Rules and Tools
Required supplies
- 6’ leash made of leather, fabric or biothane
- No chains, cables, ropes, bungee cords, etc.
- Flat, slip or martingale collar (or regular, rear clip harness)
- 50’ Long line
- Grooming brush appropriate for your dog’s coat
No training collars allowed for the test…but we can use them during class.
No treats allowed for the test…but we can use them during class.
10 Test Items at a Glance
- Accepting a friendly stranger (halt and sit, handshake)
- Sit politely for petting (very brief petting)
- Appearance and grooming (light brushing, ear check, lift both front feet)
- Out for a walk (Heel/LLW, left, right, stop, about, stop)
- Walking through a crowd (at least 3 people)
- Sit, down and stay (20’ out and back)
- Come when called (10’ recall)
- Reaction to another dog (Halt n Sit, handshake, no interaction between the dogs)
- Reaction to distraction (sights, sounds, etc.)
- Supervised separation (3 minutes)
click here for more details or here for full guide
Please Note: This course is designed to be fun and flexible, so the weekly lessons will probably not go exactly as laid out below. Ultimately, the group will decide the pace and which exercises we need to focus on each week.
Week 1: Review of Basic Obedience
Training collars and treats are allowed this week but we must begin to focus on the fading process.
Loose Leash Walking
- Defining a Loose Leash (visible dip, clip hanging down)
- Open palm technique
- Stop and tie your shoes
- Stop and talk to a person
- Leash remains loose while dog remains at liberty
Heel
- Maintaining a loose leash (J shape, smiley face)
- The Saturday Night Fever Strut
- Fast forward past the first minute, then watch how Travolta carries the paint can, that’s how to handle the leash. Strutting is optional. 🙂
- Turns: Left, Right, Left About, Right About, Fancy About
Halt and Sit
- Dog Sits in Heel position until released
Sit-Stay
- End of 6’ leash for 30 seconds
- Return to Heel by going around behind the dog
Down-Stay
- End of 50’ long line for one minute
- Circle the dog
- Note: The actual test is only a 20’ stay, in sit or down, out and back with no duration, but this exercise will also prepare the dog to do an out of sight stay, which will prepare the dog for the 3 minute separation test.
Recall
- 100’ while dragging the long line (actual test is only 10’)
Leave It
- Loose leash walking past pile of treats
- Oops, I split my pills!
- Heeling around food piles
- Recall past food piles
How to Phase Out Treats
- Stop luring completely
- Give treats less often
- Reward with praise and petting more often
How to Phase Out Training Collars
- Maintain consistent, visible slack with training collar still on
- Pop, don’t pull
- Pop, don’t pull
- Pop, don’t pull. Wait, did I say that already?
- Give verbal commands before popping the leash
- Use two leashes
- One on training collar and one on regular collar
- Keep training collar on but clip leash to regular collar
- Move leash back to training collar if/when needed
Homework
- Practice everything
- Watch Video: Handling, Restraints and Physical Exam
Week 2: Greetings, Grooming and Separation
Training collars and treats are allowed this week but we must advance the fading process.
Heeling Past and Around Each Other with Dogs
- Figure 8 and slaloms
- Freestyle around the yard
Heel, Halt and Sit, Greet/handshake
- Human only
- With dogs
- Pet each other’s dog
Real World Greetings
- Greeting a person without jumping
- Sit for greeting
- Down for greeting
- Greeting at liberty
- Interacting with other dogs (optional)
Grooming, Restraints, Vet Checks
- Brushing all over the dog’s body
- Handling all four paws
- Shake, high five
- Flick nails
- Message feet and toes
- Check ears, teeth, gums
- Muzzle restraint
- Hugging and lifting
- Passive restraint (side submission)
Petting, Brushing and Touching by Strangers
- Prerequisite: Dog must be tolerant with owner before attempting with strangers
Separation
- Out of sight Down-Stay
- Tethering
- Leash held by a friendly stranger
- Book: Separation Anxiety
Homework
- Practice everything
- Bring bicycle and leftovers for Leave It next week
Week 3: Distraction Proofing
Add Various Distractions
- Joggers, bouncing balls, skateboards, crutches, walkers, dropping chairs, umbrellas, teeter totter banging, mop bucket, broom, bubble wrap, wheelbarrow, plastic bag, vacuum
Leave It
- Food temptations
Walking the Road
- Cars
- The Upstream Salmon Drill
- Bicycle
Week 4: Review without Training Aids
Review any and/or all of the previous lessons but without treats or training collars
Review test items without training aids
Week 5: Final Review and Practice Testing
Go through the test to see which items need the most work
Work on anything and everything that is needed for preparing this particular group
Week 6: Testing Day
Today is the big day! Good luck everyone!
Chad Culp – Certified Dog Trainer, Canine Behavior Consultant, Owner of Thriving Canine.
© Thriving Canine 2024
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