Polished Performance Series – Part I

Class Description

4 Week Course

Love training your dog? Does everything look great until you get to a match or show? Wondering how to get from “here”, your training building, to “there”, a polished ring performance? Here is the class, well a series of classes actually, to help you! In this, the first of a series of classes, we will take a look at the first four foundations to your performance, engagement when you want to train, getting your dog to love going in the ring, heeling and stay behaviors.

Week 1: Engagement training

Do you have a different dog on the road then at home? More distracted? Less able to focus on what you are asking? This is normal! All dogs need to learn to engage with their trainer in new places and guess what? It becomes easier and easier the more you practice! This is the week we look at increasing your value to your dog in new places.

Week 2: Confident Ring Entrances

Does your dog just love the stewards? Wants to jump all over them? Maybe your dog is fearful of the stewards/judges/ring gates, and it is stressful to have them enter the ring. Both of these problems can lead to a stressful start to any performance. Confident ring entrances start you and your dog off to a great performance, so we train them!

Week 3: Heeling

Heeling is Montana! Big, huge and lots of territory to cover! Most heeling issues can lead from handlers lumping together skill sets and criteria and then not knowing how to break down the skills for their dogs. In this week’s class we cover the different criteria that are in play in heeling and get a training plan going for you and your dog to have your best heeling ever.

Week 4: Stays

Hate them or love them, they are a huge part of your performance in obedience. Make sure that your dog understands them and is motivated to want to stay. Making it fun for the team is important, or you won’t practice them, and stays need practice. This week we focus on making sure those stays are fun for you and the dog.