I’ve experimented with various systems/plans for tracking training sessions and making rough (or detailed) plans towards our goals. I’ve also had various ways to roughly track student progress to be sure group classes and private lesson clients are making appropriate progress – and to see if changes to the lessons Read more…
I was at a 4-H event last month and got to meet lots of 4-H dog project families from all over the state – even some from my area. Viktor did great during his short visits inside – lots of new people, dogs, kids, and activity. I was very excited Read more…
I’ve been reading dog things online for a long time. Many of the blogs I used to read no longer updated or are now more businessy than sharing/recording training. In the last year I’ve also started reading some horse blogs – and what I’ve found is that the horse blogs Read more…
In the past I rarely used a dog to help with demonstrations. Concerns: Part of it was that my dogs weren’t really appropriate (Blaze – unpredictable/impulsive, Luna – nervous, Griffin – not trained in manners), part of it is that my dogs weren’t trained to be calm and present until their Read more…
Last week at the 4-H Judge’s Seminar, I talked with a few parents and advisors who were struggling to get their teams to be comfortable and confident in the ring. I mentioned that I had a set of activities/curriculum that I use for my 4-H’ers and competition class students. When Read more…
Take a look at yesterday’s post about the training steps I use for teaching this exercise. When working on a lesson plan/training plan, my goal was to have it be as much positive reinforcement as possible and minimize the use of negative punishment. The natural tendency for most people is Read more…
In class tonight we discussed what to do when other family members don’t cooperate with the training plan. The problem: Mom brings the dog to class. She knows some of his naughty behaviors at home are just ways to get attention…like grabbing things and running around. The other family Read more…
Fluency is an important aspect of learning a skill. The really casual way of defining fluency would be to say that you “know how to do [the skill]”. Consider a kid who just tied his shoe for the first time with a lot of guidance and prompting. And think about Read more…
Last weekend Denise Fenzi was in Ohio to present two days on “Drives and Motivation for All Sports” and one day of “Problem Solving.” I especially enjoyed all the obedience enthusiasts and all of the golden retrievers present! Denise is a great presenter, many of the attendees had attended multiple Read more…
Background: Recently a dog owner came to class with the goal of getting the dog to walk without pulling. This adult dog had recently been retired as a conformation dog. He had spent several years being trained to put a significant amount of steady pressure on the leash, out ahead Read more…