If you’re a clicker trainer you know that having clear criteria is a must. However this is one area that I see causing grief time after time – even with experienced trainers! If the goal of clicker training is to provide clarity and clear feedback, we...
This is the second part of a two part series on teaching our dogs how to focus on us in interesting places. PART ONE examined the concept of ‘focus’ from a dog training perspective and looked at how to teach the foundation skill of reorienting to us from...
What is ‘Focus’? A very frequent comment I hear from dog handlers is that their dog can’t ‘focus’. Their dog is ‘distracted’ by the environment or specific things within it. So, I’d like to take a closer look at this very common problem. This is especially...
Ok, so I’m totally biased here! Competitive obedience is my passion. I love to watch and train happy, enthusiastic dogs performing precise moves and exercises with attitude and pizazz. There is something about having a dog so tightly and joyfully synchronised...
Rally-O, short for Rally – Obedience, is a relative newcomer to the dog sport world. Unlike traditional competitive obedience and agility, which have been around for many decades, Rally-O has only been officially recognised as a sport here in NZ for a few...
Nosework is the sport of scent detection. Although it is not available as an actual competitive discipline here in NZ just yet, the benefits of teaching it as a skill are many. It is easy and cheap, requires very little space or equipment and any dog can do it. In...
