2023
HI EVERYONE! FIRST AND FOREMOST I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE AND HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED THE HIKER PUP EXPERIENCE THIS PAST YEAR.
I hope you learned somethings
I hope you felt supported and a part of a community
I hope you found a deeper understanding and connection with your dog.
I hope you felt inspired to try some new things.
As we wind down the end of the Academy this month it’s time to start thinking about what’s next. I will be shutting this year’s page down on Jan 24th to keep it from charging anyone for the next year. You still have indefinite use of the FB groups. If you did not join those and don’t plan on joining the Academy again next year I suggest you head to the Video playlists page and copy the links to those master video playlists so you can keep access to those videos that you might want to access later as you continue to train! And once an Academy Member we are family so please reach out to me on IG or via email if you have questions about accessing information, just let me know you are an Academy Alumni. Please stay in touch and let me know how things are going!
If you would like to join for another year and want to join the Bark Commanders please let me know since those slots are limited! I will open up registration for current BC members to join for 2023 on Jan 25th, and I will open up the remaining Bark Commanders 2023 to current Academy members for registration on Feb 1st.
What new is coming for 2023?
New Trick Dog Modules, each designed to follow the AKC titling program! If you complete the modules and submit your tricks on video to me you can earn titles, you can either opt to join the AKC to receive official titles from them or if you do not want to do that, I will be offering completion certificates!
Fit Dog Classes! These will be self paced modules, if you complete the modules and submit a video demonstrating the skills at the end of each level you will receive graduation certificates, which you can use towards earning Fit Dog Titles. We will also have virtual Fit Dog events!
If you’ve been with me for more than one year you know the Academy is always evolving and grows with each group that joins, so each new series of zoom classes moves with the group, shifting and changing to meet the needs of the students.
We still have several live zooms sessions left so be sure to check the calendar!
Agility Session 4 notes
Our main focus of session 4 is starting to work on our jump handling strategies and this is the focus we will keep building on as we begin the next series of classes in November. So if you want to join in then, spend sometime working on the exercises in the past 4 classes. In our agility classes we will continue to focus on jump handling drills that you can do in small spaces, and I will add in some work on your own lessons for those of you that have access to bigger training areas. So weave poles & plank work we won’t spend a lot of time in class on, but I will keep providing work on your own instruction.
Jumping Drills from lesson 4
Two Jumps
Adding a jump! We back chain by starting with the last jump, then once they are easily going over the second jump we put them in front of the first jump and we go to the spot where we were sending over the second jump from.
Serpentine Foundations
Teaching our dogs to come to us and slice across the jump, coming back to us.
Wrap
Teaching our dogs to jump and turn 180 to head back in the direction they came from
Pulls
Teaching our dogs to come past a jump and take the jump from the backside
Figure 8s
Using one or two jumps to teach our dogs to jump and wrap back tightly
Session 4 recording
Reactivity strategies
In addition to working the reactive dog program this session was about bullet pointing the key elements to handling reactive situations when training doesn’t go as planned or life throws you surprises.
If you have not spent time in the reactivity modules and/or find yourself stuck at the CC/DS part of the program, remember that is just the piece to get our foot in the door of the reactive brain. We need to have strategies and plans of how to replace the reactive emotions with doing something else. DOING something else, we need to have action plans of how to help our dogs mitigate stressful situations and need to be actively working on what we want our dogs to do when they see triggers.
This is Butters with us on a rock climbing trip to Smith Rock, one of the busiest and hardest areas to navigate with a reactive dog. We saw almost a hundred dogs that day, and many were on tiny narrow trails. Butters was the most reactive dog i’ve ever known to this day, and his reactivity was not ever really gone, but no one would have known that because I used management to navigate those moments when I could see he was heightened.
THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE I see with most people’s reactivity work is they under estimate their dog’s threshold and they spend too much time trying to work when the dog is already too heightened to thing well. We tend to rate “reactive” behavior by only the end explosive result, rather than recognizing the more subtle signs a dog is over threshold. If your dog cannot look away from the trigger they are already over threshold. Watching is ok, but if they cannot also look somewhere else, they cannot recognize food, they cannot reorient to the environment, this tells you they are fixated on the trigger already and cannot think of anything else, so move further away if you can.
