Julie Flanery, Faculty (Foundations, Freestyle, Electives)
Main info
Julie Flanery (she/her), CPDT-KA has been working professionally with dogs and their handlers since 1993. She focuses on the needs of the dog and helping people form a strong relationship, through clear communication, and positive reinforcement.
She has placed Obedience, Freestyle, Rally, Rally-FrEe, Agility, Trick Dog and Parkour titles on her dogs and has earned a Championship in Heelwork-to-Music and a Grand Championship in Freestyle and Elite Grand Championship MCL in Rally-FrEe. She has achieved both High Technical Merit and High Artistic Merit in both Freestyle and Heelwork to Music several times over, including three prestigious Attila Challenge awards, as well as several “Top H.A.T.” awards for High Scoring Heelwork, Attention and Teamwork. In 2001 she was named "Trainer of the Year" by the World Canine Freestyle Organization and has been a competition freestyle judge since 2003.
In 2012, Julie developed the sport of Rally-FrEe, combining trick and freestyle skills on a Rally style course, to help freestylers increase the quality and precision of their performances. It has since become a stand-alone sport enjoyed by dog sport enthusiasts worldwide. Julie is the author of "Joy of Heeling: Building Confidence, Enthusiasm and Precision through Games! based on her popular FDSA course Joy of Heeling: Rock it Like a Freestyler!
Pronouns: Julie goes by she/her.
Julie Flanery's current and upcoming classes
Positions Laterals Backing
In Rally-FrEe and musical freestyle there are four primary positions: Left heel, right heel, standing center and behind facing the handler. While maintaining position, the dog is required to move in any direction. In this course we will work through exercises and handler skills to define, and create precision and accuracy in positions and teach precise execution of pivots, lateral movement (side-passes) and backing. We'll focus on clear and consistent criteria using props and shaping, build value in that criteria and work through the process of placing these skills on verbal cue, preventing dependency on and the removal of props or aids. Don't do freestyle? The processes apply to obedience and Rally or any sport where positions, laterals and backing are valued.
Shape Up
Both dog and handler’s shaping skills can deteriorate when not used regularly. In training, many of us focus on specific sports. Each sport has its own set of skills that we work to train to fluency in our dogs. As our repertoire of trained behaviors grows, our inclination to shape lessens. The more cues the dog understands, the less likely we are to maintain shaping and targeting skills. And the more likely the dog is to look to us for information and permission before performing. While this is an important aspect of competing, it can be a disadvantage to our dog's future learning of more advanced or complex skills or when we need to change or increase criteria.
Transitions and Flow
Have you ever watched a freestyle performance that mesmerized you? Not because the dog was performing a lot of difficult or fancy tricks or because the handler had a great costume and danced well, but because as a team, the dog and handler moved in a way that made the performance appear effortless, fluid and polished. It was pleasing to the eye and provided a sense of naturalness.
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Start by clicking on the Course Schedule link at the top of this page. If registration is open, select the course you wish to take from the list and click on that link. From that page, click on the registration link and choose the enrollment level you are interested in. This webpage describes the steps in more detail.
Registration opens on the 22nd of the month preceding the course start date (ie March 22 for courses beginning April 1st) and close on the 15th day of the month the session has started (ie April 15 for courses starting April 1st). You cannot register for 6 week courses outside of this period.
Scholarships are offered to students who do not feel they can afford the full tuition, but who have a sincere interest in expanding their skills as a dog sport trainer. Scholarships are offered in the form of a 50% tuition credit at the Bronze level. To apply, select the Scholarships link from the top menu (under new students) or click this link. We ask that if you are on a scholarship, you limit yourself to one class. There are a maximum of three scholarships per student permitted in a calendar year.
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