Welcome! Here are the weekly handouts and my advice for each of the 6-weeks of your Focus Foundation class. You and your dog will get out of it what you put into it. Practice what you've learned every day but keep it fun. Turn training into a game. Ask your dog for something (such as a sit or down) before giving something that he or she wants, such as a game of tug, dinner, a ride in the car, a chance to go outside, some time on the sofa with you, etc. Think of more things your dog likes and values and use them as rewards.

Probably the single most important concept for you to know and remember is that training is all about building a relationship between you and your dog and providing or controlling consequences for the dog. It's important to remember that all animals repeat behaviors they find rewarding. Behaviors that are not rewarding in any way will fade and eventually extinguish. Dog- friendly training works by reinforcing desirable behaviors with praise, treats and play. Undesirable behavior is either not rewarded, prevented from being self-rewarding through appropriate management of the environment, or redirected into an incompatible activity that can reinforced/rewarded. Corrections, when indicated, are used to instruct rather than to punish the dog and are never physically painful or emotionally abusive.

I am very happy to have you in class! Let's get started.
Mindy Cox.

WEEK ONE

It may have been a little chaotic at the beginning of class since this is a new environment with lots of distractions. You will notice that the more distractions, the harder you have to work on getting your dog to do things that he or she does well at home. That's why I ask you to bring extra special treats such as chicken, hot dogs, cheese, etc. cut up into tiny pieces (we will use a lot of them in class). Next class, please start gaining your dog's attention by playing Find It! as soon as you start to walk toward the front door of Lucky Dog. If you see another dog, give it space as there may be some dogs that are a little reactive to other dogs. Either back up quickly and call your dog to you ( use a happy voice and be generous in your rewards), or stop and continue to play one of the attention games.

Here are some training tips:

Remember to keep training fun for you and your dog and stop before your dog wants to. Keep your dog happy and confident.

Catch and reward your dog being successful and stay positive. Ignore the times your dog is unsuccessful.

Rewarding positive behavior will build trust and improve your relationship. Punishment erodes the relationship and in some cases may cause aggression.

Make a list of what your dog values most (types of food rewards, play, petting, ride in the car, etc.) so you know how to reward.

Begin training at home in an environment that is not distracting. As your dog learns the exercise, slowly increase the level of distractions.

Break training into small steps.

Plan ahead. Have your tools ready before you begin (such as clicker and treats).

Reinforce highly to maintain a positive attitude.

Multiple short sessions are better than one long session (boring and tiring!). There are moments of training opportunities all during the day.

Play and training should be indistinguishable to your dog. They both should be fun!

Don't be afraid to act silly sometimes. Your dog will enjoy your playful attitude.

Be sure your dog gets lots of exercise and environmental enrichment. A tired dog is a happy dog!

How awesome your dog behaves and responds is totally up to you. The amount of motivation, ambition, and standards you have will reflect in your dog's level of training and attention to you. We will continue to learn a lot over the course of the class. You will be amazed how much your dog can learn in six short weeks!

Please keep me informed if you have any questions or I am not covering the things you are most interested in. I am here to serve you. If you need to reach me before class, please call 561-427-6700. Please let me know by phone or email when you can't attend.

Name Game

Play the Find It Game

Clicker Training

Clicker Fundamentals

Rewards List

Reinforcement and Use of Rewards

Getting Your Dog to Come

Teaching Leave It

WEEK TWO

The handouts will help you remember what we did in class and help you to practice at home. Keep playing the Name Game, Find It and Watch. Reward your dog when he or she offers you attention without you having to ask. When you ask your dog for a stay, be sure to use the release word you have chosen; it's not ok if your dog makes the decision when to get up. Maintain your criteria!

Attention Training and Name Recognition

Sit Happens

Teaching Down

Stay! Working on Duration

Exercise Finished! Release Cues

Watch Me

WEEK THREE

We added "stand" to our obedience commands and we continue to practice loose leash walking (which takes lots of practice to master).

If you are practicing at home consistently, you should now notice that your dog is already making lots of progress. If you don't understand any concepts we've gone over, please be sure to let me know. Either give me a call or email me so that I can explain anything you're unsure of. Many of you are successfully getting your dog's attention at the beginning of class when they were distracted. Nice work! Next week, please work on that as soon as you get there with your Find It game and Watch.

