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| CONFIDENCE CLASS / INTRO TO AGILITY HOMEWORK |
| Confidence Class / Intro to Agility: Week 1 Homework You are the trainer! You get what you and your family put into your dog. Everyone in the household must agree to work together and come up with ONE set of rules for your dog. SIT: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog sit politely beside you. Hold one treat under your thumb with your palm facing up. Slowly lure your hand over your dog’s nose and up back over your dog’s head. Keep your hand at dog’s nose level to prevent your dog from jumping. As the dog’s head rocks back, their behind should go into a sit. Immediately click & treat (now called C & T) when your dog sits. Repeat several times and try luring your dog to sit in several different locations around your house. ATTENTION: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog’s attention on you. Stand up straight. Touch a treat to your dog’s nose and then move the treat between your eyes. When your dog looks up, C & T! Slowly increase the amount of time your dog is looking up at you by talking quietly to your dog. This will help keep your dog’s focus on you! SURFACE TRAINING: It is very important for your dogs to learn how to walk on various surfaces. Practice walking them on concrete, bricks, gravel, uneven surfaces, up ramps, stairs, etc. This week, work on exposing your dog to as many surfaces as possible. Work your obedience commands on various surfaces - make sure your dog will lie down on a tile floor, a wet floor, etc. The more you expose them to in a positive and gentle manner, the better they will be at agility and the more confident they will be in life! ACCEPTING A FRIENDLY STRANGER: It is very important to have your dog allow a friendly stranger to approach it and speak to their owner in a natural, everyday situation. Practice having friendly people walk up to you and greet you in a friendly manner, while ignoring your dog. If your dog does well, have the person even shake your hand or hug you - rewarding your dog for every positive behavior they show. If your dog shows any shyness or resentment, ignore them until they relax and praise them when they are calm. SITTING POLITELY FOR PETTING: Your dog should allow a friendly stranger to touch it while it is out for an outing with you. With your dog sitting at your side, have someone gently pet your dog on their head or body. If your dog shows any shyness or resentment, have the person back up and wait until your dog seems more relaxed. Work this at your dog’s level - do not push your dog to be comfortable - this is a slow and steady process. WALKING THROUGH A CROWD Your dog should move about politely in pedestrian traffic while under control in public places. We will gradually increase your dog’s confidence in new surroundings. Your dog may show some interest in the strangers but should continue to walk with you without over-exuberance, shyness or resentment. Confidence Class / Intro to Agility: Week 2 Homework You are the trainer! You get what you and your family put into your dog. Everyone in the household must agree to work together and come up with ONE set of rules for your dog. Each family member must use the same hand signals and verbal commands. Always begin and end your training session on a positive note. Please be patient and don’t train if you are in a bad mood! The Clicker: The timing of the click is very important. The click marks the correct behavior and the reward must be given immediately after the click. Remember, the click ends the behavior, so your dog should get up after you click! Think: Click, treat. Click, treat! STAND: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog standing still. With one treat, lure your dog into a sit (as explained above). When dog sits, do NOT C & T, instead quickly place your palm at your dog’s nose, slowly luring the dog from a sit into a stand. C & T! Your hand should be flat at the dog’s nose - and keep it stationary. We don’t want your dog walking, but simply standing up in place. Repeat several times and try luring your dog to stand in several different locations around your house. RECALL: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog come when called. Get your dog’s attention on you by saying his name and “COME” in an excited voice. C & T on the FIRST step your dog takes toward you. Your dog should love to come to you, so make it fun, be exciting, and give lots of praise every time! NEVER call your dog to do something they don’t like! (such as nail trimming, going into their crate, etc.) In those cases, just go and get your dog. A fun recall game (and a great way to tire your dog out!): Have one person at each end of a hallway or room all armed with treats and call your dog back and forth. Get your dog used to listening to EVERY member of the family! DOGGIE MASSAGE: The goal is to have your dog comfortable when handled. We all want to have a dog that we can safely handle. Practice giving your dog daily massages - touch their face, open their mouth, touch their ears, legs, feet, toes, nails, tails, stomachs, etc. You want to keep your hands nice and slow and keep your dog very calm. They should enjoy their massage and it will help them feel comfortable with you handling their entire body. GENTLE RESTRAINT: The goal is to teach your dog to accept being restrained. Every dog will need to be restrained sometime in their life. At a grooming appointment, vet appointment, or for you to trim their nails, clean their ears, etc. We need to teach our dogs to accept this restraint. Start by just holding your puppy - if they squirm, wiggle, or fuss, just ignore them and wait for them to be calm. Once they are calm, C & T and release them. COLLAR WORK: The goal is to teach your dog to accept their collar. Many dogs dislike wearing their collar or being touched around their collar. To teach your dog to accept their collar being touched, put on, taken off, or grabbed, we practice this exercise. Start by simply touching your dogs collar, then C & T. Work up until you can handle your dog by their collar with no fuss or fight. Confidence Class / Intro to Agility: Week 3 Homework Reward good behavior! Even if you haven’t asked your dog, tell him you like what he’s doing if he offers a polite behavior by using a C & T, verbal praise, and patting. STAND FOR EXAM: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog tolerate you or a stranger giving him an exam. He should be calm and stand still. Your dog should be comfortable being examined by a groomer, the vet, or by you & your family. For this exercise, ask your dog to “Stand.” Have a really great treat in your hand and allow your dog to nibble on it. While he’s are focusing on the treat, take your free hand and run it down your dog’s back. Once he is comfortable with this, begin to lift his leg, touch his ears, face, stomach, tail, etc. Keep your hands very slow and calm - it will make your dog feel more secure. ATTENTION: Hold the treat at your nose like you’ve been practicing. Now we want to teach your dog he gets the C & T when he looks in your eyes, not at the treat! Hold the treat 3 inches away from your face. Your dog will look at the treat. Allow him to figure it out on his own! Don’t call or talk to the dog, have patience and when he looks in your eyes, C & T! RECALL: Practice these fun recall games everywhere - inside, outside, at the park, etc! 1. Popcorn Recall - Have two people call your dog back and forth and make sure your dog is rewarded for listening to your command, not just running to you out of habit! 2. Tunnel recall - have a group of friends line up and call your dog through that tunnel of people!!! Confidence Class / Intro to Agility: Week 4 Homework STAY: The goal of this exercise is to teach your dog to stay in place. Stay will eventually mean to your dog “Stay there, and don’t move until I release you!” To work on stay, remove all food from your hand. Ask your dog to sit, stand, or down. Instead of C & T, pause and quietly stand in place for a few seconds. If your dog holds position, C & T! This week, your instructor will evaluate your progress in everything covered in the first (3) weeks of class. We hope you have learned how to install confidence in your dog, and help them cope with scary or strange situations. There is no homework for week 4 - except for your continued commitment to loving and training your dog! Thank you for taking a class with Go Play! and we hope to see you and your dog very soon! Remember, anything can be an agility or training situation - a fallen tree, a stone wall, crowd, dog park, etc. Get creative and HAVE FUN WITH YOUR DOG!!!!! |
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