Dog Sports Skills, Book 1: Developing Engagement and Relationship - including shipping
WINNER OF THE 2013 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING FROM THE DOG WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA!!!!
Authors: Denise Fenzi and Deb Jones
Title: Dog Sports Skills, Book 1: Developing Engagement and Relationship
Foreword by: Sylvia Trkman
This book is the first in a series of books designed for the dog sport enthusiast. This first book will focus on developing a competition foundation based in Engagement and relationship.
It doesn’t matter what genetic package or temperament your dog is born with; you can bring out the best in your dog! To train your dog, you must develop a relationship that encourages a willing and happy attitude with natural focus while eliminating undue stress in both training and competition.
If your goal is to create a world-class performance dog, then this book is for you. We can help you refine your engagement and relationship skills to a higher level.
If you are an instructor who is struggling with your novice students or less focused dogs, then this book is for you. You will find advice on how to work with a range of canine temperaments.
If you have a dog who works well at home but you can’t seem to maintain that connection in public, then this book is for you. You will learn the basics of recognizing stress, paying attention to your dog, and alleviating or minimizing problems so that you can focus on work rather than worry.
Finally, if you simply want to take the dog you have, your personal pet, and enjoy your training at a more fulfilling level, then this book is for you as well! By understanding and applying excellent engagement and relationship building techniques, both you and your canine companion will find more enjoyment in the training process, even if you choose never to step foot inside a competition ring.
The chapters will cover relationship (what it is and how to get it), Stress (recognizing it and techniques for lessening it's impact), Developing focus, Explaining and evaluating positive methods for getting behaviors, and the use of trick training to develop a handler's training skills and a dog's mental and physical flexibility.
Chapter 1: Relationship ................................................................. 25
Personal Relationship ............................................ 25
What is It?................................................................ 25
Why do we want it? ............................................... 26
Awareness of Health Issues .................................. 26
Trust and Confidence ............................................ 27
Leadership............................................................... 27
Friendship ............................................................... 29
How do we create personal relationship? ........... 29
Genetics ................................................................... 29
Acceptance .............................................................. 30
Respect..................................................................... 30
Leadership (Again!)................................................ 31
Personal Relationship Summary .......................... 34
Working Relationship ............................................ 35
What is it? ................................................................ 35
Why do we want a working relationship? .......... 37
Trust ......................................................................... 37
Awareness of Well-Being ...................................... 38
Case #1 (Cibo the Doberman)............................... 39
Case #2 (Golden Retriever) ................................... 39
Case #3 (Sheltie)...................................................... 40
Mom Is Fun!............................................................ 41
Chapter 2: Attitude Really IS Everything! ................................. 45
Safety ....................................................................... 46
Confidence, Eagerness, and Biddability .............. 47
Understanding Stress ............................................ 48
The Science Behind Stress ..................................... 49
What does stress look like? ................................... 51
Is it stress, or just a high attitude?........................ 55
The Science Behind Drives.................................... 57
Low Attitude Dogs................................................. 59
Concern About the Environment......................... 59
People and Dogs..................................................... 60
Physical Space ......................................................... 60
Objects ..................................................................... 60
Poor Trial Preparation ........................................... 61
Trainer Expectations .............................................. 61
Expectations – Too Much is Bad!.......................... 61
Expectations – Too Little is Bad! .......................... 62
Final Thoughts on Attitude................................... 64
Chapter 3: Stress Reduction Techniques..................................... 67
Developing Stress Tolerance ................................. 67
Training Stressors .................................................. 68
Learning .................................................................. 68
Reduced Reward Schedules.................................. 69
Show Stressors ........................................................ 70
Equipment............................................................... 70
Locations ................................................................. 71
Competition-Specific Stressors ............................. 72
Specific Stress Reduction Techniques.................. 73
Be Patient................................................................. 73
Develop Your Observational Skills...................... 74
Provide Planned Exposure .................................. 75
Use Distractions to Your Advantage ................... 79
Support Your Dog .................................................. 79
Wait for Maturity and Experience ....................... 80
Conclusion............................................................... 81
Chapter 4: Training Techniques and Methods........................... 83
Power Play ............................................................... 83
Will Work for Food ................................................ 85
Mark it! .................................................................... 87
Being Operant......................................................... 88
Feeding In Position ................................................ 91
Jackpot ..................................................................... 92
Getting Behaviors .................................................. 93
Shaping .................................................................... 93
Luring ...................................................................... 95
Targeting ................................................................. 96
The Stages of Learning .......................................... 97
Acquisition .............................................................. 97
Generalization ........................................................ 98
Maintenance ........................................................... 99
Keep Going Signals (KGS’s) .................................. 101
The Role of Classical Conditioning...................... 102
Environmental Management................................ 103
Conclusion............................................................... 104
Chapter5: Focus............................................................................105
Understanding Focus ............................................ 106
Games to Create Focus .......................................... 108
Pay Attention .......................................................... 108
Offered Focus ......................................................... 108
Slow Treats (or toy)................................................. 110
Look At Me ............................................................. 111
Food/Toy on the Floor ........................................... 112
Focus on the Task ................................................... 112
Raising Challenge Levels ...................................... 115
Distracted Dogs ...................................................... 117
Summary ................................................................. 121
Chapter 6: It’s All Tricks! ............................................................. 123
The ‘Trick’ Attitude................................................ 124
Which Tricks Should You Teach? ......................... 126
Head Tricks ............................................................. 126
Foot Tricks............................................................... 128
Body Tricks ............................................................. 130
More Tricks ............................................................. 136
Summary ................................................................. 139
Chapter 7: Wrapping Up and Moving On.................................. 141
Fenzi Dog Sports Academy .......................................................... 143
The Focused Puppy Book ............................................................. 1