By now you should not be using a treat to lure into a position. If you still are, please phase it out quickly. Work on moving into all six positions (sit from down and stand; down from sit and stand; stand from sit and down) without your lure.

We are now adding distance to the stay exercise. Be sure not to go too fast too soon. Keep your dog successful. That might mean making it easier by not going so far away, or coming back and rewarding sooner.

Keep track of your pet's progress so you will know if you are going too fast or if you can add in more challenges. If your dog does an exercise correctly 5 out of 5 times you can make it slightly more difficult. If he or she is right 3 or 4 out of 5 times, keep doing what you're doing until it's close to perfect. If your dog is only correct one or two out of five times, you need to make the exercise easier.Always strive to keep your dog successful so training stays fun and motivating.

We are now half way through class. Is there anything you specifically want me to cover?

Basic Obedience Skills

Loose Leash Walking

Stand and Deliver

Stay! Going for Distance.

No Jumping!

Self Control Games

Nothing In Life Is Free: Easily fit training into your life

Targeting- a Fun Game

Getting Focused Attention

WEEK FOUR

Continue to work all 6 of your positions. Try rewarding after your dog successfully completes two or three cues in a row such as sit, down sit.

By this time you should not be luring (getting your dog in position using a treat in your hand). If your dog is completely understanding your commands and doing it the first time asked, and without a treat in your hand, start adding in the name of the cue (such as "sit").

Here are exercises to work on:

Ready...ready...Go! (holding dog back with hand on his chest) and release to some treats that are several feet away. When the treats are consumed, call your dog back to you. This should be high energy and fun. You can also release to a toy and play a game of tug (be sure you get to the toy quickly so that your dog does not play keep away.

Recall with Treat game: With dog in front of handler, toss treat about three or four feet to one side. Call dog immediately after he eats treat. When dog comes back to handler, click and toss treat to opposite side. Continue quickly from one side to the other. Variation: toss treat and call dog. As he turns to come, handler turns and runs (keep eye contact). Let dog catch up and c/t (click/treat). Again, keep the game fun and stimulating.

Advanced Attention game: Show dog treat in hand, stretch arm out to side. Do it with offered attention: wait until dog looks at handler; to begin with click as soon as you get an eye flick to your face. As he gets the idea of this exercise you can make it harder by clicking with longer attention to you.

Continue to work on Find It, Leave It, Name Game, and Watch. Add distractions to your stay exercise.

Stay! Adding Distractions.

Shape, Target, Lure. What's the Difference?

WEEK FIVE

Today we have fun with tunnels! Why do we teach our dogs to run through an agility tunnel? First of all, exposing your dog to something new in a positive way builds confidence. Second, everything we teach our dogs is enriching and builds our relationship with them. This is true for teaching tricks as well; I highly recommend it. Third, it's fun! 'Nuff said.

Continue to work on Leave It! Here's how:

We started with a treat under your shoe and your dogs began to understand that they got the food by leaving it alone (you can also cover it with your hand). They will either sit, look away from the shoe, or take a step back. When they do this we reward by either picking up the treat and giving it to them, or giving them a higher value treat from our hand.

Then the treat was placed near your shoe and the dogs got treated when they stayed sitting and did not try to get it. If they make a move toward it, you cover it with your foot. Your dog is always treated from your hand.

We then up the ante by not rewarding until our dog looks at us. Next step, we kneel down and drop the treat 6" from the floor. Continue to click/treat (c/t) any correct behavior. Gradually build to dropping the treat from a greater height, then start throwing it farther away from your foot.

Remember, never release to take the treat from the floor. Either give an equal or better treat from your pocket, or pick up the treat and hand it to your dog.

I play this game not only expecting my dog not to take the treat, but I also expect my dog to look at me before I will c/t. You can also teach leave it with toys; they leave it alone until you give it to them for a great game of tug, or send them to get it.

As you know, the stay exercise has three components: duration, distance, and distraction. Let's put them all together!

Stay! Putting It All Together

Nothing In Life Is Free #2: Keep practicing! There's always time to train if you incorporate it into your life.

WEEK SIX

Graduation! Job well done. Keep having fun with your dog and don't stop teaching and learning. Continue to challenge you and your dog with new skills. Take another class. How about Obedience II, Rally, or Intro to Agility?

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