This class continues on with the foundations begun in TEAM 1! This class is designed to cover all the exercises in the TEAM Level 2. The TEAM program systematically lays out the building blocks for developing solid skills/behaviours your dog can perform in a variety of ways, in a variety of circumstances or sports.
The skill areas assessed in the TEAM course include but are not limited to; Engagement & Focus To Work, Heeling, Fronts & Finishes, Distance Work, Targeting, Jumping, Scent Work (Articles) and Impulse Control. The exercises are broken down into progressive steps to accommodate all levels! Introducing the core basics right from the start helps to make sure that the journey of obedience remains fun for both your dog and you, the handler!
Whether you are new to competitive obedience training or you have discovered a need to revisit skills with advanced dogs, this course will help you prepare to title by video under the TEAM banner or alternatively, simply give you an excellent set of foundation skills for any dog sport or competition venues such as AKC, CKC or FCI obedience, Rally or even Freestyle.
Lectures will be released at the start of each week with the majority of lectures released within the first 4 weeks. Lectures are generally broken down by skill which often consists of multiple steps. Descriptions of the exercise as per TEAM are detailed followed by written instructions and multiple video examples for each step as needed. Lecture demo videos may range between 25 seconds - 2 minutes in length. No voiceover is used however, there may be occasional subtitles/text in the videos. Homework is given at the end of each lecture or a "show me your baseline current status" whereby students will post where they are in a specific exercise.
Videos will usually depict training done with the handler standing. For viewing of mechanics or handler requirements exercises can be modified by either the handler sitting on the ground or in some instances raising the dog by utilizing a platform to assist with a better view or mechanics.
Heather Lawson (she/her) is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA) and also a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP), a CGN evaluator and a free-style judge. She has been training dogs and their humans for more that 20 years after deciding that...(Click here for full bio and to view Heather's upcoming courses)
Due to the wide range of skills students are not expected to master all 10 of the TEAM 2 Exercises and roughly 15 skills. Approximately 3 skills per week will be introduced. Gold students will have the option of working on any of the skills discussed from the current or previous weeks. It is the goal to release all lectures in the first 4 weeks in order to give students enough time to focus on their desired areas.
The planned order of release is as follows but may be adjusted (as per the TEAM 2 exercise order) The following skills will be: - Moving Engagement/Personal Play - Pivoting Skills: Fading the perch, left & right pivots 360 degrees - Finishes: 3 styles of finishes, fading props, proofing heel position - Fronts: Fading props - Position Changes (sit, down, stand) > Working in heel position, Building Duration, Building Distance, Adding Distractions - Mark: Teaching a cued look ahead to target (including watch & look away) - Jumping: Teaching the broad or high jump (stationary handler) - Retrieve: Beginning steps to picking up & delivery to hand - Scent articles: Fading food lure & adding retrieve
Tentative Release For Session: (subject to change) Week 1: Pivoting left & right in heel; 360 degrees, Position changes; heel position w/pauses), Mark Week 2: Retrieve, Fronts, Position Changes (distance & distractions) Week 3: Scent articles, Finishes, Engagement/Play Week 4: Stays, Jumping
Students may pick which exercises they wish to work on each from any of the topics where a lecture has been released. Students will not likely be able to master all 10 exercises within the 6 weeks and should focus on topics they need the most guidance or instruction on.
Students do not need to have passed TEAM 1 (OB130) to participate in this class but should have a solid start on any of the behaviours listed in TEAM 2 that they wish to work on.
You do not need a large space to work as the majority of the exercises can be practiced in a space the size of a standard living room. We will break down the exercises into smaller manageable pieces so a large space is not necessary. However, if you have a dog who is close to the final product and wish to begin chaining exercises together, having access to a larger space 20 x 20, can offer you the room to practice without impediment and meet the required distance criteria for exercises.
Equipment Needed:
- Target/Platform (gate, jump stanchion, flat target or platform) - Retrieve Item (either dumbbell or other object) - Jump of any type (bar or broad jump) - Scent Articles (4 identical objects i.e. can be dumbbell style or Nose Work containers)
LEFT & RIGHT FINISHES (otherwise known as Around or Swing Finishes) Depending upon where you hail from there may be more than these two "official" finishes; usually, a come to heel from the front going either left or right. However, I'm going to be dealing with two that are the most common.
