Thanks to everyone that came out last night to play!  I really enjoyed meeting everyone and their dogs for our mixed Advanced Obedience class!  Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves and learned something.  I think it is safe to say the humans realized they had probably more work to do than the dogs!  Its all about teamwork and working together to the same goal, no matter what it is.  To recap from last night:

• Work on walking in a straight line (harder than it sounds!)
• Work on turning left with the proper foot work
• Work on engaging and learning how to excite/motivate your dog
• Study up on the Rally signs if you wanted to (see link below)
• Try working on motivators and experiment with what makes your dog "turn on" and "turn off"
• Work on introducing food from different hands or positions
• Introduce advanced heeling methods as detailed in the article in the post before this one

Remember to have fun and if you don't get to all of these, that's OK!  I like to give a nice list for you to pick from so you don't get bored or frustrated if one thing isn't working for you.

Links that might help (credit to their respective owners and websites):
AKC RALLY REGULATIONS/RULES/SIGN DESCRIPTIONS
AKC RALLY SIGNS AND DESCRIPTIONS (Simplified!)
Rally Footwork Video by AKC Rally Judge Ruth McCaulley

Just a quick drop in for today!

Janice Gunn of TNT Kennels has an amazing presence in the competition obedience world and I love that she works her dogs with focus, fun, and enthusiasm!  Her DVDs are really great guides for step by step training and problem solving.  She also is a HUGE advocate of proofing, which is something no one can ever do enough of.  Again, its fun and with purpose.  So for today, she announced that an article originally published in DogSport Magazine is now available, and I highly recommend it!

It details her methods for teaching heeling and is VERY easy to work on in bite sized pieces whether you are outside, in your house, or walking around the block!  Check it out below!

Janice Gunn's Heeling 101

Howdy and welcome to this edition of DogJoy Blog!

Starting NOW I'm going to be doing regular blogs about dog training, dogs, and things I think of that relate to the aforementioned topics.  I will be covering training techniques, training and other dog books, animal behavior ideas and how they relate to our beloved pets, and discussing things I find that might help you think about your training in a new way and hopefully inspire you to work outside your comfort zone.

Or just find that zone!

Variety is what keeps training fun and therefore means that you do it regularly.  Even more important is learning how to fit it into your daily life so you're not even AWARE that you're training.  The most successful trainers (at any level) are the ones that can master this.  And yes, training on your couch or bed totally counts as long as you keep several things in mind:

Observation
Consistency
Logical Progression
Honesty

We will talk more about these ideas later, but trust me, there are plenty of ways to train your dog while watching TV or cooking dinner!  Stay tuned, subscribe to this page, and sit back and enjoy yourself! 

Your dog will thank you!