I built the reactivity program on the website and then immediately built the engagement course, because these two things go hand in hand. If your dog cannot play with you, cannot engage with you and have fun out in the world you will struggle to make it over the harder pieces of reactivity. Play and engagement can be a much better barometer for gauging a dog’s mindset than food. Many dogs will override lower levels of fear to eat than they will for play. Those dogs do exist, many border collies and working dogs are the flip opposite and will play and not eat. This is often a good way too assess if a dog’s reactivity is fear or over arousal, as many dogs when frustrated or aroused will channel that energy onto a toy, but can’t slow their brains enough to eat. This is also a good hint to which you should use, if my dog will play but not eat, then their ability to eat would be a good indicator for me for their mental state. And if my dog will eat but not play, than their ability to play becomes a good indicator for me to their mental state. Obviously taking into account if we have built a relationship with those reinforcers outside of the house.
The session is recorded and on the recorded zoom playlist. I’ve uploaded the notes for you:
The workshop will be offered again on a Saturday Morning in November
for those who couldn’t do the weekday options.
Announcements and updates
Hi Everyone!
A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES AS WE HEAD INTO OUR LAST QUARTER OF THE ACADEMY.
ZOOM CLASS SCHEDULE:
The last quarter of classes are up on the calendar.
I’ve switched a few things around, mainly switching some Thursday evenings to Friday evenings to give folks in the opposite time zone some chances to attend some live classes. If they are not being utilized I can switch back to Thursday, but we will see how it goes for now. (There are still a couple Thursdays mixed in).
Only Saturdays will have a set consistent topic through December
SATURDAY FOUNDATION CLASSES:
For any ages of dogs, this will be designed for those with young puppies, those who just never got started or did and stalled out who want to start back at the Beginning foundations, or anyone looking to just keep firming up their foundation skills.
SATURDAY AGILITY CLASSES:
Saturday mornings now in one group instead of the three split days/times, with this class we will be focusing on developing and advancing handling skills using 2-3 jumps and continuing our weave poles and plank work. If you did not attend the first set of classes for agility, you can watch the recordings and catch up.
TUESDAY MORNINGS, THURSDAY OR FRIDAY EVENINGS & 9AM SATURDAY MORNINGS
The rest of the classes will be topic specific to each class so we can keep revisiting all the things we have worked on during the year. Each of these classes is a stand alone class that you can attend whether you did the previous classes or not, those who did we will work on advancing skills, those joining in we will have basic options for you to work on as well!
THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO JUMP IN LIVE CLASSES IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE LAST QUARTER OF THE ACADEMY!
Also added are some Live Q & A’s at several different day/time options for you so you can ask any lingering questions you still have!
There are stand alone classes on:
Strategies for handling reactivity
Recall and engagement
Leash walking
Using Tricks and games to improve your training skills
Understanding behavior
Fun & Games to build confidence & decompress
BE SURE TO VISIT THE CALENDAR AND RSVP FOR CLASSES THAT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND SO I KNOW WHERE THERE IS INTEREST OR NOT, SO IF SOME CLASSES DON’T GET THE NEEDED MINIMUMS I CAN CHANGE THE TOPICS OR DAYS/TIMES TO BETTER MEET NEEDS AND INTERESTS.
Winner of the Hiker Pup
Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt
PRIZE: A ONE ON ONE 30 MINUTE ZOOM SESSION OR A DISCOUNT CODE TOWARDS 2023 ACADEMY PROGRAMS. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PLAYED ALONG! I HOPE IT WAS A FUN WAY TO GIVE YOU SOME CREATIVE IDEAS OF HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PUPS!!!
JAMES & TAAKO HIT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ON THE LIST!
THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE ❤️.
Stay tuned for more contests coming up soon!
Agility Session 3 notes
Weave Poles
Start with 4 poles (you can use things like: electric fence posts that push into the ground, tall traffic cones, metal stakes you put PVC poles over, you can buy sets online at places like www.cleanrun.com
Set your 4 poles up like this:
Dog
Treat
Start with holding your dog at the gap between the two sets of two poles so they are facing the toy you’ve placed at the other end.
When they look forward at the reward let them go.
When they are comfortable add two more poles so you have 3 poles on each side.
