio of errors to create resilience. We will play fun games with our dogs that empower them and teach them that they can overcome challenges. We will be working on YOUR confidence as well! We’ve all watched our dogs make mistakes and had no idea how to help them. Once you can read and understand your dog and their learning style, you will develop the skills to support them.