C-Spot Win

I had a great week at C-Spot Win Camp in Laramie, Wyoming. My elective was Weaves and Contacts, however the Weaves where not addressed as much as the Rachel Sanders running contact. Clean Run Magazine May 2008 had a full article about Rachel's running contact training. I am going to train it with Ryker on the A-Frame and see if he can do it. I am hoping it will fix his up contact.
Dana Pike, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, Stephanie Spyr, Gerry Brown, Ronda Carter all had some nice challenging excercises for our group. They were all very patient and funny. 4 days was not enough for me. I am planning on returning to C-Spot Win next year.

2009 Clicker EXPO

2009 Clicker EXPO locations and dates have been announced. They will be Jan. 16-18, 2009 Austin, TX and March 27-29, 2009Providence, RI
Texas would be my choice. I will wait and see who they are going to have. Kay Laurence would be the one I would go for. Kathy Sdao has been great and I would want to go see her again and of course Ken Ramirez. Will see what else is going to happen in 2009.

One Jump Training

The great thing about one jump training is
a) you only need one jump
b) you can do it in a small space.
Start out by shaping the jump (no bar). If done correctly the dog will love going through the uprights of the jump. Progress to the full jump height of the dog. I have been training this with Ryker to teach him not to knock the bar and he has greatly improved. Other exercises that helped are jump grids that are constantly adjusted in distance and height to make him think of where his takeoff points are. I am also doing these exercises with Ryddick to avoid having problems like I have with Ryker. Other important exercises are for the dog to read your body cues correctly. When to collect, when to extend, which jump to take first and where to go next, turns, pushes, pushes, FC and RC. Pretty easy, NOT.

Clicker Training made Simple

1. Click WHILE your dog is doing what you want.
2. Always give a treat after you click.
3. Treat as soon as possible after the click.

CU Class

I have decided to continue the CU class and start adding some agility elements to it. We have 3 new attendees to the group, and that is good for the repeat comers. New dogs, new people, no big deal. The issues of the dogs that are in class are, shy, fear with some fear aggression, inattentive, reactive. A bit of everything. I am trying to juggle the needs of Ryddick while I am helping others with some of the exercises they have to accomplish with their dogs. It is not impossible and I am actually doing a bit more crate work with him. Sure helps that everybody has read the book and is open to learn.

Needful Things

Handler
Dog
Clicker
Treats
Toys
Collar
Leash
Easy Walk Harness
Halti or Gentle Leader

10 Most Common Clicker Training Myths

1. The clicker is a fad or gimmick
2. Clicker training is to difficult for the average person so learn and understand.
3. +R (positive reinforcement) takes much longer than traditional, force-based training.
4. On training, the dog should never be given a choice
5. Clicker training is too difficult because you must always have a clicker with you
6. Clicker trained dogs won't work without food
7. Behaviors taught using the clicker aren't as reliable as behaviors taught using force
8. Clicker trainers let their dogs get away with bad behaviors
9. Clicker training won't work for behavior problems like barking and aggression
10. Clicker training does not teach dogs proper relationships with their humans