OBEDIENCE WITH ELLEN

 

Students tell me they forget to cover certain exercises or skill sets. And they sometimes come to a trial, thinking their dog "knows" an exercise - so they don't need to practice it.  They frequently train an exercise versus training the skills broken down. They don't have time to train every day. And they are losing the dog's focus. The best way to train -- is in an organized way. Keep sessions short. And train the way you trial. Be sure you are NOT training the same thing every day in the most predictable way!! First - Make a list of everything you need to cover over the course of this month's training. Every skill every game. Here is an example: EXERCISES Decide how many days is a reasonable amount for YOU to work your dog. Novice dog owners - consider working 3-4 days a week for 10-15 minutes each session. Planning is key. Does it even seem possible that you can cover every single exercise every week? Absolutely. But you have to be smart about it. And you ...

 My Day-Of-Plan is very specific. It takes into account: The Monthly and Weekly Plans My Dog's Strengths Opportunities to Improve Our Team Performance Alternating High Drive with Lower Drive Exercises to maintain attitude. This will take less than 10 minutes. I can make those 10 minutes really count because this will be high energy and will motivate my dog to work with accuracy.

  The end of my week is Sunday Night. After dinner, I can brew a pot of tea, and plan my training week. Here is an example. I have checked the weather and know when I can practice indoors and when I can practice outdoors. My plans are more specific than the monthly calendar. 

  SAMPLE : Here is a sample for a Novice Dog. Notice that Focus and Heeling are covered every single session. Sits are covered MOST SESSIONS.  Can you look at this and tell me what YOU would want to cover more of or less? When I review it, I would want to make sure I'm covering Stand at least once a week.