Day 1: Friday Oct. 6
“He does it perfectly at home, but I can’t replicate the trial environment!” If you’ve ever said that about your dog’s performance, you are in the right place. In this lecture, Megan will outline her process of preparing dogs for the competition ring without needing the actual ring, all of the equipment, people, or the busy environment.
It’s no secret that there is a big gap between training and trialing, which needs a bridge built between. Bridging that gap is all about fine-tuning your routines, reducing reinforcement, and layering in distractions and different levels of arousal.
Whether you’re a seasoned competitor or a beginner to dog sports, this presentation will help you see training from a new perspective and take your training to the next level. You have the power to prepare your team for competition even with limited resources.
Not an agility competitor? No problem! While the focus is on dog agility, the concepts are applicable to any dog sports competition. This lecture is highly recommended for those attending other Ring Prep without the Ring working labs during the conference and is suitable for all levels.
The goal of this session is to introduce your dog to the idea that rewards can be out of your hands, out of your pocket, and at a distance!
To do this we will be working with what is referred to as a “Zen bowl”- a small dish or lid on which a single reward (or small handful of rewards) is placed. The dogs will get started on being able to focus on you or “work” and willingly leave their reward of food (or a toy) they know they can grab at any time!
In this session we will discuss some motivation issues, why it happens, and what you can do about it. We will go over several games to help unleash your dog’s inner feral beast.
Fun games = DRIVE!
The things we need the most are often the things we train the least. A large part of being successful in performance sports is our dogs’ ability to work in the presence of external stimuli – what we often call “distractions.”
Performance skills can quickly degrade when our dogs aren’t practiced at maintaining attention and focus in difficult environments or under difficult circumstances. Not having these skills can decrease confidence in both the dog and the handler. They are the cement that holds our performances together and can mean the difference between a rock-solid performance and just getting by.
In this session, we will isolate and practice games and exercises that increase your dog’s desire to maintain attention and focus, turn attractions in the environment into cues to look to you and teach our dogs that it’s all part of a fun game. It’s not magic, it’s training!
Tricks aren’t just for fun anymore! This lab will focus on training tricks that offer more than meets the eye. Each of the tricks taught is specially picked for improving body awareness, developing critical thinking skills or for strengthening specific muscle groups.
Sara will talk about looking deeper into behaviors traditionally taught for entertainment to see how they can help you reach your training goals. Join us and see what tricks are hidden up our sleeves, you won’t be disappointed!
In this “Introduction to ODE” session, Sharon will discuss the Offered Durational Engagement (ODE) pattern and the 10-step ODE protocol. There are no pre-requisite skills for teams in the working spots. For teams that have already established the initial ODE pattern and/or have worked through the higher steps of the protocol, consider joining Sharon’s other session – “Working through the higher levels of the ODE protocol: Adding in distractions / ‘triggers.’”
About Offered Durational Engagement (ODE)
When our dog perceives a stimulus that interests or concerns them, a portion of their attention shifts to that stimulus. At this point we may only see evidence of “split focus” (i.e. glancing away from us and the task, responding more slowly to our cues, missing cues, performing an “incorrect” behavior, etc.), or our dog may perform a large reaction that we perceive as inappropriate or extreme (e.g. lunging, barking, whining, squealing, leaping, leaving us and rushing to the stimulus, attempts to run away, unable to respond to our cues in the presence of the stimulus, etc.).
Our dog’s response to the stimulus may be driven by emotion (e.g. fear, excitement, frustration, etc.), it may be driven by instinct (e.g. prey drive, etc.), or it may occur due to prior learning (i.e. expectation of a specific outcome, or a previously formed habit).
Offered Durational Engagement (ODE) is a simple pattern that forms the foundations for a 10-step protocol. For dogs responding due to emotions, the protocol helps to reduce the intensity of their feelings and hence their response. For dogs responding due to instinct or habit, the protocol helps our dog to find time to think between the stimulus and their response, so instead of going from stimulus to the existing automatic response, our dog is able to think before responding. This allows them to choose an alternative behavior to the existing inappropriate or extreme response. We can then ensure that our dog perceives the new response as more rewarding than the original response.
ODE is useful as both a behavior modification protocol for reactivity, as well a protocol for helping our competition dogs build their skills for comfortably ignoring and dismissing people / dogs / movement / sounds in the competition environment.
In this lecture session, I’ll be going over the Play Way system itself, beyond just the how-to of the play itself, and into why we want it to be a conversation, what doors that opens for both reducing stress and pressure and allowing you to know a lot more about whether you’re over threshold or not.
We’ll also look at the principles of Look and Dismiss (LAD), and the ways we practice it on simple things so dogs get fluency in the skill and have it as a strategy!