Dog
Treat
You can keep adding poles until you have 6 on each side for a total of 12 or stop at a total of 6. For the novice level competitions many start with only 6 poles, but all advanced levels have 12 poles so if you plan to compete go ahead and work up to 12 poles.
Jumping Practice
Running with our dogs next to the jumps and using play to reward. If your dog doesn’t play with toys you can throw food if the area makes it easy enough to see where it lands, try not to hand feed as that makes dogs learn to jump and bend into you, and we want them landing out ready to keep running.
We also want to work on sending our dogs ahead of us over the jump as we hang back.
Stand next to dog facing jump
Take ONE step forward with the leg closest to the dog
as you step forward indicate the jump with the hand closest to your dog
as soon as dog takes any forward movement toss a reward over the jump
Gradually increase your distance from jump
We also want to teach our dogs to take a jump and wrap back 180 degrees so they are now facing the direction they started from.
Start with dog on stay facing jump a couple strides back from jump.
You stand facing dog, with your hip close to the jump, slightly in front of the jump
As you release dog, signal them to take the jump by using the hand closest to the jump to draw them over the jump, make sure your eyes trace the path you want the dog to take rather than looking in your dog’s eyes.
When they take the jump, step slightly away from jump so they have room to come between your hip and the jump, tossing their reward past you so they wrap around the jump and end up where they started but now facing the other direction.
Keep practicing your plank work & target training! As well as you sit stays and release to playing with you
This week!
Hi Everyone! Here’s what classes we have this week.
Tuesday Morning is session 4 for Foundation Agility! We get into some handling skills on those jumps!
Thursday Evening is session 3 for Foundation Agility.
Saturday Morning we have more foundations for obedience cues. The Baby Puppy Class for pups under 6 months may need to be canceled as currently only 1 pup is signed up, and the Foundations agility is also under the needed numbers to have class so be sure to RSVP for either of those classes if you plan to attend. If the classes need to cancel I will let you know.
HAVE YOU STRUGGLE WITH MOTIVATION OR FEEL LIKE THE YEAR IS MORE THAN HALF OVER AND YOU HAVEN’T TAKEN FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAM?
If so now’s your time to jump in!!! You still have plenty of time left to make a huge difference in your dog’s understanding. Jump on a module video playlist and watch some videos for inspiration. Jump onto a Saturday morning foundation class. In the coming months we are going to dive deeply into our recall training and engagement so it’s a great time for you to get back at it!
Agility Session Two notes
agility foundations session two exercises
Calling our dogs over the jump to end up at our sides.
Start with your dog sitting on the other side of the jump, instead of facing your dog face to the side.
With the hand closest to the jump, point to your dog and cue them to jump, as they approach the jump drop your hand drawing your hand to your side as you step forward one step.
When you finish your dog should end up standing at your side, between you and the jump with you both facing the same direction.
Contact Training Foundations: step one is getting your dog comfortable waiting on the board, two feet on the ground, two back feet on the board. Have reward forward and work on sending the dog to reward with a release cue.
Adding more steps on the board, working on shaping dog to walk the whole plank before going to reward. At this stage do not worry about having them stop at the end, just work their understanding that walking across the board gets them a reward. Be sure to have your rewards out in front of the end of the board so they focus forward and not on you. Keep your food in a container they need your help getting a treat from so they don’t get food or toy if they skip the board.
Working on fading yourself away from the board to be sure the dog starts targeting the board without your body pressure.
Don’t rush to add speed or end of board rules. Work the end of board behaviors each as it’s own game. We want to work on 3 aspects of the contact training as separate pieces!
Luring dog into the 2 on 2 off position so two back feet are on board, front feet on ground
Waiting at the end of the board for a release
Finding the board on their own and walking across it to a reward
This Week
THIS WEEKS CLASSES WE CONTINUE WITH AGILITY ON TUESDAY AND START A NEW GROUP WITH SESSION 1 ON THURSDAY EVENING.
For Tuesday we will start working on our plank work for contact training so think of some ideas of what you can use: 1x12 boards, stairs, a platform, workout step… it needs to be big enough your dog can stand all the way on it and then bring two front feet to the ground while keeping their back feet on.
