Thanks everyone for following along with my training for dog sports!

Loot had a rough year as another domino in his brain fell and connected the sounds of dogs barking to his fear of being rushed by a dog. And sadly it generalized very fast to all settings. But he's on meds and we're making some progress and hope that he will be at least able to trial outdoors again in agility and possibly inside.

Ginny is really maturing in agilty and starting to give me some very nice stuff! She also did a few rally trials this year and got her novice and advanced titles and just started excellent.

And Ravioli is working on all the foundations! We're trying to figure out some possible GI issues with him, but he's adorable and says he likes to run very fast!

Using NFC/FEO in Agility

In case you've missed it, I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! This month was low on posts from me but lots of fun brags!

I love this video of student Tamara and her cute little chihuahua Paris in a trial doing some NFC and cuing her dog to sniff!

Click here to join the group and read!

December Training Videos

Here are 8 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 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!

Helo started his zen bowl cue and learned there's a magical word for the send or he's going to get redirected with treats from my hand.

Ravi also did a lot of work on preplaced rewards. Here he's working on leaving the dish in order to get the cue to go to it! My goal was to get connection as he came back from the cone before sending him to the dish. This step isn't done forever, but it helps a lot in working through anticipation errors!

Ginny practiced her resets from heeling in prep for the rally ring! In rally you can redo a sign if the dog didn’t get it right, or even if they need extra help with focus. Make sure your dog is used to how you’re going to reset so they don’t think they’re wrong! You don’t need to add more pressure in the ring.

I had a session with Grace working on her marking skill and purpopsefully putting a treat on the target I wasn't (always) sending to. I want her to know it's always a straight line on the send away, don't go off to the side even if it's closer.

Ravi started work on a scootch backward in a down! This is just a fun trick, but it's also super helpful for advanced obedience work later on as we work on distance work. Think drop on recalls and position changes!

Anticipation issues! This is something Helo is just starting to get to as I work on adding in a cue for some of the things he knows. Now he has to wait for that cue! Here I'm mainly working on waiting in a down position.

Raviol is starting to learn a mark cue to look forward that I'll use in both agility and obedience. Right now he's learning to wait until I give the cue and he finds this a bit tricky!

And Ginny did a fun more "flow" type of session with the rewards in her dish as we worked some rally style stuff. I purposefully tested her ability to do work moving towards the dish and see if she could keep her focus on me.

Upcoming February Classes

Registration opens January 22nd, put it on your calender now!

My favorite class! If your dog enters the ring and their nose can't come off the ground, or they need to run zoomies and visit each person in the ring then you need this class! Teach routines that lower anxiety- from the moment you arrive to the moment you exit the ring and reward them! Find the joy in your training and in trials too!

Ring Confidence for Dog Sports!

Obedience can feel scary! But it's also so much fun! Learn how to get unstuck and find the joy in heeling, fronts, and break down those skills needed for the exam too.

TEAM to Trials: Novice

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!