Welcome to Train ' Em Tasks

Welcome to the first blog post for Train 'Em Tasks!

Some of you who will find our blog whether it be through the website or through social media might be familiar with the Train 'Em Tasks products. But, for those of you visitors who are not familiar with Tasks as I call them, I'll take a moment to introduce you to what Tasks are.

How Train 'Em Tasks came about was I made a ton of little tiny task cards with various exercises, drills, and some even say "play" for both agility and obedience. Each sport has their own grab bag of cards and every day I pull a couple of cards and that is what the dogs and I work on for that day. I tend to become scattered and/or overwhelmed with training since I do train multiple sports and the tasks keep me focused. When I'm focused, I can concentrate on detailed training with the dogs.
     I've really come to embrace my bags of task cards idea so I don't hammer things that don't need to be

hammered or to make myself work on stuff that are foundation skills or things that I'm avoiding for whatever reason. I find (especially in agility,) it's so easy to just go out there and run stuff just for the sake of running. That's where I get into trouble....I just want to work on advanced or new stuff and not maintain skills we have or revisit old skills. Train 'Em Tasks makes me work on maintaining skills I would blow off. If I pull the same card 3 days in a row...we work that piece of training for 3 days in a row. Then I may not see it again for a week. The cards help randomize your training so you don't get stuck in a training rut.
    I discovered something about using these little tasks while I've begun my Utility Obedience journey with Lars. He's been learning all of these new exercises and he hasn't become very confident with them at this point. If I pull an exercise or task that he knows, I can see him light up like "Okay, I got this!" I think it really helps him from becoming too stressed out with always working new things.

How to use the Train 'Em Tasks system:

  

The task cards are to be used with the Train 'Em Tasks grab bags. To make your daily training game plan, pull a couple of task cards from your grab bag and train those exercises. For obedience I might pull 3 - 5 cards and work each exercise for 5 - 10 minutes depending on the task. For agility, I will pull two task cards and pick drills, sequences, or a course that will work those tasks. After you have completed your tasks, you can put them back into your bag or set them side until your bag is empty. That way, you can make sure you and your dog work all of your tasks (I personally have a separate bag for spent tasks.)

    And about those "Play" Cards....they are important. We as trainers forget to truly enjoy our dogs sometimes. Play helps maintain a good relationship between us and our dogs. If I pull a play card...I will break up my training time and play with my dog while training. It could be a good game of tug, fetching a ball, or just chasing each other around. I will play as long as I train something...and that could be up to 10 minutes. Some days, you may play more than you train...and that's probably a good thing. ;)




I had originally thought keeping in regular touch with Train 'Em Tasks customers with email newsletters might be a good idea. But, as time went on, I realized that may not be the more effective way to reach people. Blogging made more sense the more I thought about it. So, I will be posting thoughts and musings on dog training, how to's on different topics with the trusty Black and Tans as demo dogs, and what's new and exciting coming off of the Train 'Em Tasks production line.

Happy Training Task Nation! :D