For both Tuesday and Thursday you need: a jump of some kind. You can use a broomstick over chair legs, on on milk crates… you only need a bar 8-12 inches high. (or lower if you have a very small dog) A target: check out the foundations & beginner trick training for tips on target training. Toys and/or things you can put food in your dog needs your help getting out.
A reminder that to do the agility classes you need to keep up with all of them, you don’t have to attend every session if you can watch the recordings and stay current, but this is not a class you can miss the first couple classes and then jump in session 3 or you will not know what’s going on. You are welcome to observe, but if you are just observing have your cameras off so I know you are not working so I can focus on the working teams.
FALL CLASSES
I am working on the Fall/winter schedule as we come round the back half of the academy! I know we have a few new young puppies so if you are not on Facebook and have a puppy under 6 months old email me dawn@thehikerpup.com as if we have enough youngsters we will start a new foundations zoom class Saturday mornings. Otherwise look on the Academy Facebook group for a post asking about our puppies and a class so I can see if enough folks are interested.
Agility Foundations Home work suggestions
For those of you doing the weekday foundation classes here is the recap for homework for week 1. Don’t worry if you are starting up later, you can reference this for later, or have some fun playing with it now and when we meet for class we can expand on it.
Jumping:
Remember comfort and confidence matters most at first so keep bars low as you introduce them to the idea of going over the bar. General guideline: if you have a puppy under a year, an older dog or any dog that might have a physical difficulty with jumping, keep the bar of the jump below your dog’s elbow, this way they can step over it without having to jump. If you have a dog that you want to compete with that is grown, work to getting the bar higher than elbow height as quickly as you can to get them hopping and not walking over the bar. You don’t have to immediately go to full height, just get a nice hop going. Check out the various agility organizations in your area to find out what your dog’s ultimate competition jump height will be so you know what you are working towards. To give you an idea: all of my border collies have had to jump 20” jumps and my Goldens 24”…
Jumping Drills to practice:
Call over: leave dog sitting on one side of jump, call them over the jump to you. (be sure when you set them up in front of the jump that they are further away than the jump is high- so if my jump is at 16”my dog would at absolute minimum would need to be 16” back away from the jump to set their feet and jump and clear the bar.)
Add angles: Set your dog at an angle to the jump, when you call, go to the mirror angle so the dog is actually still jumping straight to you, but they are seeing the jump at an angle.
Increasing height: Once your dog can clear the jump without knocking it at all over all the possible angles then work on increasing their height. Stop if you find your dog refusing the jump at the new height, and go back to the last successful jump and stay there until we meet next. remember as your increase height you need to move them further away from the jump to give them take off space and you need to move further back to give them landing space. Think of the jump as the middle of their air trajectory and imagine an arc that goes exactly that distance before and after the jump as where they need to take off and land. So for a 20” jump my dog would ideally take off at least 20” before it and land 20” after it to create that rounded arc. ONLY increase height if jumping on a safe surface! Grass, mats, dirt, etc. It is ok to jump low heights on sketchy surfaces but once they need to actually jump they need traction to push off and cushion to land.
Go round:
Using a cone, chair, or anything you can find that helps your dog move out away from you to go around. Once they have it, add your low jump bar. Toss the treats as they jump to help shape the bend over the bar so they are jumping curving slightly towards you. If they are uncertain or seem worried be sure to toss the treats decently away from the jump so they have a lot of landing room and return to the jump with more momentum.
Target Training:
Be sure to brush up your dog’s target touching skills!
Start Line Releases:
Practice that stay and release to play or tossed treats.
Play!
Work those play behaviors! Remember in an ideal world we have a dog that values food and toys equally for agility. They will always come with one stronger than the other. Keep working on both! Toss food containers, throw treats, play catch with treats. Revisit some of the Get Engaged Materials if you need some more help!
New Group Classes
NO SATURDAY CLASSES IN AUGUST:
I will not have Saturday Classes in August, we will start back up again in September. The month tends to be a time not many folks attend weekend classes as they take their last summer vacations, so we will start back up in September. I will add more class topics this Fall as we move into a time of year people are usually more available again. And I think we have some more new puppies in the group!