Come learn how to apply Play Way in setups to facilitate new learning!
Do you walk courses and find that you don’t execute those handling decisions when you run your dog because you are not in
position or you mistimed a turning cue? Then this session is for you. Learn how to use those 8 minutes of your walk through
to develop a plan that you can successfully execute.
Teams will then have a chance to run the course with feedback.
We love that “breakthrough” moment, when the dog figures out that their motions make us click. Trainers get reinforced because it’s so cool when our dogs do that! And… on and on, to shaping heaven, until you’re preparing to trial and there is a moment of stillness and suddenly the dog is offering all the things – legs and feet dancing around, head moving. – not exactly the steady position changes you were hoping for!
Join Shade as we teach our dogs the difference between verbal stimulus control sessions and offering/shaping sessions. We’ll teach them that stillness, (a stand by / stand and wait behavior), is a good thing, and how to add a cue to shaped behaviors without the frustration of waiting through an extinction burst of “all the things”.
Experience Level-some knowledge of shaping required.
The Fenzi TEAM Titles program uses these items throughout its levels to teach basic foundation skills… but they needn’t be limited to just the foundations. Come and learn how to use these simple props to convey and create an understanding of distance work and holding positions.
Plus, learn how to inject FUN using the equipment and how to use Strategic Reward Placement for setups and maintaining rhythm to gain and create behavior loops for added consistency in your training.
Are you struggling to maintain your dog’s focus during training or trials?
Common reasons dogs disconnect include:
-Dog isn’t mentally ready to work
-Distractions are too much for the dog
-The handler disconnects from the dog
-The dog doesn’t understand generalization
-The dog disconnects after a reward
Thankfully, there’s something we can do: we can play games that are fun and instill naturally focussed attention that will hold up in challenging environments—even the competition ring.
During this session, we’ll dive into why your dog disconnects. Then, you’ll learn a variety of games that prevent your dog from disconnecting and reduce the chance that your dog will disconnect in the future.
Finally, you will learn how to observe and listen to your dog through the different games. If your dog is telling you it’s too hard, you’ll know while playing the games, before you ever ask for behaviors!
Join Nicole to achieve better connection with your dog!
Leash handling is a skill. Matching the dog’s pace, anticipating changes of direction, avoiding leash tangles, managing the length of line, and anchoring at just the right moment are hallmarks of top nose work competitors. But these dance moves don’t come naturally. They have to be practiced.
In this session we are going to focus on leash skills, two in particular: anticipating choice points as the dog moves through the search area, and providing a pivot point when needed to set subtle boundaries to support the dog’s ability to work efficiently and effectively. Dogs should already be on odor, and familiar with multi-hide searches in novel environments.
This session will focus on getting your dog to understand, once cued to take a jump, that they should stay committed… NO MATTER WHAT.
How awesome would it be to be able to have 100 percent confidence that your dog will never pull off a jump again?
This lab will help you develop excellent toy play with your dog. Denise will introduce both the mechanics and the qualities of the dog-human interaction that can make toy play either highly enjoyable for both parties or an absolute misery. Toy play is not simple! It is fascinating and complex and subtle and, best of all, it can be learned!
Whether your dog shows absolutely no interest in toys or is a rabid tugger who simply refuses to return to re-engage, Denise can improve your game.
Ready to conquer real world distractions with your dog? This lab will go over a step by step process for determining when a behavior is ready to be subjected to distraction, how to properly introduce different distractions as well as what to do when your plan fails. The world is a crazy place, let’s make sure those trial behaviors are ready for it!
Looking to add some paw-zazz into your sport training? Wanting to try something new, yet familiar? Thinking it’s time to push your Rally skills to a new level?
Rally-FrEe is a rockin’ sport that emphasizes the precise execution of fundamental freestyle and obedience skills while encouraging creative and novel behaviors, all on a Rally style course! Come learn about this cool titling sport embraced by dog sport enthusiasts all over the world!
When your sports dog is injured, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis. This gives you the best chance of getting your dog back to competition as soon as possible. In this lecture, we will discuss:
- What do we mean by “accurate diagnosis?”
- Why is it important?
- What is the best way to get an accurate diagnosis?
- What can you do if you can’t get one?
- What is the role of rehabilitation practitioners in getting a diagnosis?
I will also demonstrate things you can do with your dog now to help you if your dog is ever injured.
Questions, including questions about your dog(s), will be welcome.
In this session we will use the ODE protocol to help our dog build their skills for ignoring distractions / “triggers” (people / dogs / movement / sound). We will also discuss how and when to implement the final steps of the protocol (i.e. adding in reinforced alternative behaviors, and increasing arousal up to optimal levels for work without our dog reverting to focusing on the stimulus/trigger).
