A Great Week for Dog Training

This week we had Fanny Gott here for a week of seminars.  We had a great turn out and everyone was left with some great tips and lots to work on.  The two day obedience workshop was very interesting as I have never done any formal obedience training and it is so nice to have methods that are all positive and based on operant conditioning.  Preston showed lots of potential for competition obedience and we will continue to focus on the foundation for heel work and a formal retrieve. 

Puppy day was great and it just makes me want to get my border collie even sooner.  I have so many plans and so many ideas of how I would like to raise her, I don’t know if I will be able to wait until next summer.  We worked on lots shaping and flat work and Fanny stressed the importance of creating a dog who is easy to reward both with tug and food.  It was a common trend that most puppies at the workshop were lacking the enthusiasm we want when it comes to tug drive.

Of course the handling workshop was my favorite and I am so happy that there was such a great group of people who all seem dedicated to Greg’s handling system.  The workshop started with a lecture on Greg’s system which is always good for everyone to hear.  We worked on lots of challenging sequences and even though Preston got into the dog food the night before and was a couple pounds heavier I still enjoyed running him. 

It was so enjoyable to sit back and be a student for a change and work my own dogs.  I plan to bring in more presenter in the next year so I have the opportunity to train my own dogs and be a student every once in a while.