FOUNDATION AGILITY:
I will be offering 4 week classes on getting started with dog agility at home. This class will be the introduction level and you can join in with any dog as the level of challenges will not be enough to cause a lot of physical stresses. The starting course is designed to be able to be done at home or in your yard as we will be breaking down the performance of each obstacle we work on rather than running any kind of drill requiring more space. If there is enough interest in this class I will happily offering increasing difficulty levels as folks get into it.
For this agility course I am requiring that you attend all 4, it’s ok if you have to miss one, if you watch the recording and catch up. The exercises will build on each step so it’s too hard of a class to jump into if you haven’t done the earlier classes (you are welcome to watch and observe, but it will be too hard for me to catch folks up working the class if they don't start with the group).
The class will be offered 3 different times, so two weekday options starting in August and then Saturdays in September. The classes will be mostly the same, if more people in a particular group have more experience that might change that class a bit 😉.
You will need to come up with some equipment to use for this class if you want to stick with it. I’ll add some resources here for you from easy DIY to better quality things you can buy.
What you will eventually need:
2 jumps
a plank (12in wide, longer than your dog’s standing body)
weave poles
a tunnel
Jumps:
You can start by just simply putting a broom stick on something like chair legs, milk crates, books, etc - you just need to be able to raise it 8 or so inches off the ground so the dog needs to step over it. If you plan to stay with agility it would be nice to get some more efficient jumps to use for training.
Here are some links to DIY PVC jumps:
https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Dog-Agility-Jump
If you want to make it easier by buying some of the pieces - like the jump bar holder, and base pieces:
https://clipandgoagility.com/do-it-yourself-dog-agility-accessories/
If you think you will stay with agility these are my favorite jumps and what I have at home, they fold down are portable and easy to bring to a park, etc. Plus easy to store all folded up:
https://clipandgoagility.com/ready-jump-42-89-95-each-or-less-free-shipping/
PLANK:
You can go to the hardware store and get a 1x12 whatever length that best suits your needs. It needs to be as long as your dog is standing so they can be completely on it standing. If you have space longer is better 🙂. If you want to make it more grippy and similar to a rubberized contact I glue on the spongey shelf liners they make for the kitchen, or the non-slip runner rug mats.
They do sell contact trainers that you can buy and use if you want something easier to use and store here are a few options:
https://clipandgoagility.com/clip-and-go-folding-6ft-contact-trainer/
https://catooutdoors.com/collections/board-plank/products/cato-plank
WEAVE POLES:
You can make weave poles by using PVC placed over a stake you put in the ground, you can use electric fence poles (they are white, allow you to step them into the ground and are about the height of a weave pole) that you can get at most feed stores.)
If you want to buy a set these are my favorites:
These ones are really nice and super versatile:
You can also find some little agility kits that are ok to get you started, if you do get into the sport you will outgrow those quickly though.
TUNNEL:
You do not need to go out of your way to get a fancy tunnel. Most dogs learn to love tunnels easily, it is nice having something to get you started with. You can even just make one if you have some large cardboard boxes. They sell kids tunnels at a lot of toy stores. Many playgrounds have tunnels. You do not have to get a tunnel for the class, we can make due with making something at home, like a little blanket fort 🙂.
Something like this can be nice to have:
If funds are limited the two things most needed are jumps and weave poles, those both take practice to be good at and both require body movements that when practiced they get faster and more efficient with. Planks and tunnels are fun but you can get by without them.
BEFORE YOU START:
If you have not yet, visit the tricks modules and work on getting your dog touching a target!
Disaster preparedness workshop
HERE IS THE PACKING LIST AND RESOURCE LIST FROM THE WORKSHOP. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST ARE SOME GREAT WEBSITES WITH A LOT OF RESOURCES FOR HANDLING ALL KINDS OF DISASTERS AND HOW TO PREPARE FOR THEM.
WHETHER YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE DISASTER RISKS IN YOUR AREA OR NOT I STRONGLY SUGGEST AT MINIMUM YOU WRITE A LIST OF WHAT YOU WOULD NEED TO TAKE IF YOU HAD TO EVACUATE YOUR HOME. AND TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ON HAND WHAT YOU WOULD NEED TO CARE FOR YOUR PETS IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN. WITH CLIMATE CHANGE THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN AREAS THEY NEVER HAVE BEFORE, AS A PET GUARDIAN IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE WE ARE PREPARED TO CARE FOR THEM.
