It was interesting that something on my priority training list for Griffin was a main feature of a lesson last night. The owner was in agility class and had done a lot of classes before elsewhere. The dog was great with equipment supposedly, but lacked focus. So despite being in Read more…
Dr Debbie Gross Saunders wrote this book. She’s known for her numerous articles in CleanRun and some of the other great things she’s produced for dog enthusiasts. This is something I got from the school library to read/flip through. It’s not the most entertaining thing to read, but definitely full Read more…
Has anyone else noticed that people use different words to describe food reinforcers? Treats: This is what I usually say. I try to say “reinforcer” when talking about everything in general, but when we’re talking about a specific activity and the owner is using food… “treat.” Or I’m specific “Feed Read more…
Yesterday during training we used the A Frame early on and were told he was missing the contacts. I didn’t think he was on those reps…for the most part, he’s been reliable and I make more errors than he does. The first part of this video is of a session Read more…
Today we met with friends to do some training. Griffin was better than expected in some ways but he really wanted to sniff everything. We know that people are going to be a huge distraction for him (more so than dogs!). So…we trained for it. Initially our helper (one of Read more…
As of today, body harness (not front clip harnesses) may be used in CGC testing. Evaluators ALSO may state that a particular piece of equipment that is allowed by the CGC rules, may NOT be used in his/her classes and testing. It’s great to see some changes to the program Read more…
On Saturday the goldens and I went to a tracking workshop. I took Blaze and Griffin… and was intending to flip a coin to determine the working dog. But, it ended up being activities I thought Griffin would get more out of. I intended to work Blaze when we did Read more…
Today Blaze helped to teach vet students how to restrain and get lateral recumbency. Meaning the dog ends up flat on his side! Nine years ago before a show, it took at least 4-5 people to hold Blaze down to get his nails clipped. And today he was calm while Read more…
I was very excited about this book, a textbook on animal training! A new one! Carrots and Sticks, Principles of Animal Training by Paul McGreevy and Robert Boakes is a 2007 book that is a very science based look at training. The layout is great. They use a ton of Read more…