Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE115: Baby Genius

Course Details

Raising a puppy is the lucky job we get to enjoy only once in a while! The time goes so quickly, and when the time is up the opportunity to play the baby games with the clean slate is gone!

The class is designed for puppies up to 10 months of age but any dog who needs help with foundation behaviors and life skills can benefit. This class is useful and full of adorable smart puppy videos!

The course will cover many things that all dogs need, like impulse control, mat work, cooperative play, cueing arousal states up and down. Your puppy can learn to put his own collar on, recalls and crate manners, etc. And we will also teach concepts that benefit all performance dogs, like steering, teamwork in motion, balance and coordination, using and switching reinforcements, recalls, cone games, value for work and personal play.

Take this class if you have a baby or if you think you might get a baby this year. Give this class as a gift to your friend who is getting a puppy. Take this class to get new games to play with your older dog or your fearful dog or your rescue, any dog who can benefit from baby steps. We will be playing games and building concepts related to a lifelong rewarding relationship between you and your special puppy. We will help our puppies meet the big world with Confidence and Empowerment and Curiosity and Optimism!

Baby Genius will help your puppy meet challenges with an open mind and a brain that wants to engage. When your dog of any age learns to expect that new things will be FUN, you have a brilliant head start on any sport you want to play and lots of the life skills you'll need your dog to have. You will create a problem-solver who not only expects to win but also expects to enjoy himself.

This class is a great project for building a sturdy foundation with your puppy or older dog. It is also a great class for small spaces. We do not need to travel and we do not need to own fancy equipment. Creativity is the best way to generalize concepts, and we will be very creative! We'll use classical conditioning and operant training. We'll build lots of skills and concepts for dog sports and an active life with you.

If you want a class that will let you enjoy your puppy immensely as you make him smart, resourceful, and ready to be your teammate, then this is your class!

Teaching Approach

There will be multiple lectures per week in this class, published throughout the week. The skill-building exercises in this class are presented as games. We will meet the puppy's style of interaction, so different Gold students will receive different advice. Our highest priority is to create a bonded relationship and good feelings about important life skills. We will be creative and open-minded about how to do that for each puppy.

Instructor: Julie Daniels

Julie Daniels (she/her) won her first award for writing in the fourth grade, and she was training dogs long before that. Today Julie Daniels is one of the foremost names in dog agility in the United States. She was one of the early champions of the sport and helped many clubs throughout the country...(Click here for full bio and to view Julie's upcoming courses)

Syllabus

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WEEK 1

Musical Toys
Name Game - Classical Conditioning
Recall Games - Operant Conditioning
Zen Game of Face
Mat Work – Love the Mat
Name Discrimination – Treats in Turn
Physical Restraint

WEEK 2

Collar Games
Crate Dates without Coercion
Separation Game – I'm Right Here
Mat Work – Seek the Mat
Recall Explosions – GO!
Affection and Touch

WEEK 3

Come and Get It Game
Separation Game – I'll Be Right Back
Mat Work – Own the Mat
Impulse Control – When to GO!
Handler's Face Game – Which Side?
Games for Noise

WEEK 4

Taking Turns – Last One Wins
Mat Work – Send to Mat
Wanna Trade Game
Perch Work – Front End Awareness
Games for Balance
Target Training

WEEK 5

Put Your Own Collar On
Mat Work – Take It on the Road
Games for Relationship
Play With Your Food!
Ladder Work – Hind End Awareness
Intro to Cookie Jars

WEEK 6

Cookie Jar Games for Babies
Tug Games and Manners
Puppy Puzzles and Snuffle Mats
Advanced Impulse Control Games
Find Your Person
Cueing Arousal States with Mat, Food, Toys, Touch, and Play

Prerequisites & Supplies

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Gold spots in this course are open to puppies age 3 months to 10 months. In some cases a teenager or a precocious two-month-old might also do well in a Gold spot, but usually an older pup or younger baby will fit better at Silver or Bronze. Silver and Bronze spots are open to ANY dog! I am happy to say that there is not one single prerequisite for this class. And no special equipment is needed. A perfect winter project, and mostly small-space friendly as well. Come one, come all.

Sample Lecture

RESTRAINT MANNERS FOR BABIES - Asking to Get Down, by Julie Daniels

I am not a person who trains my little one to come up and sit politely at a very young age. I err on the side of effusive greetings while the baby is very young. Pure glee about people. I want that strong response whenever the baby sees people. I don't want the attraction to be tempered by responsibility. Yet.

So my babies go barreling up to anyone and are generally a happy nuisance while they are small. We'll do a lot more with manners and polite greeting, including the neat tuck sit in front that is so useful for life skills as well as competition obedience. But let's not go there just yet. I want to show you one of the very first politeness exercises which I enjoy with my puppies. This is a combination of self-control and cooperation which a very young puppy can learn and use to advantage.

When it's time for a little active self-control, say 10 weeks or so in my book, I begin with something very simple and extremely useful for those later “hurry up and wait” activities in all dog sports.

I show the puppy how to train me to put them on the ground when they want to get down.