Thank you to those that attend and asked such wonderful questions! I love that you provided even more great ideas on what to bring and do. Here are two of the sites off the resources list. They have great information about preparing and what to do. Have a reactive or dog with stranger danger? Have you thought about what you would do if you need help and have no choice but to be in uncomfortable situations with them?
Saturday Class Resources
I’ve added the cooperative care exercises from Saturday’s class to the Cooperative Care Modules.
Here are the packing lists from the Camping with dogs workshop.
What's happening this week
Tuesday Morning: Nosework continues. Imprinting odor, target touches with duration for indications. Have your tins, jars and if you have one, metal colanders ready.
Thursday Afternoon: Foundations continue! Continue to progress our basic skills to intermediate and advancing levels.
Thursday Evening: Rally Obedience continues! Join as we work on more Rally obedience exercises!
Saturday Morning: Baby Puppies foundations. Have your pedestal and targets ready so we can keep working on helping our dogs learn more helpful skills that build physical and mental confidence. Cooperative Care continues! Today we look at animal husbandry skills to make less than cooperative care less stressful for everyone. Have those nail clippers, tooth brushes and other care tools ready, have your bucket game container and chin rest items ready! Beginner tricks continue! I have passed the certifications to evaluate trick videos for the AKC, if you want to pursue titles we will talk about how to prepare a trick video for evaluation.
Saturday: Camping with dogs workshop! Packing lists, training skills, practical tips on introducing your dog to camping/backpacking or advancing your skills and knowledge for outdoor adventures with your dog.
Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt Contest
Summer is often a time when it can be hard to keep up with dog training and a time the classes often see a bit of a dip as summer vacations and adventurers make finding time to train more challenging. But guess what? Often those adventures are giving our dog’s many new experiences and ways in which to broaden their social skills. If we are aware that this is happening we can use these adventures as a way to deepen our connections with our dogs. So to keep you aware of how much your summer might be expanding your dog’s world I have created a series of Summer Scavenger Hunts. You can check things off the list as they happen, or maybe you are looking for some ideas of things to do.
There are 3 lists, one for general ideas, one for reactive dogs and one if you want to play along is a photo scavenger hunt. The idea being you share photos to the group either via the FB group or on IG using the hashtag #hikerpupphotoscavengerhunt (tag me so I can share if you want me to). If you want to share your progress on the FB group how you are getting on with the scavenger hunts I’d love to see what you all get up to!
I hope you find them fun!
Winner of the contest which will based on: number of items checked off list, taking care of your dog’s emotional needs while checking off the list, photo quality and creativity! If I have many that have equal quality entries I will then go to a random draw. Prize: a one on one 30 minute zoom session or a discount code towards 2023 Academy programs. I will announce winners in September after summer is over. If you live in the upside down 😂 and it’s winter where you are then swap winter for summer and feel free to be creative and add in items unique to your area this time of year!
Extra points for creativity and fun!
Homework suggestions
For our cooperative care visit the cooperative care module to review the exercises we have introduced the last two classes. The Bucket Game and Start Button work. Focus on building duration for your bucket game & for your chin rests. Focus on changing those emotional responses to seeing grooming/care tools they are not fond of with our start button work.
Rally Obedience: Keep practicing those stays and walks around, come fronts and finishes. If you are serious about Rally and want to compete focus on getting your pedestal work so your dog will rotate towards your side while on the pedestal.
Puppy Foundations: Work on getting your puppy comfortable on the pedestal and reward any time you see rear feet moving. Work on your target touches! Our goal is to move it closer and closer towards the ground.
Nosework: Keep building that search game routine. Start saving some small cardboard boxes that you might come across.
What's happening this week?
Tuesday Morning Class we will start Nosework class. This will be the same class that was offered Thursday evening, this way people who cannot make evenings have a chance to take the class. You are welcome to attend even if you did the previous class, but do know it will cover the same exercises.
Likewise Thursday Evening we will start Rally Obedience class and it will cover the same exercises we did the previous Tuesday morning class.
Saturday Morning we will work on continued cooperative care, introducing start button work.
