Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE165: Magic Mats: Where to be, When to go, and What to do

Course Details

Welcome to the cool world of placement props!

Do you wish your dogs could be polite when you eat dinner? Do you want your dogs to enjoy taking turns in training? Are you interested in TEAM Foundations skills? This is perfect!

In this class we'll use mats, platforms, targets, and stations of various kinds. You'll be able to find, buy, or make placement props sized for your own dog. Even plastic shelving can become a platform, and even a canvas chair can be a station. It just depends what you want your dog to do with it.

First, we'll work with your chosen props to create attraction for them. Then we'll build value for assuming certain positions on them. We'll use shaping techniques and we'll play games designed to get behaviors without fuss or stress.

Learn all about my favorite ways to teach tricky stuff. Simple things like patience in front of company. Complex things like "Go over there and do the thing I taught you on that prop, then come here and put yourself on this prop just so and look up at me with your cute face." Hard things like hurry up and wait. Frustrating things like "Wait here while all the fun things happen in front of you." And cool stuff like "Ready? It's your turn to GO!"

There are NO prerequisites for the class, but please check out the ideas for stations which I posted in the Prerequisites & Supplies tab.

This class makes difficult concepts feel easy and fun, all with the use of placement props.

Note: The instructor for this class is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. We have every expectation that she will be able to teach this class fully but realize that illness is unpredictable. In the event she is unable to complete teaching there will be no refunds but students will receive full access to all course materials.

Teaching Approach: This class is largely hands-on training with practice and coaching. There will also be critical thinking about how to use stations along with back-up information about what different stationing procedures do for the dog's mind. There will be a lecture released on the first day of each week, and supplemental lectures released during the week. The foundations of the first week are very important even if your dog "already knows how" to station! See the sample lecture for more info and videos on how I build magnetized stationing. If you start from the beginning you'll get the most from this course.

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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MAGIC MATS - Where to Be, When to Go, and What to Do

WEEK 1

Magic Mat Steps 1 and 2

Taking Turns Step 1 - One Dog

Attraction to Stations

Stand Platforms for Front and Side

Orientation and Reorientation - Quick and Clean

Creating 4-Way Practice Quadrants for Fluency

WEEK 2

Magic Mat Step 3, the most important concept

Taking Turns with Two Dogs

Sit Targets for Front and Side

Intro to Stationing

Reward Delivery Cues and Practice Drills

Learning when to GO!

WEEK 3

Magic Mat Step 4

Taking Turns with Cookie Bowl

Front Feet on Target

The Many Faces of Perch

Station Duration

How to Use VI Reinforcement Schedules

WEEK 4

Using Mats in Other Training

Taking Turns on Stations

Rear Feet on Target

Using Momentum Wisely

Getting Stillness!

4-Way Fluency Practice on the Road

WEEK 5

Boundary Training

Taking Turns in Sports Training

Send to Target

Backing Up Cleanly

How to Express Energy on Stations

Limbic Reactions are FAST!

WEEK 6

Combining Platforms and Perches

Backing Up to Stations

Cone Games and Fly

Zen Keeper for Duration

Two Dogs and Two Stations

Eager Patience - Keeping the Balance

Prerequisites & Supplies

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All are welcome in this class! It's a class for life skills as well as sports skills. We won't be doing anything strenuous, and you do not need a lot of space.

You will be ahead of the game if your dog is clicker trained, but even that is not a requirement. There are NO prerequisites for this class.

You WILL need some placement platforms sized for your dog. This class will take advantage of items you will be able to find or buy cheaply. It is not necessary to have expensive props. We need mats and targets and perches and platforms and stations that will fit your dog. You can be as creative and as resourceful as you like! Here are some examples from my own stash at home.

Placement Props Ideas for Magic Mat Class

Everyone has something useful! Many people are used to finding mats and perches and targets, but most people think they don't have good options for larger stations. You probably have plenty!

An expensive Klimb table makes a good station. But so does a piece of wooden pallet, a comfy chair, a raised dog bed, a plastic shelf with the legs cut to size (note that the raised station on the right has a shelf both top and bottom for added strength). Perhaps a pause table is good for you, or even an open soft crate. What about an upended plastic side table with a platform inserted. Be as creative as you like in order to give your dog a station that works for both of you! You will want to have a station ready when class starts, and you will benefit from having more than one as we go through the class.

Sample Lecture

ATTRACTION to 4-PAW PLACEMENT PROPS, by Julie Daniels

Who Uses Stations?

Once your pet learns the value of requesting work or attention by reporting to a station, your life will never be the same. Check out my cat Chime asking for some loving. He was trained to use his cat scratcher pad by being rewarded with praise and attention. That consistent pattern saved the furniture, and it also taught Chime how to train his humans. So nowadays, when the household is busy but Chime wants attention, he is likely to take up a station on his scratch pad in hopes of drawing attention to himself. This behavior has become stronger and stronger. Why? Because it works! We are quite well trained to pay attention to him when we see him patiently waiting on his station.

Chime Using Station for Attention

And what about training for husbandry requirements? Stations to the rescue. What might have been a difficulty or a chore becomes a dog's choice game. Here is Koolaid reporting for a nail trim.