Firstly we have the left finish - often referred to as the Swing or Get Back; this has the dog going to the left of the handler swinging their rear to end up in heel position. The right finish, often called an Around Finish, has the dog going clockwise around the handler to end up in heel on the left. In most sports, the final heel position ends with the dog in a sitting position.
(Note: TEAM Titles does allow the handler to choose a default stand if it is noted on the video test submission and the dog remains consistent in either stand or sit within the exercise).
Right Finish: Around (dog goes around clockwise and into left heel position) You can start with the dog in any position in front of you but standing position does make it easier to entice the dog to move and is the position I begin with. Being correctly or squarely in front doesn't matter at this point of the learning phase.
You have the option of using a lure or if your dog has a target to hand, using the hand. With a cookie in your right hand, put it to the dog's nose like a magnet and draw your right hand (with dog) backwards behind your back and encourage the dog to follow it, as the travels around behind you, transfer the cookie over to your left hand and finish bringing the dog around and up to heel. Remember to initially hold your right hand behind your back until after you have caught the dog with the left-hand cookie. If you drop your right hand too soon, your dog may follow it back and not continue around your body. As the dog starts to understand that there will be that transfer cookie, you can start to drop your right hand back beside your body.
Here's PiPER's 1st session of go around. Notice that my hands are high on the treat transfer, this helps to keep Piper's head up high as she goes around. Nothing formal yet. ">
Here you'll see Piper getting more comfortable going around and I'm starting to use my right hand as more of a signal.
As the dog progresses, use your right hand only to signal the finish and keep the cookie in your left hand. You can still bring your left hand behind your back as needed to help the dog come up to heel. However, you will want to release the treat in heel position.
The biggest problem with this finish is the dog's tendency to keep rotating and end up with their butt too far out and angled. Another problem is a slow go around which occurs when the sit in heel portion of the finish is added too quickly. The sit should be the last piece added.
For the butt out you can use your pocket hand or reward hand to catch the dog's nose and stop them nice and close to your body and rotate the head ever so slightly to the left as they come parallel either in a stand or sit.
When your dog is comfortable with the action of going around, you can insert the use of a platform in heel position to help assist in teaching the dog the concept of sitting/standing straight after going around behind you. Then gradually reduce the use of the platform/target.
This is the finished picture on Tag's Around Finish. Notice that I feed his head straight. If I were to feed at an angle closer to the center of my body, it would draw his front end forward to the right and cause his rear to swing out.
Left Finish: Swing, Set-up or Get In This is where our work on pivot in heel carries over, and flows naturally into a left finish. If you have been doing the find heel exercises with the pivot pot then you've already been working on this skill and it won't take much to perfect! In the pivot the dog more or less, plants their front feet in heel and swings their rear around straight and then sits. I like the swing, especially if you have a "social" dog who likes to see or get distracted by what's going on around them i.e. that child standing there with the ice cream at nose level. The reason it works so nicely is that the head doesn't disappear very far past your body to gawk, just the dog's body swivels.
This is TAG's swing finish a couple of years ago, you can see he moves quite easily into heel and is quite precise. Again I feed with head straight out.
TAG doing his version of the swing now. He has a bit of difficulty due to a muscle issue with his right rear leg that doesn't allow him to be as precise in his final placement but that's okay. ">
This is OLLIE doing his version of a swing or get-in from the side. He was very quick so I've done it in slo-mo so you could see. Yes, he's a bit over-rotated but that's okay and due to his enthusiasm with the get-in game.
Another alternative is the left "C or U" finish. This can be done either using a target hand or a lure. To start you're going to do what I call the T' Da move or the "this way please". Start with feet together, the dog standing in front. Place lure magnet on the dog's nose, step back with your left leg and turn so your body basically now opens sideways to the left. Your left hand with dog attached will swing out in a slight arch (C) AND back far enough that your dog will have enough room to fully turn and be on a relatively straight course when coming back up into heel. Once the dog has begun to turn, you step forward with your left foot so your feet are together as you draw the dog up into heel. NO SITS required at this time. This is just about teaching position for the dog. Once you get position and speed, the sit is easily put into place.