Babies have a tough time of it in the arms of humans. It's safe and comfy, but they have no say in what they get to touch and what they get to explore while they are being confined in our arms. So after awhile a kid just wants to get free. A kid wants to explore some more from ground level. How to tell the people. How to get away. They whine and squirm, and if that doesn't work then they bite and struggle.

If you think about it, those are about the only ways which the puppy has to tell us he wants to get down. So I say we work with that. Rather than force the pup to be quiet in our arms, we can be sympathetic without creating a brat. We can make a training session out of putting the puppy down, many times a day. It's easy, and it is the beginning of a cooperative team effort which benefits us for life. The puppy learns that his needs will be met, and the puppy learns to be polite about getting what he wants.

I ask the baby to be soft and relaxed while I put him down. Puppies squirm in your arms when they want to get down. I know people who don't allow that, but I welcome it. I feel that it is about the only way the puppy can tell me that he is ready to explore. And I want the puppy to learn to operate on his world; that is, I want him to want to get down!

But I do not want the puppy to scrabble all the way to the floor. To instill some manners, I start by bending over (or you could sit in a chair) holding the puppy, and then I lower him smoothly to the floor. Unless he squirms, in which case I stop lowering him and instead I pick him up again. It only takes about two seconds to lower him to the floor from my bent-over position. That is only two seconds of self control of his feet. This is not difficult, but it is counterintuitive! So the first reps can take a while.

As days go on, I stand more upright and take longer to lower the puppy, each time standing up again and cradling the pup again if he squirms. In other words, I want to teach the puppy this: "I will put you down because you squirm, but I will not put you down WHILE you squirm." The puppy has to control his feet on the descent. This is something that a baby can learn to do.

This video of my Koolaid at 3 months old shows you how it turns out. This is a terrific lesson for a puppy. At a very young age your puppy can control his feet to get what he wants, and he can see it coming so he can measure his success. He is controlling his feet in order to control his freedom. See what you think. This is Koolaid demonstrating as a three-month-old. At three months she had this game down cold, several seconds. She owns that game, even though she is a very busy puppy whose feet never stop moving.

Check out her relaxation response on lowering! She makes it clear that she knows how to get what she wants, and she knows how to control her feet. And then see her immediately spring to action when she feels her paws on the floor. I promise you that if she can do it, your crazy puppy can do it too! This simple game will set the stage for lots of “wait, then explode” games later in his sports life as well. This is a great first impulse control game for the very young.

Koolaid How to Get Down

Koolaid still, a year later, is polite and relaxed about being picked up and lowered to the ground. You'll be very glad if you add this relaxation response to your handling.

I have variations for older pups and bigger pups! Let's talk about it!

Julie Daniels
Deerfield, NH

Testimonials & Reviews

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A sampling of what prior students have said about this course ...

The Baby Genius class was an outstanding start to me and my puppy's life together. Julie was an amazing instructor and gave me feedback in a caring and understanding manner. I would definitely recommend taking this class at Gold level if you have a brand new puppy in your life. Julie covered things I wouldn't have thought of and went well past the typical puppy obedience class of just sits and downs. - Lauren T.

This was such an incredible course, I'd recommend it to everyone, not just babies! Julie introduced foundational skills and concepts that I never would have thought of, but immediately knew would be *extremely* valuable as I continue to train and grow with my pup. Julie herself is incredible -- patient, encouraging, and has taught me things during this course I will take away for a lifetime.

Whether your first puppy or (as in my case what is most likely my) last, this class is an excellent resource for learning and fine tuning all the little lessons that are so easy for puppies to absorb and which, if delayed, can lead to problems in the less malleable adult brain. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree! Also, what is more fun that watching a whole classroom of puppies learn and grow?

This was a great course to take with a young pup. It helped with my confidence in what to teach and how much to expect from my puppy. I've had loads of resources to help me but this one was one of the best. Val S.

Grrrrreat class for both a rank beginner with a new puppy as well as an experienced handler <G> who hasn't had a puppy in many years ! covers a lot of ground, but in an easily understood way, and I love that I can refer back to it for a year if need be :) thanks ! Kat F

I loved Julie's enthusiasm and care for both puppies and handlers. I have a young puppy in the house for the first time in over 10 years and although I've done plenty of work with older dogs I was very anxious to do the right things with this pup. Julie and the generous Gold handlers gave me so much more confidence and we've both enjoyed working on the creative games and exercises - I'm sure its helping to build our bond too. Thank you Julie

Registration

This is a self-study class. The lectures will appear directly in your library, under the "Self Study classes" heading. Self Study classes do not have class homework forums. You will not have any access to the course instructor for questions or feedback. Please note there are no refunds on self-study classes so review all the information provided carefully before purchasing.

You will have access to these materials in your library for one year from the date of enrollment. You can keep your library pass current by enrolling in at least one course or workshop a year. Alternatively, you can purchase a library pass for $25 per year for as long as you wish to have access to prior class materials.

FE115 Baby Genius

FE115: Baby Genius

FE115 Retired

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