Thursday afternoon & Saturday morning we will continue our foundations training! For the Saturday morning puppy class if you can have ready for class something your dog can stand on that only their front feet will fit on: upside down heavy bowl, small step stool, etc. and also a small plastic lid like a from a yogurt container or Tupperware lid.
Summer is just around the corner!
Be sure if you have a puppy or a dog worried about noises that you are working on fireworks and thunder desensitizing as summer is usually the season our dogs will experience more of these things! Use the sound sensitivity playlist to find some recordings of fireworks and/or thunder and have them on at low volume while you play and have fun with your dogs.
Have fun outdoor goals? Taking your dog camping for the first time? Going on a road trip? Leaving your dog home for the first time? Be sure to hit up the FB group to ask for tips and ideas!
Upcoming Workshops:
I’ve added a couple of new workshops to the events Calendar.
Camping & Backpacking with dogs June 11th
Disaster preparedness workshop July 16th
Easter Trick Contest Winner and a few important announcements!
First of all the winner of the Easter Trick Challenge.
This was a very hard decision! The entries were all so good. I decided it was too hard to pick one winner so I have picked two who will both win a 30 minute private zoom call. If I had the hours in the day I would give you all first place! Thank you so much for playing the game.
Winners of the zoom call: send me an email at dawn@thehikerpip.com so we can talk about getting you scheduled.
The Creativity, the ears and the basket, and loved the different photos & video on the reel.
Pure cuteness here! Simply irresistible! The colors, the set up and such a perfect picture. Also those eyes, I feel like I would give sparky the keys to my car and credit card if he asked.
An important announcement!
I am going on vacation from May 7th right after we finish class until May 16th. We are headed to Hawaii! So with the time change and I am not sure if we have wifi where we are staying so I am not sure how much I will be available. So if you post during that time, I will catch up when I get back. If you have questions that cannot wait message me on Instagram or email dawn@thehikerpup.com. I am going to try my best to truly unplug and not work as I have not had a vacation away from work for more than a long weekend since before the fire. But I will check email and IG messages incase you need me.
New Updated Module!
You will notice if you go to the Cooperative Care Module I am building more content there for you. All the things we worked on in class is added as well as more video examples for you. Be sure to visit the FB academy group to comment on the specific cooperative care things you struggle with or have the most interest in so I can be sure to cover that for you!
BEGINNER TRICKS: HERE IS A LINK FOR YOU TO CHECK OUT THE NOVICE TRICK LIST.
Intermediate & Advanced Trick lists so you can plan out the order you want to work on tricks if you want to work on titles
What's happening this week?
We have a lot of new classes starting this week!
To keep things fun and offer anyone wanting to jump back in if they have a hard time getting going all of these classes are easy to jump into! The weekday classes are going to alternate subjects so that you can do both if you want to.
Here’s what’s starting!
Rally Obedience:
What is Rally Obedience? It is sort of like foundations doodling. They are series of exercises that one would heel from station to station practicing. I love rally obedience! It is a fun way to keep improving your dog’s foundation, intermediate and advanced training skills. It’s great having idea of ways to work on things. Even if you have no interest in any kind of competitions, it is still a great way to work on training skills! You can make things as casual or as precise as you wish!
If you want to get an idea of the kinds of exercises we work on you can visit this link to see a list of exercises:
K9 Nosework:
What is K9 Nosework? It is basically taking the principles used to train detection dogs (drug, bomb, etc) and using other scent oils to train a dog to seek and find a hidden scent source. So it’s using all the same skills but for a safe fun hobby. What I love Nosework? It is simply one of the best games you can play with a reactive, anxious, bored, stressed, under exercised, young, old, dog. It is approachable for most any dog! Research shows that sniffing lowers a dog’s heart rate and helps to calm their nervous system. Teaching a dog to use their nose to explore for fun games with us, helps us connect with them in one of their most important and favorite activities! You can play these games anywhere! The dog is running the show and it really helps to increase confidence. Canine Nosework trials and classes are usually the most approachable activity you can do with a reactive dog! Most classes are set up so that reactive dogs can participate! Dogs work one at a time and often classes are held in places where you can have your dog safely away from all others. You can even compete with a reactive dog, again, only one dog works at a time and since many reactive dog people compete in this sport instructors and event organizers tend to be very experienced at setting up classes and events with reactive dogs in mind.
