Well January hasn't been great. We're in Minnesota and we need the world to know that what is happening here is not ok.
If you are cheering on ICE to terrify people in this state then please unsubscribe. I don't want your money.

And now onto dog training.

Should You Keep Trialing?

In case you've missed it, I have a free Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! Click to read the post, or join the group if you haven't yet.

This post is on dogs who are "perfect out of the ring" but fall apart in the ring. It looks at what are we really doing out of the ring and how it may not be actually giving us the feedback we think.

I talk about types of waiting skills I want my dog to have in this post.

I look at all the reasons we hand over rewards in this post. Before we look at increasing duration between rewards or getting them off our body, we need to know why we're feeding!

Are you trialing more than you're training? Trialing gives us feedback and we all need time to implement it! And time to refill their bank account too!

January 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!

Ginny learned the cone send and sit for her future rally goals. She already knew the core foundation of sitting after a cone so the new part was learning to do her agility "threadle" cue to wrap the cone counterclockwise. This makes the return to heel much easier!

Freya kitty got a bit more training in this past month! Here she's working on her transitions and setups!

Loot is trying out earmuffs to see if that can help him with his fear of dogs barking. This was his first session wearing them and we've been practicing lots!

Ravioli did his first ring entrances! Enter the ring and play! I'm doing an offered approach where he gets to start the party.

Ravi decided he was worried about going into a sit with his dumbbell. He can bring it to me, and he can hold when already sitting. But he can no longer sit without dropping it. We're sidestepping that skill by teaching him other ways he can walk and chew gum at the same time!

Ginny worked on going from behind me and from heel to front. She needed some pivot help to rotate far enough. Pivot foundations can be used for fronts just like we use them for heel!

Ginny worked on her focused leash removals with the added pressure of her reward dish right there!

And I'm proud of Ravioli for starting to really get the choose to heel / energy circle game. He's moving out faster and

Pop stand on recall! Just for fun! She has the foundations of a pop at a distance and a pop from moving. But hasn't combined the 2 skills yet. For Ginny I choose to use a flat target to help give her a visual cue

Current February Classes

Class is starting so grab them fast if you want to follow along! There are a few gold spots left in each one. And new this session is the "silver" option being allowed to submit one video a week!

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.

From TEAM to Trials: Novice Obedience

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

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!