October is a big month for me!

Loot's 2nd obedience trial, but sadly no Qs as he stressed with the other dogs in the group stay and melted into a puddle on the sit. But the good news is that my work this past month on "panicked halts" paid off for both of us as he sat every time, and I only panicked with my footwork once!

Ginny also earned her 1st agility championship in UKI! And even better was her happiness on all 6 runs that weekend. Lots of confident off courses, and I didn't see any signs of avoiding jumps near the front of the ring like she is prone to.

Ring Confidence Group

In case you've missed it, I have a free Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! Recently, I posted what I do to help dogs who easily get into sniffing or running off during practice sessions. Click here to join the group and read!

And a similar discussion on the idea of premacking stuff as a reward in the sports world. (Click here to read)

October 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!

First I'm working with Ginny on "surprise distractions) going in to do agility. These are distractions the dog doesn't see you place. They are just there once the dog enters the working area.

Grace is working on a standby position! This is one option for a structured wait that can be used while you're talking to an instructor, when you need a moment for thinking of what to do next, and even use it with a delay in the ring at a trial!

This session woth Freya works on some utility obedience foundations of teaching her to send only in a straight line. In obedience, this is the foundation for the directed glove retrieve and for the go out!

Loot is working on more formality with his open exercises for when we ever get out of novice! Here I'm working on his broad jump front- isolating just that angle he will be approaching from.

After Loot's first obedience trial (where I panicked on the judge's order to "halt" and Loot did not sit!), I thought it would be good to really work on halts. More practice from me so it's more likely to remain a strong skill. And then "bad halts" of purposefully messing up and teaching Loot the primary goal is lust sit when I stop.

Agility training! I'm working on the dogs being able to threadle even when I'm moving away. Having solid reward at a distance skills helps a lot as the dog has to move past the reward in order to get the reward!

And finally Freya is working on her left finish!

Upcoming December Classes

Registration opens November 22; save it to your calendar! 11:30PT/1:30CT!

My favorite class! Teach your dog exactly what to expect at each point in a trial- from the moment you arrive to the moment you exit the ring and reward them.

Knowing what to expect greatly lowers anxiety for both people and dogs!

Ring Confidence for Dog Sports!

Obedience can be fun!! Even if you are just starting your journey and think that getting past novice sounds like a pipedream, you want to start this class! Get unstuck from the boring stuff in novice and start teaching your dog (and you!) just how joyful obedience can actually be.

TEAM to Trials: Open!

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!