9:00am: Kamal Fernandez- Dynamic Focus for Sport Dogs
No matter the dog sport you partake in, the key element to success is focus, but more then that… dynamic focus!
Join Kamal Fernandez, world renowned dog trainer, and FDSA faculty member, to find out just how to create ‘Dynamic Focus’.
Focus and engagement underpin all elements of sports, and having a dog that understands and wants to offer both, is often a struggle many encounter.
Is this presentation, you will learn simple games to create Dynamic Focus, switch on and off words, and trouble shooting areas.
Key skills and mechanics to help ensure effective teaching, and clear understanding.
And above all, how to make these sessions fun!
9:00am: Jenny Gould- Exceptional Endurance Heelwork
Heelwork attitude and accuracy is often achievable in short bursts. To be able to achieve the same for a sustained duration however is infinitely more challenging. To compete successfully we must ensure our dogs have physical, mental and emotional endurance. Committed heelwork is the best feeling in the world but it is even better when we can enjoy it for longer than a snapshot in time.
11:00am: Petra Ford- Precues & Transitions: Power Up Your Ring Performance
Setting up for an exercise and moving between exercises is often where dogs lose drive, focus and confidence. But the opposite can be true. In this presentation you will learn how to leverage down time to set your dog up for success. We will explore developing transitions that support your dog while keeping them relaxed yet attentive. I will teach you how to manage your dog’s arousal with simple cues. Setting up for an exercise is typically where dogs get worried and distracted. Precues tell our dogs exactly what’s coming next which creates confidence. Taken a step further, behaviors developed around precues can dial in our dog’s focus and keep them actively engaged. With solid transitions and precues your dog will arrive at the start of each exercise in an optimal state of mind ready to tackle the next exercise.
11:00am: Laura Waudby- Up Your Game: Having Fun with Obedience
I can’t even begin to guess how many times I’ve been told, or more often it’s that I’ve overheard, that obedience is boring. It’s not motivating. It's predictable. It’s too uptight.
And its true. Obedience CAN be all those things. But it doesn’t have to be.
Obedience can be intense, it can be fast, it can joyful.
In this presentation, we will look at using a few different games that you can insert into most training exercises to turn your work from drilling into an exciting event. We will talk about a few different moves that you can use in the teaching phases to help your dog better understand what you want and reduce frustration while learning. And for the advanced dog, we will discuss how to have flow and creativity in your training plans to keep things from becoming stale!
2:00pm: Denise Fenzi- Ring Stress- Understanding, Addressing, and Avoiding it!
Does your fantastic obedience dog turn into a disengaged, sniffy mess in competition? Does your dog forget how to sit next you to start the next exercise? And bright eyes with focused attention? Forget it and the dog show!
This webinar will take an in-depth look at this common problem. Denise will help you understand what ring stress looks like and then will provide a comprehensive approach for determining the root cause of your ring stress problem. Ever better, she will offer you a step by step plan for addressing it once the root cause has been identified!
This webinar is equally valuable before a team enters their first competition to ensure that they don't run into these problems in the first place. Prevention is always better than remedial training - Denise will help you set up a strong training and evaluation plan to ensure that you are ready to trial without stress.
And if you're a professional dog trainer or instructor to others? This is one your students don't want you to miss!
2:00pm: Shade Whitesel- Reinforcement Procedures: Chopping up the Clicker into Marker Cues!
Want more clarity in your communication with your dog? Are you feeling like your reinforcement is good, but not GREAT? And what’s with these different marker cues that everyone is talking about-are they really necessary?
Let’s take those marker cues and explain them as they really are-reinforcement cues. A verbal cue that tells your dog exactly what they are getting, and where and how to get it. And then another verbal cue that tells your dog different thing they are getting and how to access that thing! And then another and another.
Join me in this presentation as I explain why this might benefit your communication system with your dog and how to implement these reinforcement strategies. Reinforcement is what drives behavior, and I think we should spend some time exploring this concept and teaching yourself and your dog.
1:00pm: Panel Recording - All About Heelwork with Jenny Gould, Kamal Fernandez, Petra Ford, and Kellie Connell
4:00pm: Panel Recording - What's Keeping You from Getting in the Ring? with Denise Fenzi, Shade Whitesel and Nancy G. Little
