Ginny had one last hike before her spay this past week. She's not so happy about her restriction, but I'm thrilled I was able to get this in before she was expected to come into heat in March. Now she'll be ready to get back into training by spring and we won't lose half our summer together and we'll be able to go to the events I wanted to try with her this summer and fall.
Another week of restriction and then we start conditioning work!
Loot is still struggling to train at our club. He's very on edge to any noise of the gates and is untrainable unless the building is mostly empty. I'm trying hard to think of things we can do at home to help build him up again without accidentally making it worse by picking too hard of a starting point.
Yesterday we played with booping kid bowling pins over and he said that was easy!
February Training Videos
I feel really good about this last month's training! (Well for Ginny, Arlo, and Freya at least.) So many topics to show you that it was hard to narrow down.
(Reminder that these videos and a whole bunch more can be found on facebook, instagram, tiktok, and even a few are now going on youtube!)
Are you working on going from pivoting on a perch to pivoting without a prop? Once your dog is rotating, our goal is to be the one pivoting on a spot so our dog has to move around us. We no longer move around the dog. This video looks at some helpful footwork to keep us anchored on a small spot! (And look, an old blog on lots of how to steps to actually teach the pivot!)
Front pivots!! (And check out the blog I did on ALL the steps a few weeks ago!) Here Arlo is working on fading the perch but still having a target to help him think pivot thoughts.
Do you struggle with getting duration behaviors or putting things on cue? A piece you might be missing is how to communicate to the dog WHEN they can offer vs when they are to wait for a cue. This video shows my system, and you're also in luck as I have yet another blog on the topic!
Exams. Exams or really any direct interaction with another human is extremely hard for Ginny. She's very nevous with people. This video is working on the approach piece. I find that the approach is THE hardest part for both the excited dogs and the nervous dogs! I want them to know that this exercise is not about petting and interaction. The helper is just another distraction. And I use a start button of a chin rest to be able to give her control of when the exercise starts and when it's too hard and she needs it to end. (No blog post this time, but I do have a class in self study, and a workshop coming up in May!)
Freya is still working on building her heelwork on my right side! I've progressed from generally teaching her the clockwise pivot to getting her to think about targeting my leg.
More pivoting! Here Arlo is working on a right pivot in heel. This is tricky as so many dogs want to get in front of our body and/or pull their rear end out too far!
Positions at a distance! Arlo is doing pretty well now with learning his cues and I'm playing with very small distance without his targets. I'm using my zen hand to remind him to not move forward towards the snacks! (Strategies for building distance on position changes are discussed in TEAM 3 class starting April!)
Mini Chains! This is my more "formal" version of building duration before the reward. I'm focused on doing short exercises (don't need to be official ones!) and moving from one spot to another to start again. This clear end of an exercise and movement to do something else is where a lot of dogs think about the cookies! In this advanced version with Ginny I even have her zen bowl down that she could technically steal at any moment!
And a fun trick! Here Ginny is working on going from excitement to a "sticky target" freeze. This is and advanced foundation but so useful!! My current purpose is to work on her ability to be thoughtful in scent hurdle racing. Much excitement! But able to think in the pile.
And Freya Kitty will round us out with a fun video showcasing her rally training. She's starting to be able to do her position changes in the middle of her heeling, without rubbing!
Upcoming Workshop!
I'm bringing back out my marking workshop! The skill of looking straight ahead before sending is needed in 2 obedience exercises: go outs and directed retrieves (gloves). But it's often used in agility at the startline too!
Registration is open now, with 2 working spots still available!
Webinar is released 3/10 with one week to work on the skills and ask questions (all students!) and post videos (working students!).
Upcoming April Classes
Less time than you think before registration opens on 3/22!
This class is all about getting your dog happily working with rewards at a distance. Teach that elusive "zen bowl" skill! Important foundations whether your dog is brand new to the concept or whether you want to start really prepping for trials!
Lots of focus work in this class!
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This is where the fun really starts! Work on go outs, directed sends, position changes with weird stuff going on, sidesteps in heeling, working with distractions, and so much more!
Check out the prerequisites!
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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!
PS: Remember to check out my mark workshop!! Geared towards obedience, but the same foundations apply for retriever work and agility startlines!
