Hi, I'm Laura, a dog sports enthusiast and online coach! I train and compete in obedience, rally, and agility. I am passionate about building motivation and focus in dogs that struggle in training or trials. Follow me on social media for daily training videos of my dogs and cat! And please hit the subscribe button to my newsletter to keep in touch!
December Training Videos
Happy almost new year to all! I hope everyone had a somewhat relaxing holiday. I'm not quite ready to reflect on the last year or look towards the new. So I'll just leave you with these December training videos you may have missed! December Videos!I was working hard at the beginning of the month on ring prep for 3 dogs getting ready for rally! Grace is a borrowed dog and I'm reviewing some ring entrances and small bits of work with rewards at a distance. Arlo is a service dog in training who is here for some training. I'm currently retraining his position changes as they have a lot of extra movement baked into them right now! Last month I looked at introducing him to targets. Now I started reteaching his down! Loot had some fun doing some obedience games. My primary focus was on those position changes at a small distance, but I mixed it up with using his dumbbell as a tiny bit of (fun!) pressure, the cone for movement, and then some heeling with his dumbbell! Arlo is working hard on position changes, this time with his sit to stand. I'm using a front foot target and he's learning how to keep his feet planted! Still a work in progress. Leash removals are a part of every trial! Here I'm working it as a cue to focus and have the added pressure of her reward dish right there. Loot had a great session working on heeling around object pressure! This is usually a very difficult task and I'm proud of how he nailed it. Position changes at a distance can be tough! One way I work on this is to use a rear foot target that is further behind them. This helps the dog to think about kicking back even if they can't reach the target. And then I can have them backup to the target later. This is most effective for positions like a foldback down or kickback stand where we want the dog reaching back. And finally, don't forget about those front pivot foundations! I use this to help my retrieves to front too! Here Loot is working on this and I also discovered he has some issues with delays if I don't mark right away! I don't want him to offer motion in those formal pauses. Not only is that an issue of precision, but it also tells me he thinks he was wrong in that silence! Last warning!! Pop Stand Workshop Closes soon!
Upcoming February ClassesRegistration opens January 22nd for the next session. Just teaching 1 class! 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! Tandem Dog Sports |
Laura Waudby
Hi, I'm Laura, a dog sports enthusiast and online coach! I train and compete in obedience, rally, and agility. I am passionate about building motivation and focus in dogs that struggle in training or trials. Follow me on social media for daily training videos of my dogs and cat! And please hit the subscribe button to my newsletter to keep in touch!
September was a calmer month for us! We are fully moved into the new house, and resumed more of our normal training. Ravioli also started a new extra fancy food, Elemental, to help with his IBD and *knock on wood* it is going very well! He continues to eat it and *mostly* is opting in to training with it. Huge difference from the hydrolyzed dog foods we have tried. I think it will be awhile before we know how much his struggles with training are due to associations with not feeling well vs...
Hey all, here's another quick post from the Ring Confidence Facebook group: Something I hear a lot from handlers prepping for a trial: "I've been doing a lot of run-throughs to get us ready." And I get it. It feels like the right thing to do. You want the dog to know what the full thing feels like. You want to know if it holds together.But when you run through your exercises in sequence without rewards, you're testing. You're not really training. Testing has its place. I do mini run-throughs...
Hey all, here's another quick post from the Ring Confidence Facebook group: When a dog is stressed at a trial, the instinct is usually to calm them down. Slow things down, keep things quiet, wait for them to settle. But lowering arousal to an optimum level doesn't always look like calming. Sometimes our bodies need motion to regulate itself. Think about what we do when we are the ones that are anxious. We might bounce our knees. Tap our fingers. Twirl our hair. We can't sit still. And while...