Koolaid Reporting for Nail Trim on Ottoman Station

What about the 'settle' factor? Can a 4-paw placement prop be used to teach patience in daily life? Well, Zhora staying chill on her comfy bed would be a very boring video, so here's a still shot of that. Mat work is the key to station work.

Zhora duration down on mat

Zhora chill on mat

A station can be used as a place to settle and wait during work sessions as well. Here is Tiffany waiting her turn on a placement prop made from a wooden pallet. It has yoga mat padding and a well-defined mesh bed piece on top.

Tiffany chill on station

Tiffany pallet station chill

STATIONS in SPORTS TRAINING

There is no finer use of 4-paw placement props than to add them to your dog sport. Precision behaviors benefit immensely from the use of placement props!

Stations can also help your dog love going from chill to GO! Some dogs prefer the "chill" part and others prefer the "GO" part, but all dogs benefit toward the middle ground of "hurry up and wait."

Station work is a wonderful way to help your dog learn when to wait and when to GO! Placement props help all dogs find the fun in both waiting and going on cue. Waiting BY CHOICE builds anticipation, and that means value for when to GO.

Here is Koolaid practicing her tuck sit. I'll be using her mat as a familiar station and a piece of yoga mat prop as a brand new sit target. This is a first session video. Familiar station (mat work), familiar task (tuck sit), but a brand new placement prop. Therefore the first step is Attraction for Placement Prop. The first step is NOT the final behavior of tuck sit on the new prop! Watch carefully and see if you agree with how I use both props and the clicker to begin the process of building a beautiful tuck sit in front position on this little piece of yoga mat.

Koolaid Mat to Sit Target

CRATE TRAINING as STATION TRAINING

Now I will kill you with cuteness. Even little babies love station training. Want to make sure your puppy loves to be in a crate? Here's one fun idea using an experienced dog and a Treat and Train. An open crate can be just another station!

Tiana Crate Training with Big Sister and Treat N Train

ALL AGES and SIZES!

Here is Tiana, barely 4 months old and under 10 pounds, learning Attraction for a placement prop. This one is made from plastic shelving with a piece of yoga mat glued on top.

Tiana's reinforcement cookies are coming from the now-beloved Treat and Train. This time it is placed on the counter above her. Notice that I do not activate the Treat and Train when she is staring up at it. It is attraction for the prop that I want to reinforce.

Tiana Attraction to Placement Prop

I cannot think of any dog or any trainer who could not benefit from all sorts of Placement Props. We have games with one paw, two paws, and four paws. We have all sorts of props and all sorts of ways to use them. Your own ideas and problems are welcome here. We will put our heads together and build general concepts that pave the way for precision behaviors. Get ready for a very useful class, with lots of ideas and lots of help as you begin or advance your goals in the wise and wonderful world of MAGIC MAT!

Julie Daniels

Deerfield, NH

Testimonials & Reviews

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

We have done mat and platform work before, but this class took me as a trainer to the next level beyond the basics. I love Julie Daniels' style of teaching, her focus on making it fun and emotionally rewarding is great and builds both mine and my dog's confidence. We learned a lot and for once I actually feel like I will be able to make good progress following the advice of the class on my own afterwards too.

Julie, pretty much any class you offer is one I would take. You have such a keen eye and understanding of dog behaviour. You are always positive even when we mess up a bit and your suggestions to help us move forward are usually exactly what we need to do. Thank you!

Thank you for one of the most helpful classes ever! With multiple dogs, I wish I had taken this course before all of the others. This should be everyone's first course at Fenzi!

Thank you, Julie! You are an amazing dog trainer and human teacher. Your comments, while offering constructive feedback, are so warm and positive. Even though I am not a dog sport person... yet (I have dreams) ;) and I am brand new to clicker training and positive reinforcement, I felt like a VIP student. You inspired me to do my best and learn more. Thank you, again!

I love Julie's classes. I have taken several and I love.the way she gives lectures with demonstrative videos that make the goals clear. She is very supportive of her students and really cares. Even at bronze, I get so much out of her instruction. Taking Advanced Cookie Jar Games next session!

Julie does a fantastic job. This was my first class with my new puppy and it was perfect. We were able to start off on a great foot of loving to train. Julie helped us modify when we needed to and kept the puppy happy and in the game.

Registration

There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.

Registration opens at 11:00am Pacific Time.

FE165 Subscriptions

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Tuition	$ 260.00	$ 130.00	$ 65.00
Enrollment Limits	9	25	Unlimited
Access all course lectures and materials	✔	✔	✔
Access to discussion and homework forums	✔	✔	✔
Read all posted questions and answers	✔	✔	✔
Watch all posted videos	✔	✔	✔
Post general questions to Discussion forum	✔	✔	✖
Submit written assignments	✔	✖	✖
Post dog specific questions	✔	With video only	✖
Post videos	✔	Up to 2	✖
Receive instructor feedback on	Questions All videos	Questions All videos	✖

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FE165: Magic Mats: Where to be, When to go, and What to do

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