The working spots in this session are perfectly suited to any team that has started working with the ODE protocol previously. There is no requirement to have achieved a certain skill level though, just some previous practice of step 1 or above.
About Offered Durational Engagement (ODE)
When our dog perceives a stimulus that interests or concerns them, a portion of their attention shifts to that stimulus. At this point we may only see evidence of “split focus” (i.e. glancing away from us and the task, responding more slowly to our cues, missing cues, performing an “incorrect” behavior, etc.), or our dog may perform a large reaction that we perceive as inappropriate or extreme (e.g. lunging, barking, whining, squealing, leaping, leaving us and rushing to the stimulus, attempts to run away, unable to respond to our cues in the presence of the stimulus, etc.).
Our dog’s response to the stimulus may be driven by emotion (e.g. fear, excitement, frustration, etc.), it may be driven by instinct (e.g. prey drive, etc.), or it may occur due to prior learning (i.e. expectation of a specific outcome, or a previously formed habit).
Offered Durational Engagement (ODE) is a simple pattern that forms the foundations for a 10-step protocol. For dogs responding due to emotions, the protocol helps to reduce the intensity of their feelings and hence their response. For dogs responding due to instinct or habit, the protocol helps our dog to find time to think between the stimulus and their response, so instead of going from stimulus to the existing automatic response, our dog is able to think before responding. This allows them to choose an alternative behavior to the existing inappropriate or extreme response. We can then ensure that our dog perceives the new response as more rewarding than the original response.
ODE is useful as both a behavior modification protocol for reactivity, as well a protocol for helping our competition dogs build their skills for comfortably ignoring and dismissing people / dogs / movement / sounds in the competition environment.
Do you run your own pet-related business? If you’re a dog trainer, groomer, or another pet professional with your own business and you struggle with marketing, this session is for you.
Whether you’re new and trying to figure out where to start, have been marketing your business for a while and just aren’t seeing results, or have enjoyed a ton of success but need to figure out what’s working and what’s not, in this lecture/lab we’ll cover where most people go wrong, evaluate what’s working for you now (and what’s not), and discuss new ideas for improving the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
You’ll walk away with a better understanding of how marketing works and new ideas for bringing in new clients.
This lab will be an intensive focus on the Figure Eight exercise found in Novice and Open obedience, and all levels of Rally.
Nancy will discuss and refine the skills necessary for a focused, precise, and joyful performance. Both handling skills and dog skills will be covered. Nancy will show you how she strategically builds the exercise once dogs have mastered good heeling skills. She will not be covering heeling foundation skills, so working teams should have good heeling fundamentals before attending.
In order to solve complex odor problems in complex environments, a search dog needs a strong, “can do” spirit. Some dogs seem born with this spirit, but in reality, learning through experience is a powerful force for all. Mazes, 3D challenges, and barrier work provide fun opportunities for dogs to learn that there are many roads to success.
In this session, come give your dog the opportunity to learn that persistence pays off, and pushing a little harder to get to source is always worth the effort. Dogs should already be on odor.
Play is your best stress reliever! Have you ever thought about what play would look like if you didn’t have a toy to play with? Have you ever thought about playing with your food instead of handing it over? Play, especially play that doesn’t involve toys, is often something we don’t explore with our dogs, but it’s really a useful skill for making your dog feel better!
Developing a good personal play relationship with your dog will allow you to play anywhere and reduce your dog’s stress levels (and maybe yours!). Additionally, playing with food raises its value and introduces dogs unfamiliar with play to the the kinds of body language play has. Come play with us!
Students get to work one on one with Shade on the topic of their choice. It is best if they’ve taken one of her classes!
In this session, teams will work through the process of generalization and proofing that is required for behaviors to hold up under the context of a competition.
Everything from the car ride to the rewards you use to the judge in the ring can impact your team’s arousal level. This impact can cause our precious sports behaviors to break down and “trial-only” problems are quickly developed. How can we improve our training in order to get in front of this common problem? I’m going to show you during this working session! It’s my goal to shift your focus from “I need to calm them down” to “I need to train them to be precise in high arousal” – after all, the entire team will be aroused on the day of the competition!
The process is simple:
1. Write down everything you need your dog to do in the ring and the conditions you need them to be successful in.
2. Split those behaviors into replicable pieces.
3. Turn the dials on those pieces up to recognizable but unlikely situations.
I said simple, not easy. The process does take commitment and creativity on the part of the trainer. Not sure how that should look? Join this working session to see the process in action! Attendance at the Ring Prep Without the Ring lecture is encouraged!
Working participants should have one well-known skill that can be completed on cue without a reward present. Equipment available: jump, tunnel. (contacts/weaves TBD) Other behaviors we can work on: leash removal, start-line stay, and leashing up at the end of a run.