Friday, February 29, 2008

Agility Practice

There will NOT be an Agility practice this Sunday. The next meeting for the Beginners will be next Wednesday at 7 PM.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Beginner's Class-Third Night

Your trainer, Kathy, thinks you all need to focus on working your dogs every single day! It only takes 15 minutes a day and you can even break that up into smaller time segments. Remember, it shows whether you have worked your dog or not during the week and your trainer always knows:) We had some brand new kids and dogs last night and you will find yourselves a little behind. That is ok, just work hard and you will catch up.

By the next training session Kathy would like you to be able to complete these exercises with your dog:
Sit Stay- - 2 minutes
Down Stay- - 3 minutes
Stand Stay- - 2 minutes
Heeling- - add circle right and circle left
Recall- - across room, instructor holding dog in place
Leave it
Beginning Rally exercises

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Class 2: Notes from your trainer

I heard that everyone has been working very hard with their dogs. That is nice to hear!! Your trainer has given me a list of exercises that your dog should be able to complete by the next class. Remember, a few short training sessions during the day can make a big difference!! So, here goes:

* Sit stay - 1 minute
* Down stay - 2 minutes
* Stand stay - 1 minute
* Heeling - including automatic sit and the following commands: fast, slow, about-turn
* Recall - 2 ways to work this- - - 1) toss a piece of food about 6 ft away.....when your dog starts to eat it, call "Belle, come" 2) while heeling, start backing up and call your dog to you "Cedar, come"

Please remember, next week we will not have a training session. Instead, we will have the monthly meeting of the county-wide dog club. We will meet at the 4-H building just like we always do, in the Bison Room, but don't bring dogs!!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Good Work!!

Great job last night at the very first dog training session! Here is what you should be working on this week: 10 second sit-stay, 30 second down-stay, and a 10 second stand-stay. You should also practice heeling. Your dog should be able to walk 10 steps with you on a loose lead. That means you shouldn't be jerking or pulling your dog along! If you were unable to make it to class and are not sure how to teach your dog these commands, please e-mail me and I will do my best to help you.

Also, according to my room reservations, we will be in the Bison Room again next week, but after that we will meet in the 4-H Hall. I know it is a tight squeeze to have all those dogs, kids and parents in the Bison Room, but we will make due.

Work hard this week. It only takes a few minutes of work each day to make a huge difference.