Day two with Marie Sawford

Today's Seminar was packed full of training tips. This is likely to get very long winded but I want to get as many tips here as possible for future reference. Marie said that for your competition puppy decide all of your signals for utility right away so that you don't inadvertently teach a conflicting signal that will be confusing when the dog is older.

We started out with Fronts for Puppies, Marie's theory is that a puppy that sits up tall will sit straight. First line yourself up to the puppy don't push and pull the puppy we want the puppy to love this spot, then let them nibble at some food from your hand, keep it high enough that the puppy needs to keep it's head up high without lifting his feet off the ground. Never tell the dog they're wrong when they are in front of you, this must remain the best place in the world. Try not to tower over the puppy ( that is very intimidating) bend your knees and lean back. You want them to always think about traveling in a straight line. Then step back and encourage the pup to return to the perfect spot and nibble, nibble, nibble.

Scent Discrimination for puppies, She started with different coloured tubes like mini m&m or mini skittles containers, pezz dispensers, metal tea balls. Create interest in the object, let the puppy see you fill it up with treats. If they show interest in the tube open it up and give a treat from your hand, toss it around, tease them with it, what ever it takes, rub your own scent on the tube and toss it in with a couple of empty tubes. If they pick up the wrong tube redirect them to the right one by moving it around. When the pick the right one get excited, open it up and feed from your hand. On to OPEN

Drop on Recall, Introduce early in the puppies life a drop from a stand with their elbows dropping first and a roll back in to down position. Once they understand what drop means teach them the correction( gently push down and back on the withers), do not reduce the food until you have a correction in place. Then do many drops in motion. Marie teaches the drop on recall using a target and clicker her theory is that it is hard to creep with their chin on the floor. If they want to pick it up anticipate this and click as he's approaching the target to interrupt the thought of picking it up. Feed the treat in the down motion as taught earlier they will quickly see target and drop on it. Once this happens now you can toss the treat past the target say get it so they are approaching you to drop on target. Once the behaviour is learnt add the drop command then fade out the target by cutting it smaller and smaller. Continue with this in many environments. Marie uses a different command for the come towards target then she uses front from drop to in front of her.

Dumbell, start with a dumbell that has a longer post. In competition a dumbell can be any material except metal. How can you tell if your dumbell is the wrong size? If the dog leaves a wet spot on the floor( a long streak, they are scooping it up, a round spot, they pick it up from the top and their nose is hitting). If they are picking it up with their teeth and then flipping it back. If they pick it up on the side. For a dog with big lips that get in the way try tapered ends and shorter post that push the lips out of the way so they don't bite their lips. Make sure there's no sharp corners that could poke them in the eye. Trouble shooting, A dog that kicks the dumbell with his feet, try your retrieves against a wall or in a V of chicken wire fence or have another person advance on the dumbell as the dog is approaching. Or do the retrieve around an object ( chair) For the dog that scans the crowd and comes back slow do the retrieve on leash and let the dog learn that the retrieve to you is the best part. Praise when the new action your teaching occurs, break off formal body posture by walking up and taking the dumbell from him so that you don't think your praising one action and the dog thinks your praising a different behaviour that you don't want.

to be continued........

Fun and Games a Marie Sawford Seminar

I went to a seminar presented by Marie Sawford in Belleville today. First on the agenda was Games for Obedience. We started with healing with a spin so the dog can relax and have fun. Spin the dog on your left and keep on walking, he has to hurry to catch up and give treat in heal position. Next was the Leg wrap, this game will tighten about turns and increase drive on right turns and outside circle of the figure 8. First teach the dog to wrap around your left leg and back to heal position then increase the challange by throwing in an about turn first followed by a leg wrap. Jump Back fronts was a fun way to work on straight fronts while keeping the dog's attitude up allowing for more repetitions.. With the recall game you toss food between your legs during your recall then take off running in the opposite direction, repeat 3 times then call your dog to front. You can also do this by throwing the dumbell between your legs on the third time or another variation is to add a drop on recall to the sequence. When healing we did some skipping the dogs loved this and some started skipping themselves. At a competition you can spin and skip to the start line or skip between exercises and even skip for your fast pace. To increase drive on our about turns we did a motivational about turn . As your dog is approaching the about turn rev them up by saying arrrrre youuuu reaaaaady then do your about turn and take off running when your dog catches up to you reward in heal position. Next Stand with your dog standing between your legs rev him up, then push him back and take off running again reward when he finds heal position. In the afternoon she showed us stuff for the competition puppy like tuck sits, back drops and kick back stands, with these the front feet do not move. Marie said to practice on slippery surfaces, on inclines or even on a pile of dog beds. for the stand practice at the top of the stairs. She even starts puppies with dumbell work, jumps and scent work. Tomorrow the seminar will continue with some foundation training and Open, Utility and Novice work. I can't wait.