Train 'Em Tutorials - AKC Rally Obedience Signs #7 and #8

The next installment of the Train 'Em Tasks Tutorials are the #7 and #8 signs in AKC Rally Novice. These two signs are the straight forward about turns - one to the right and the other to the left. I do talk about some troubleshooting where people can run into issues with the Left About Turn, like if your dog sits or has problems moving to the left because they don't have good rear end awareness.

Sign #7: About Right Turn - While heeling, the team makes a 180° about turn to the handler’s right. 

Sign #8: About "U" Turn - While heeling, the team makes a 180° turn to the handler’s left.

From the Agility Obstacle Task Pack - A-frame!

The agility grab bag gods knew exactly what we need last Friday morning, right before our last agility trial for July. Ocean's a-frame contact behavior goes between 2 on and 2 off at home and at class to running at shows. Sometimes that running ends up being striding just above that much needed yellow zone. So I sat with this card for a couple of hours and thought about what my plan of attack would be.

I ended up opting for this little course out of Clean Run's Exercise Sourcebook Volume 1. I swapped out the tunnel for my a-frame and kept the teeter as bonus contact training. I ran the black circles for our session. Since we would be showing for two days right after this session, I also swapped out the jumps for my hoops and jumps with no bars. For two trials in a row, I had jumped Ocean for three days straight...I wanted to give him and his body a little bit of a break from that. I really like working handling at home with those hoops because it's essentially working flat work with an obstacle.

 

This video is of our entire training session and it's nine minutes long. But, at least you can see how the hoops work and I wanted a visual for anyone who might want to use the impulse control exercise I worked with O at the bottom of the a-frame.  In class last Wednesday, we worked on getting O to hold his 2 on, 2 off and not self-release to something very high value (a tug toy.) For him, running agility is very self rewarding and his "running contact" is him quickly self-releasing from the a-frame. I used this same exercise here at home...and will continue to when we have an A-frame in practice. The exercise itself is pretty simple. I place the tug toy on the ground about 4 to 5 feet away from the bottom of the a-frame. If you're training with a friend, you can have them place the high value reward for you. The high value reward can be anything your dog loves...it could be really yummy food/treats or their favorite toy. Tugs and balls are much more valuable to Ocean than food is. When Ocean runs to the bottom of the a-frame and holds his 2 on, 2 off....I release him to the toy and we play as his reward. The first attempt he does self-release and grabs the tug which is what he shouldn't do. But he figured it out the next and following attempts. Another thing I like to do which you will see closer to the end of the video is to play tug with Ocean while he is in the correct position on the a-frame. I'm more or less rewarding for position like how you would feed your dog a treat in the correct a-frame criteria position. This idea would work for any pieces of the contact equipment and the table. If the dog moves out of position off the equipment....the play stops. If the dog moves back into position...play more. If your dog is very tug play motivated, they will really enjoy this sort of game and reward.

Train 'Em Tutorials - AKC Rally Signs #3 and #4

Over the past couple of weeks, Ocean, Lars and I were able to video the next two signs in AKC Rally Novice. Sign #3 is the "Halt/Sit" sign and Sign #4 is "Halt/Sit/Down" sign. Both of these exercises are considered stationary exercises. I'm getting a bit more fancy with the editing of the videos. Now...at the end of the video, the sign graphic is shown as is the exercise description. 

Sign #3 - Halt/Sit

Sign #4 -Halt/Sit/Down

This past week, time slipped away since I was kind of more busy than I expected. The videos for the turns will start to be recorded this week! As always, if you have any feedback or questions regarding the Tutorials, please don't hesitate to drop us a note. :)

Train 'Em Tutorials - How to videos! AKC Rally Start and Finish

Last week, we launched a new feature for Train 'Em Tasks. For the longest time, I had been kicking around an idea of tutorial videos to help people do dog stuff at home. I started to get questions about the how of dog training and dog sports...and I would try to explain via email or private FB messages how to do various things. The longer I do Train 'Em Tasks, I am learning that not everyone lives in an area like Southern New England where I have access to several dog training facilities within an hour's drive of Tasks HQ. Most people do not have regular access to instructors or training facilities and they are left to try to learn things on their own. Or others may not have the funds to attend classes. And others may have other reasons that classes may not work for them. Once I figured all of that out, I decided that the tutorial videos were something that we needed to do.