Depending on your dog you may find it advantageous to break this skill down even further into two pieces: 1) just getting the dog to move past you AND 2) then adding the turn around to come back into heel. The treat is given at the farthest point of 1) and then when you add the turnaround the treat is then given at 2) when their head is in heel.
While you are initially teaching the "C" or "U" turn, you continue stepping back with your left leg or you may find your dog not going far enough back. Treating at the back turn can also help to drive the dog back farther so they have enough room to turn. Once your dog is nicely doing your left finish you can then delete the stepping back with your left leg and your cue will just be your left hand.
Piper learning the U Finish - My preference will be for her to use more of a pivot swing as that keeps her head from wandering. This would be where she basically plants her front feet as she pivots into heel facing forward.
Breaking down the C or U finish into two pieces
Go Through Finish - Alternative (think twice about this one) I don't normally use this as a regular finish but for those who would like to know how to do it or start, I'm happy to accommodate. The reason, I personally don't teach the Go Thru Finish, is that I use going thru my legs mainly for working straight fronts and I also have a "Place" position of dog facing front from the rear through my legs that I use for energy pullbacks & sends. I'll also use the forward thru as a tight turn and come up to heel. The Go Thru Finish is definitely a fun exercise to play with to develop a tight heel or energize your dog between exercises as it's basically a just leg weave with a tight close sit. BUT if your dog is inclined to sit butt out, it can exacerbate this so you may initially have to use your reward to strategically feed the dog so the butt is corrected inwards.
If you decide to tackle this finish from the front remember that some dogs will initially be reluctant or even quite nervous about going through your legs. It's best to start with your legs as wide as possible, with dog immediately in front or behind you, you can either lure or just toss a cookie back and forth through your legs. If tossing the cookie don't throw it too far or your dog may initially just deek around your legs. In the "go thru legs" learning stage there is no asking the dog to come to heel, it's just straight back and forth thru your legs from up close and then farther away.
Once the dog is comfortable going through your legs, begin to strategically drop or toss the treat so it lands more to your rear left side. As you do this drop your left hand down and slightly back behind your left leg. The straighter you can drop your hand down the easier it can be to catch your dog's attention and lure the dog tight to heel by following the arm up into heel position. You can also add your pivot pot to heel position as an additional help cue to the dog.
Here are some video examples of Piper and Tag coming into "PLACE". Plus a couple of Thru & Come To Left Heel. I have to be careful with TAG because as you can see I'm not tall enough for him to fit comfortably thru my legs and I can get tossed over easily. Piper is learning to sit straight on left.
TAG
Piper - As you can see Piper loves her Place cue and is much smaller than Tag so fits nicely between my legs.
A sampling of what prior students have said about this course...
I thoroughly enjoyed learning under Heather's coaching. She breaks things down and explains why things work so it is easier to understand. And she knows that all dogs are not the same and adjusts her instructions accordingly.
Great job at teaching the course, I plan to revisit the lectures in the future and hope to get more out of it at that time!! thought that you were great in explaining and as well as commenting on the gold students videos so that everyone could get valuable information from it no matter what level they were taking the course at. Thank you so much for your time and effort to this course!
Heather provided very detailed, custom feedback to all of her students in this class. She really went above and beyond to review and analyze my videos. I really appreciate that!
Heather is an awesome instructor. She takes so much time crafting responses that there is little room for confusion.
Fantastic course with an excellent instructor. Heather has some wonderful ideas to help the dogs be successful and makes teaching the TEAM skills super fun. This was our first class with Heather at Gold, but it won't be our last.
Thank you! Such detailed info for the golds!
This was my first course with the Fenzi Academy and it certainly will not be my last!! What a great experience and wonderful people and teacher!! So happy that i found such a wonderful place to get information so that I can grow with my wonderful pup!
Registration
Next session starts: February 1, 2025Registration starts: January 22, 2025Registration ends: February 15, 2025
Instructor: Heather Lawson
