NEWS February 2012
This is my travelling season, not necessarily born of a desire to travel so much as a desire to escape training in a FREEZING Barn. Bravo to all of you who have put training far above comfort.
Loyalty to my airline of choice is paying dividends with such a high status that I receive much kudos in the airporting process. From bright pink labels on priority luggage - which simply means it comes through first and is already off the baggage belt before my arrival, to waltzing through to first boarding. To a non-frequent traveller these may seem like small tokens, but added together they can turn a journey from tedious to tolerable. I appreciate that an airline team has seriously brain stormed what they can give away at no cost and reinforce their loyal passengers. Boarding first is very important as it means your hand luggage is 100% above your seat. Having to board late and place it 8 rows back seriously hampers your disembarking, which if you do have to make a tight connection is going to lead to frustration. I also enjoy preferential seats - nearest the front, which gets you off plane a good 10 minutes before the back, and of course food first! The cherry on this cake of reinforcement is the use of the lounges .... highly recommended, a place to read quietly, some half decent food, and quite good toilets!
These small gestures add up to a change in my emotional state when flying and this same practice of changing the small details that are important to your dog can affect their learning. If they do get a scent of something interesting - it is important to them, let them finish the story and come back to you willingly, it is very much not worth creating conflict. When you click let them orientate to you before you deliver the food. Stop saying their name before every cue, they know their name - wait until they give you the cue they are ready for a cue.
So a more relaxed Passenger of Status will be arriving in central California at Gentle Touch for a weekend of outside the box thinking, following onto to Texas for the ORCA experience. Home for a week or two, seeing spring starting to waken, and then my first trip to Tennessee for the Expo - summer clothes needed methinks.
I am very proud to announce publication of our new inspirational learning opportunity:
NEW!!!
Clicker Excellence  2 DVD Set
More than just a couple of DVDs, this is a chance to see training at its best. Twelve of the top students and teachers have put together their exceptional home training, in a step by step format for you to be able to follow. From putting rings over a pole, isolating a tail wag, match to sample, stacking cups, paw crossing and kiss-my-a**. The behaviours are skilfully taught with care and attention to detail, always placing the needs of the learner first.
A unique two hour collection of impressive shaping skills. £18 plus postage
The DVD set can be viewed on a computer or on a PAL format DVD player.
Waginar update
I thoroughly enjoyed our first Waginar in January, still experiencing that thrill of 20 plus people being together, interacting from all over the world! From Australia to Scotland, Canada to Florida. wow!
I shall be scheduling a monthly Waginar so keep an eye on the diary. Our Waginars are not just pre-recorded sessions but interactive learning in the WagMore tradition. The maximum number of attendees is 25 and you have the opportunity for participating in the session and post session forum.
A Waginar is a 90 minute live web based presentation that combines a Power point slide show, voice over presentation, videos and a chance to ask text based questions in the follow up forum which stays open for 30 days. To participate you will need internet access (preferably high speed, broad band), and a headset.
The Presentation will begin with a 10 minute introduction and housekeeping check, followed by the presentation with intervals for questions (through the chat facility).
New online Course begins in April
The Intelligent Dog Training Course
Dogs are intelligent, perfectly well designed to live in a human world and get the best out of presented opportunities. Sometimes their intelligence is just a little hidden and waiting to be discovered. Dogs are in desperate need of intelligent training. Common sense may seem a more accurate description but common sense seems to evaporate in the presence of Dog, totally devoid in the presence of Puppy.
This is a four unit course over 2 years. Come for the whole course or dip into the area you would enjoy the most.
more details of the course ....
Is this for me?
Sometimes we need to return to the beginner with our mind coloured by our experience and have the chance to see the material from a different perspective. I remember some years ago sitting with a group of trainers looking for an "advanced course". Advanced training is not just the next level, but a new view of the training you have already achieved. It is a fundamental shift in the underpinning attitude. Advancing your training is more often about seeing the old landscape with new eyes.
I am a "new eyes" specialist.
What's on At Wag More Barn
Lots of new dates through to September, with new courses, weekends and week courses plus all the regular workshops.
Don’t forget to pick up your Wag More Save More reward card in the Barn – this gives you a free workshop after you have completed 10 workshops or days on a course.
New: Teachers Practical Workshops
For those who are looking at a career teaching people teaching dogs, for those who currently teach classes and are looking for innovative new ideas. Participants in need of the relevant training are also very welcome, in fact, necessary. The workshops will include exercises, games, experiential learning, teaching strategies, equipment reviews and testing.
Each workshop is focussed on a different behavioural capacity and level of connection: building connection, maintaining connection, repairing connection.
You can book the individual monthly workshops as well as a 5 days course in July.
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Play Workshop
Play is an essential part of canine learning. It is their classroom, where their lifeskills are developed. We can join this school for fun provided we understand the Rules of the Games, and teach the dog to play safe.
This workshop looks at the strategies for tug training, whippits, retrieve, watch the mouse, and sausage games.
New: Clicker Trainer Super Trainer
Exciting new workshops reflecting the development in Clicker Training over the past 15 years.
- Workshop 1: Building your super learner: where choice becomes the power circuit, creating an inexhaustible desire to learn.
- Workshop 2: Creating a range of tools: targets, patterns, cues. Getting the structure for your path ahead. Good disciplines, easy techniques, practice protocols.
- Workshop 3: Adding the passion and power. Acquisition with energy, examining the small detail that makes the learning structure strong.
- Workshop 4: Reaching for the sky. Complex behaviour chains taught in simple stages, using behaviours to affect emotional responses. Exploring your dogs learning capacity.
- Workshop 5: Flying into outer space: Where no trainers have explored before. Cutting edge discoveries, astonishing results, conceptual learning.
The five types of workshops rotate through the year in the same order. You can book the individual monthly workshops, all five workshops for the price of four as well as the 5 days course in June.
4 more details
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