I videoed our first one last week and posted it on our Train 'Em Tasks YouTube Channel. I decided to start with AKC (American Kennel Club) Rally Obedience Novice because that is a popular dog sport and most dog and handler teams find it fun and doable at any skill level. I will also post the videos here with some written commentary as well as the actual exercise description featured in the videos.

I will say one thing...we did get one comment on our Facebook Tasks Page which I feel should be addressed due to possible viewer expectations. One person felt the first video was tedious to watch. In this video. Lars and I demonstrated and talked about the Start and Finish signs found on an AKC rally course. I also talked about basics of setting your dog up into heel position and how to correctly place your reward for your dog. . If someone is pretty experienced in obedience or rally...some of these videos might be too basic for them to watch. My target audience are people who are new to the sport/dog training but want to do rally and don't have access to intro to rally classes. If you have lots of dog training experience, some of the Train 'Em Tutorials are going to be rudimentary. But, with that being said, I still encourage people who are experienced to check them out. Just maybe, there could be something in the videos that you might find interesting or helpful. I'm in the camp of we can always learn something...I, by no means, know everything and I'm always looking for new info to help me become a better handler. :)





 Here are the actual exercise descriptions for start and finish:

Sign #1: Start: Indicates the beginning of the course. The dogs does not need to be sitting at the start.

Sign #2: Finish: Indicates the end of the course - timing stops.

The next video we'll do will be Sign #3 which is the Halt sign. We're going to try to do these twice a week if we're not too busy and weather allows. Like I mentioned on the video...if you have questions or problems or comments, please send them to me and the boys. We might do some troubleshooting and problem solving videos too based on questions, problems, or comments. I think this will be a fun project for Tasks and it will help put faces and personalities behind the Train 'Em Tasks products too.

Why "Play" should be in all handlers' training tool boxes

Play is an ability that is much needed in the tool box for any dog trainer, no matter what the sport. It is also very valuable for those dog trainers who are not involved in sports but have their dogs as companions. Despite it being very valuable, not many people put much time into developing play skills with their dog training.

    Whenever I bring up the play discussion and want to see someone play with their dog (who may not necessarily be a "play person"), they do one of two things. The first is they may pet their dog with some verbal praise and that's the end of it. The second thing they might do is wag a toy in front of their dog, then push it into their face...and say "See! My dog doesn't like to play!" The one thing few people do is play like a dog. When you watch dogs play, they stalk, they freeze, they run forward, and they retreat. It's almost like a dance. Some dogs will truly rough house and some will 

Ocean Playing with Dad (and Lars - Party of One)

act like fencing partners never making contact (this is how Lars and Ocean play,) and some will run and run chasing each other playing tag. 

    To create meaningful play with your dog, copy their play style - the advance and the retreat. Gently touch, tap, or push (depending on your dog's personality) your dog and quickly scurry away. Your dog will eventually follow your lead...but if this is something that is totally not your style, it may take them some time. They might be wondering what aliens could have done with their owner! Keep on with this play dance until your dog is very engaged with the game. Make sure you change up what you do...running in different directions, vary your speed, stalk them, making yourself taller and shorter. Be fun! If you are playing the way you dog likes, you will be tired at the end of a play session.

    If getting silly with your dog is something that is far outside of your comfort zone, venture out there and go for it. Play builds solid relationships between the dog and the handler. Play should be a part of your regular training plan and it should happen spontaneously when working with your dog. I, as a trainer, make it a point to make my training and work a game...so the training itself is play. I do play a lot with the boys in between each drill and exercise and try to bring so much enthusiasm to what we're doing they come to love "the game/work." When I do play with Lars and Ocean, a lot of the time I have no toys on me and I do that on purpose. When you are in front of a judge, you have no food and no toys...you can only bring yourself into the ring. So, my play with them involves just me so I "practice" engaging them regularly so it becomes almost second nature when I really need it. Being able to play or motivate with a dog with no toys or no food is worth it's weight in gold and a tool we all should have at our disposal.