Several people asked if I would say what it is we do on the seminar list. So I have clipped a recent post from the seminar list. The structure of the online seminar list is that I work my dogs in my office area and we discuss what I am asking for and show the different responses from dogs during training. In most cases the dogs are learning each exercise on the spot. I do not bring out trained dogs to show "how to teach" something.... anyone can do that! So you see mistakes, things that probably should be cut out, etc. Not all dogs learn perfectly and that is just life! We work a large variety of dogs from the "over the top" hyped dogs to the very insecure "afraid to learn" type dogs. We talk about the different ways to address teaching the same behavior and adjust it for each type of dog so that each dog gets the maximum learning experience.
Mostly we want to have a calm and eager working partner!
For the online group there is a fee of $100 to renew if you are a current member (until December 15th). New members are $200 until December 15th. After December 15th, renewals are $200 and new members are $300 per year.
Sharon
Hi, group.
As we get set to start our winter training, it is important to understand "what are your instructor's goals?". Sometimes the goals of the instructor and the student are different and the student will need to adjust some of the training to fit "their" goals. This can be very true about my goals and theories and they might not fit into your goals and theories perfectly. So it is up to you to customize your training so that you aren't trying to be a "mini-me" and you become the best partner for your dog that you can.
As you train, you will notice that I spend a lot of my lectures on the "mental" state of your dog. You will hear me saying repeatedly that teaching agility obstacles is not difficult, in fact, that is the easy part. Anyone can teach a dog to perform a contact, weave and jump properly. Those are easy "physical" behaviors to teach. Getting the dog to be in the right state of mind while doing those physical behaviors becomes the tough part for most. We will work on having that dog in the right frame of mind so that not only "can" they do those behaviors, but they "want" to do them with attitude, speed and precision.
We will always be working to have your dog on the thinking part of their brain and teach them how to control the reactive part of their brain. So much training available to students is all about getting the dog all "hyped" up to work with excited voices, toys, or anything that "amps" up their attitude. In our training we will work on getting the dog very enthusiastic and eager to work, but without any adrenaline rush. We want calmness, speed, and enthusiasm, but not the adrenaline rush so that our dog will be aware of "where and how" they are placing their body with each stride so that they stay as sound as possible and don't run in a "reckless" manner. A lot of our discussions will compare horse training and dog training and how some of the behaviors relate in the training process.
We will cover some of the common mistakes that people make during training and how to avoid those. For those just starting this session, you will learn how to "read" your dog and know how they are "feeling" mentally. You will learn many ways to teach your dog how to "choose" the correct behaviors and feel good about themselves when making choices. We want to remove the stress out of learning and make learning FUN but not because they have been amped into an adrenaline increase because it is training time. We want our dogs to love to learn, but not because of the lure of a toy that is "exciting" to them. In the end we want our dogs to love to learn because it makes the human smile! And a pet or praise or a treat is WAY more fun than a ball or a tug toy! I do expect that you will be running in agility for at least ten years with your dog. Or twelve years if you have a puppy! We want those years to be full of fun and lots of smiles! Not frustration because of an agility behavior not performed correctly!
At certain points we will talk about genetics and picking the next partner. But most importantly we will be talking about how to create the best possible partnership with you and your dog! Let's get in sync with your dog's mind and body!
Sharon