If you are interested in taking the class here is a link for a place to purchase kits if you are in the US. I do not know if they ship internationally.
Here is a shop in the UK & Australia , obviously I have not used them so don’t know how easy they are to work with or order from. Wherever you live try searching “canine nose work supplies” and your country and you will probably find a supplier!
Beginner Tricks:
In this class we will work on the Tricks on the list for the AKC Novice Trick dog title. Here is a list of the tricks we will work on together:
Cooperative Care:
We will look at teaching skills and techniques to make caring for your dog less stressful and easier for you both. Cooperative Care is the thing you end up wishing you had thought of before you needed it and wish you could start over again, and that is what we do! Even better is to just start doing these things before you need them!
Foundations:
We will continue to work on advancing all of our foundation skills together!
Head to the event calendar to find the class days & times for the classes you want to attend!
Spring Break!
After tomorrow’s Trick Class I am going to take a little Spring Break for Easter and we will have a little longer stretch between classes and the switch will bounce the every other week to a different rotation so that others might find those weeks easier to make. So the classes will start back up the week after Easter.
This is a great time to either take a little breather if you have been going strong all along taking all of the classes and keeping up with homework. Or It can be a nice catch up time if you missed a few classes and want to go back and watch them. Or the new set of classes starting the week after Easter is a great jump in point if you have yet to really get started as we will be diving in to some new subject: Rally Obedience & Cooperative Care!
I will keep up with the FB group if you post videos or ask questions so the whole program is not on break, just the group classes for next week 🙂.
Don’t forget about the Easter Trick Challenge! Post your entries between April 10th-16th!
Homework
TRICKS CLASS:
Put your toys away:
REACTIVITY:
Work on your recall off of moving toys/food!
Also think about some ways you can work on set ups for being able to work on those motions that usually surprise you when you can make them happen predictably.
FOUNDATIONS!
Focus!!! You can’t have anything else without your dog’s focus. If they are looking at other things they are going to go to those other things. So while we want to teach our dogs that it’s ok to sniff and explore we also want to make sure they know how to stay focused and walk with us when needed. I like to teach focus at my side and in front. I like doing this exercise to get my dog looking at my face and not my hands. We will work more on other ways to also do this and you can see more of those in the foundation modules.
Help your dog focus on your face:
you can use a treat, show them you have it and then draw it up towards your face. You can even put it in your mouth and drop it that way.
Say your focus cue word and give the treat.
Taking one perfect step!
Begin with your dog at your side looking up at you. Take 1 step rewarding as you step off so they do no drop their heads as you step.
Puppies!
Work on your Puppy Push ups, Stay taking one step, recall game, and that hip roll!
What's Happening this week?
We will finish the last of our set of 4 sessions for the Tricks and the Saturday Reactivity classes. Don’t worry, we will keep revisiting these things! The Foundation Classes will stay for a bit longer as we work on getting everyone really solid foundations.
This week in the tricks class we will talk about the “put your toys away” trick. As you saw in the sound sensitivity trick this can be used for more than just a trick! Also, did you know that teaching your dogs to fetch, and retrieve to hand or to a specific spot is one of the best ways to prevent resource guarding? It’s true, teaching dogs to share means you don’t have to try to take things from them! This is why it is included in my foundations training! There will be a bonus tricks class April 5th (a Tuesday Morning) to recap what we have worked on and to give you ideas on how to keep progressing these tricks!
This week in the Reactivity Class we will focus on Motion reactivity: skateboards, bicycles, cars, joggers, etc.
Instagram Easter Trick Contest!
PRIZE IS A 30 MINUTE PRIVATE ZOOM CONSULTATION!
Post a photo, reel or video on your Instagram feed of your dog wearing bunny ears and/or holding a carrot or easter basket! (and no a picture of your dog eating a carrot doesn’t count 😂) the week before Easter April 10-16th and Tag me: @thehikerpup so I can see your post!
(if you have a private account you will need to message me the post as it won’t show me a private post)
If you do not have an Instagram account, you can email me dawn@thehikerpup.com your photo/video with permission for me to share it on my IG stories to show people your cute dog to enter the contest.