It's spring! I love getting the dogs out for some more training outside! I have officially started a lot more of Ravi's agility foundations, especially his jump work! We will still be doing obedience work, but my content will shift to a lot of agility as I take advantage of the few snow-less months we have!

What does your Ready to Work Routine actually tell you?

In case you've missed it, I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! Here are a few of the posts from April:

What I'm looking for in my ready-to-work routine and how I use that data to either go back to acclimation or adjust the dog's energy or thinking abilities in my warmup. Click here to read.

Talking about making the rewards more exciting than just handing over a piece of a cookie, especially when you are working on longer chains. Click here to read.

And this most recent post on looking at dog's energy levels in practice versus trials and thinking about how we use the rewards or set up our training in general to try and more closely match the dog we're actually going to get in the trial. This one is a complicated topic! Click here to read.

April Training Videos

Here are 10 videos from the past month's daily uploads of training. Just click on the picture to be taken to youtube. (And if you prefer the non-music versions, head to facebook or instagram!) I hope these videos give you some helpful tips to try or inspire you to train something new!

I have different types of standby modes that I teach my dogs if I need a structured wait, then pop back into focus. Absolutely crucial if you're training and need a moment to think or talk to the instructor. This is Ginny working on her release from a down stay. I’m emphasizing releasing to me with eagerness to start again

Helo I was working on going from a pivot to teaching him a backup and heel position.

I rusted off one of my favorite games to work on distance skills in obedience. Here, Ginny is working on her reverse send to go to a target behind her after each position change.

Working on generalizing Ravioli’s mark skill from the toy. It’s tricky as sending when they look is what we want to build the behavior. But if we are doing a lot of reps with sending right after they look, then we’re accidentally training them that look = go. It’s exactly how we would set it up if we wanted to teach them to release on the look!

I’m looking at the little details of Ravioli’s formal dumbbell retrieve. A lot of dogs chomp and roll the dumbbell on the front, especially when the handler moves to take it. Here I am working on ignoring my hand motion until I give the reward cue. As soon as I cue the reward he can drop it! I get a few reps with food before I switched to his toy.

Loot has been continuing to work on his box feeding. In order to prepare him for using it on the trial site, I've been reviewing his ability to walk while keeping his head in the box. While this isn't completely necessary, he really loves how shoving his head in the box feels safe, even when some dogs are barking.

Freya Kitty got in a little bit of training, working on going from a spin to setting backup into heel position. I added in the left pivot to help her pull her rear end in further.

Ravioli is beginning actual agility training! Doing a lot of jump work and beginning channel weaves and our running dog walk foundations!

Helo also worked on a sticky target in Heel. I love this as a connection game I can use for help on setups and during small delays in Heel position!

Freya also started to learn going to a cone and sit as a rally foundation skill, and the session was unexpectedly difficult for her, considering the last one she was able to ignore the platform just fine.

Upcoming June Classes

Registration closes today, April 15th, so grab them fast if you want to follow along!

Learn how to teach the dog to leave the reward to get the reward! Dog sport prep for training skills (like sends!) and getting ready to trial with the reward at a distance.

Bye Bye Cookie!

Get ready for the fun part of obedience! These skills can be started long before you perfect novice obedience! We break it down extensively, maybe a little bit too much with 9 lectures just on marking skills, 5 lectures just on the "sit" part of the go out, and a ton more!

Gloves and Go Outs!

Follow me on the social media platform of your choice to try and catch all my daily training videos. I hope they inspire you to try something fun with your dog! And join my free facebook group on building ring confidence for dog sports!