December is done! We ended the month with a bang as all 3 dogs (my 2 and Grace, my mom's dog I occasionally train!) went to a CDSP obedience trial.

All 3 dogs did great. The biggest win for me was that Ginny did one round of Starters Novice. Her very first obevience trial. And possibly the highest level she will ever go as SN is the only obedince class she can enter that doesn't have an exam. The stand only has the judge walk around her. But she did it!! Very confident! And lots of forging. I am thrilled and will continue working, very slowly, on exam prep so that maybe a year or two from now she can finally enter novice. Goals!

Rewarding Errors?

I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook!

This last month I had a few posts I want to share here in case you missed them! (Note you have to be a member for the links to work. It's free!)

Do you reward errors in your dogs training? I do!! And I don't worry about whether the dog knows they are wrong.
A look at my acclimation and ready to work routine with Grace who needs a lot of sniffing time before work.
Why is it important to "party and leave" when working on our ring routines instead of continuing to stay in the ring and reward each part?

December Training Videos

Here are 7 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!

Many exercises require setups. But unlesss I actually want to train my setup (which I do often because it's fun!) I manage them. A quick lure prevents the dog from rehersing a crooked setup, and prevents you from having to "nag" your dog into position.

Freya is making some progress on her sidestep in heel!!

Ginny likes to push the glove against my legs on a front so she doesn't have to actively hold it. I am working on that hold here!

Loot is working on fronts with the angle of the broad jump approach. I also added a shovel to replicate the pressure from the boards as he usually under rotates on the around finish!

Losing focus on about turns? Throw in a high hand touch or jump to a cookie right before your dog loses focus- usually right at the start! Gradually dealy the hand touch.

Freya is still working on cone send vs heeling but usually does pretty well now! Getting closer to thinking about the TEAM Rally 1+ test!

And finally, if you are working on a hold I like to end with an "informal delivery" of shoving it in my hand. This is one way to make it more fun by using movement, as well as not lumping and working on the dog needing to hold tightly while our hands reach towards it.

Upcoming February Classes

Registration opens Jan 22, mark your calendar!

Do you feel stuck knowing how to progress your work with props to actual skills like heeling, fronts, or an exam?

Novice Obedience!

Want some accountablilty in actually pulling stuff together to get ready for a trial?

This class covers all the skills needed to compete in novice, plus a less intense intro (compared to my Ring Confidence class!) to the trial prep skills you need!

Obedience can be joyful!

Come break down some skills with me and get unstuck.

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!