I’ll be helping with a one hour ‘foundation training skills’ talk at an event next year.
But what is a foundation skill? My friend dictionary.com defines foundation as “the basis or groundwork of anything.”
The challenge is that different trainers have completely different foundation skills. Some want the dog to look at the handler, heel, sit, down, stay, come. Others want targeting, go to mat, and offered behaviors. Obedience foundation behaviors are different from agility foundation behaviors which are different from a pet dog’s foundation behaviors. The foundation I want for my dog is different from the foundation that someone else wants. How can we talk about foundation skills when it’s not at all universal?
For this talk, with this audience, and knowing their goals, I’ve picked out five foundation pieces. I’ll list those five in a few days. In the meantime, any guesses?