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Dog Sports Skills, Book 1: Developing Engagement and Relationship - including shipping


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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

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