Watch the Weather

Please keep an eye on the weather.  If we are having storms we won't be having class.

Update : I plan on setting up a rally course in the 4H building tonight unless it's really terrible. If you are worried about having a storm hit while you are out and your dog not reacting well, feel free to sit the night out.

Trick Class #5-Learning to Crawl

Once again, we had a great class.  Every single dog that came learned to crawl.  We also took some time to reinforce "down" as a preliminary to crawl.

As you can see, from the pictures, great fun was had by all.

Next week will be our last trick class, and everyone will have a chance to show off what they learned in class, as well as any special tricks they might have learned at home.

The handout for class #5 can be found here.

Max crawling across the floor

Shamrock eagerly awaiting a handout

Roxi getting some love from her daddy

Clicker Tricks 3/14/13

What a great job everyone did teaching their partners to target on a "handkerchief" and "steal" it from their pockets! You can find the handout for tonight's class here

By now most of the dogs understand the clicker, showing that you have been working at home with them.  Tonight everyone walked away with a good base for stealing the handkerchief.  This is a multi-step process for some that will take time.  Keep practicing!  Remember that most of the dogs will concentrate better at home where they are comfortable and there are less distractions. Don't get discouraged.  It only takes a few minutes at a time, multiple times a day.  You might walk away thinking "They just don't get it" and the next time you try suddenly they've got it!

Many dogs are learning other tricks (such as paws up on a ball) and social skills.  Anything you and your dog learn is plus, so be proud of all that you have accomplished!

I had a great time giving my teaching skills a try, thanks to Mark, our local ""Dog Whisperer".  However I'm looking forward to Kim being back next week.

Next week our dogs will learn to "Crawl".

Trick Class #3

This week, our trick consisted of "gimme five". The trick went very well, and most of the dogs picked up a very vigorous high five by the end of the class;most of the dogs would shake, so the transition to up high went very quickly.  Unfortunately, both classes were about half size due to the snow.  

We did take advantage of the small class size and fast learning to do some individual work with the dogs.  We got some very nice downs using the clicker, and on a few of the dogs, we backtracked a bit and returned to target training.  I think everyone needs more practice sessions at home to help the dogs really grasp the whole idea of the clicker game, and to get them to start showing us some behaviors we can shape.

The hand out for tonight can be found here  Next week we will be doing a pick pocket trick with a bandana and a sneeze as the cue.  

We also had our second dog bowl meeting, which went well despite the weak turn out.  The next meeting will be in a month.

Tricks and Clicks Class 2

Last week was our first night of tricks and clicks, and we spent most of the time going over the how and why of clickers, charging the clickers, and starting some target training. However, it was very crowded and somewhat stressful,  having approximately fifteen dogs, and two people per pet.

This week,  we split the class in half,  and things went much more smoothly. We started out reviewing what we learned in the last class, then moved on to rolling a ball, which seemed to be split 50/50 between dogs getting into it, and dogs being too stressed to focus on the exercise. We even had a few potential soccer dogs in class. 

The next trick was "give me a kiss". All of the dogs enjoyed this one.  Some of the kids were a bit less enthused. The dogs had fun, and the kids had shiny faces by the time the dogs got done with them.

You can find the class handout for this week here. It describes how we taught the tricks,  and a few extra tips applicable to training in general.

Next week, we will be previewing what we've done so far, and learning how to teach "give me five".