We welcomed a new service dog in training to foster for a little while while I evaluate and get some skills on him. A big golden boy named Vaughn who is very eager and a pretty blank slate in terms of "skills." Many of my daily videos are showing what he's learning as there are just so many skills to train and so much progress to be made in those early steps!!
If there is something in specific you want to train, I probably have a youtube playlist for it! I am (slowly) adding old videos! These 2 playlists are ones I'm adding the most to right now with Vaughn!:
What is your goal of a run through?
In case you've missed it, I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! This past month there have been several discussions on what is the puporse of a run through and how to use them.
This post started the month off with listing common reasons people use a runthrough and things to consider .
Click here to join the group and read!
Beep Beep! Back it Up Workshop!
Stuck on teaching a backup!? 1 week workshop on this starts May 4th! $39 for a working spot!
I use backing to help prevent anticapation of releasing early, or to help prevent creeping towards you. I frequently cue my dog to back away from me on
- Start lines
- Position changes/ signals
- Drop on recall
- Moving stand
I need my dog to backup on cue without me moving into their space! And I need it when I'm across the ring.
Vaughn is learning this too and is at the stretching stage in this video!
April Training Videos
Here are 9 videos from the past month's daily uploads of training. Just click on the picture to be taken to tiktok. (And if you prefer the unedited versions, head to facebook or instagram!) I hope these videos give you some helpful tips to try or inspire you to train something new!
A must have for all my dogs is learning how to come in close to my side and eat food presented on the side of their head. This is not as natural as it seems! When the dog can do this, I can then start actually turning their head with my food hand and pull their rear end in close to me. A lure that is useful for everything from getting a fast easy setups to fixing heelwork. Vaughn is working on this foundation!
Teaching Freya Cat the rally master spins! This seems to make more sense at cat speed!
Zen hand is a core foundation for my dogs in learning how to work around food/toys without just staring or frantically offering stuff. I want their brain. Here Vaughn is progerssing it from just standing in front of me to being able to focus when returning from a cookie toss. This motion piece is often overlooked!
My past dogs did a ton of go outs to walls and blank gating. I actually taught my first dog his go out touch on a wall to start with. And that was a mistake as he learned the most amazing send to punch a wall that had a disastrous effect on ring gating! Retraining took awhile!
Current dogs I do very little with this as I just don't see it anymore in local trials. But it never hurts to really make sure they get the concept of go straight even when there's not an obvious target.
Baby pivots! Vaughn is just starting to learn to stay on the perch even when I move. And a few tiny pivot thoughts in between lots of stepping off and getting back on.
Ginny is working on the mark! Go straight ahead even if another target is closer. This is mainly for the glove exercise, but super helpful to solidy the go out send too!
Loot is working on settling on his side! A simple behavior for most dogs, but one that is extremely challenging for Loot. Luring is tough. Manipulating his body is a no. But I'm giving a go at it as I have cooperative care tasks on my mind. Using a small lure and my hand as a target. And he really seems to like leaning against my hand!! He won't move his front foot and looks super awkward but isn't hating this 1st step!
And another Vaughn video. We got the start of a chin rest!
Freya cat is working that sit from heeling and making some progress on not rubbing!
Upcoming June Classes
Registration opens May 22nd, put it on your calendar!
Are you frustrate? Feeling like you’ve put a lot of time and effort into training the skills your dog needs to be successful, but training still feels very transactional and you're struggling to make it into the ring and keep your dog's focus when the food is gone.
In this class, we will help your dog develop the ability to work and focus even when there is no reward on your body. We will build up your dog's ability to work no matter where the reward is located and without any type of lid to prevent stealing!
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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!
