We’re attending a very long seminar with Guy Penning, an experienced clicker trainer from Belgium. Most of the attendees would like to compete in various dog sports and some of them are already competing.
A quick summary of our learning:
1) Most of the problems are related to a poor foundation. Handlers are not requiring enough self control early on . They sometimes are letting poor behaviors slide due to the club environment that most people train in. Poor behavior in one area impacts everything else.
2) Make it simple. For some reason people like complex solutions. Take a moment to see what your dog is really getting out of the training session. Can the training be simplified?
3) Look at what you want. Don’t train in things you won’t want later. If you’re competing, know the rules so that you can train within those standards. Watch what your dog is doing.
Griffin has done some good work and some less good work. Blaze and Luna have been (fairly) quiet all day at the event, I’m very happy with that, it’s so much more convenient for them to go with me than for me to be worired about them escaping from a petsitter. We still have some more days of training, it’s going to be great to see what everyone accomplishes and learns.