Registration
There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please
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Sorry, this class has been cancelled for the August 2018 session.
Registration will begin at 11:30 AM Pacific Time.
Enrollment limits: Gold: 12 students, Silver: 25 students, Bronze: unlimited.
Gold Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to post questions and videos to the course forums. Students will receive instructor feedback on written and video assignments.
Silver Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to participate in the discussion forum. Students may ask GENERAL questions about course materials and may submit two, one-minute videos for instructor feedback. Any questions specific to your dog MUST be accompanied by a video.
Bronze Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to read all questions and answers posted in the class forums. Students will not post questions or submit written or video assignments.
For more details, refund policies, and answers to commonly asked questions see our FAQ page.
Course Details
Feeling like you are never where you should be on course? Do you find yourself thinking you can do one thing in your walk through but then it doesn't work in your run because you were not where you thought you would be? Do you find that you babysit your dog a lot on course?? If you answered yes to any of the above then this class is for you.
In this course, I will teach you the tools you need to have independent obstacle behavior on your dogs so that you have the freedom to get to where you need to be on course. We will also learn how to determine where our critical points are on course and where exactly we should be running to and where it is not needed so your path is the most efficient it can be.
Syllabus
Week 1
Lecutre: What are Critical Points?
Jump Commitment
Lead Out Jump Commitment
Week 2
Lecture- Weave & Contact Commitment
Peripheral Vision Game
Finding Critical Points
Week 3
Short Sequence
Course
Week 4
Short Sequnce
Course
Week 5
Short Sequence
Course
Week 6
Short Sequence
Course
Prerequisites & Supplies
Dogs should be able to sequence full courses. Your dog should know how to do all obstacles.
You will need at least 6-8 jumps and a tunnel. Ideally you would have access to build a full course.
Sample Lecture
Week 1 Lecture 1
What is a Critical Point?
Welcome to Show and Go-Trust Your Dog and Find Your Critical Points! How often have you found yourself on course with your dog and just couldn’t get to where you needed to be to show your dog the correct information? Or have you walked the course expecting to do one handling move only to find you are not where you thought you would be and have to quickly re-adjust? I think most of us can answer yes to both these questions and if you can’t you may be fibbing to yourself.
The first thing we must address is what exactly is a “critical point”? A critical point is the places you need to be on course in order to survive the course. This does not necessarily mean a difficult place on course. A critical point and a challenge are two different things. It is important that when looking at a course you can identify where these points are and adjust your handling accordingly so that you can be where you need to be. Escorting our dog to every single obstacle is not going to work when 9 times out of 10 our dogs can beat us in a foot race. That is why we need to learn how to make the yardage we cover much less than the yardage they cover.
Once we have identified where our critical points are then we have to decide how we are going to handle our dog so they have the correct information as to where they are going. It is important that your dog has excellent obstacle commitment. We will talk more about this and how to go about training it if your dog does not have it. If you are stuck at every obstacle babysitting it and can’t move on until the dog has completed it then you’re in deep trouble. We need our dogs to understand what their job is while we leave them to get to where we need to be. We both have jobs. Ours is to tell them where they are going before they have committed to the obstacle and theirs is to complete the obstacle regardless of what we are doing.
In the next few weeks, you will learn how to train the skills your dog needs for job independence and you will learn how to identify the critical points you need to get to so your dog has the most accurate GPS for a handler they can have!
Testimonials
New Course for the August 2018 session.
