Feeling stuck, intimidated, or overwhelmed working on obedience skills with your dog? If you feel like you’re not sure what to train, or if what worked for your last dog isn’t working for this dog, this class may be for you!
In the TEAM 2 class we provide structure as you build the skills your dog needs for TEAM, AKC, CKC, FCI, or the other obedience program of your choice! Let's break down the fancy skills you've seen in obedience trials!
In this class we introduce new skills while continuing to build the skills from TEAM 1:
Retrieves [NEW for TEAM 2]
Marking (look forward cue) [NEW for TEAM 2]
Pivoting without a prop- left and right (the foundation for pretty heelwork!)
Position changes in heel (and teaching a stand cue!)
Scent articles
Engagement-: "transitions" between exercises
Sends to a target
Jumping
Stays with distractions
Finishes
Fronts (teach fancy front pivots to get that amazing lineup!)
Took the TEAM 1 class, but still working through the skills? That’s okay! Join us for TEAM 2 and we’ll continue to work together to get you unstuck and making progress.
The individual pieces of exercises are broken down for you in manageable steps. Introducing all these core areas from the start makes sure that obedience remains fun for both the dog and the handler!
Join us this term to take your and your dog’s obedience to a new level!
What is TEAM?
The TEAM titling program is a virtual program designed to help reward obedience trainers for breaking down their training and building a strong base of foundation behaviors.
Each level adds complexity for the dog-handler team, presenting them with a wide range of interesting skills to master right from the start. There’s no reason to hold back on training for distractions, distance work or the "fancy" skills while teaching your dog to heel!
Note: You do NOT need to be interested in TEAM titles or have taken the TEAM1 class to join! Many students use this class as a roadmap for AKC/CKC/etc. If you don’t have TEAM 1 in your library, it’s helpful to at least have
Pivoting on a perch
Position changes started in front of the handler
Fronts with a platform
Teaching Approach
Lectures are released at the start of each week with all lectures released within the first 4 weeks. The lectures are broken down by each skill, often in multiple parts. I have written objectives and then written instructions for each step followed by multiple video examples for each step. The videos are usually between 30sec to 2min long and are taken from training sessions of a variety of dogs. I do not use voiceover or subtitles in the video. At the end of each lecture is a homework summary with the steps quickly summarized in order.
This class will have Teaching Assistants (TA) available in the Facebook discussion group to help the bronze and silver students! Directions for joining can be found in the classroom after you register.
Laura Waudby (she/they) trains and competes in obedience, rally, and agility. She was halfway to her OTCH with her UDX corgi, Lance, before his uexpected early retirement. She also has championship titles in USDAA and UKI. By day...(Click here for full bio and to view Laura's upcoming courses)
Because of the wide range of skills, students are not expected to master all 10 skills. About 3 skills will be introduced per week and gold students will have the option of working on any of the skills discussed from the current week or previous weeks. All lectures will be released in the first 4 weeks of class in order to give students enough time to focus on their desired areas.
The skills taught will be:
- Retrieve: Beginning steps to picking it off the floor and delivery to hand. Teaching a hold!
- Fronts: Fading the prop, working on pivots in front
- Position Changes (sit, down, stand): Working in heel position, building in pauses, building greater distance, adding handler distractions
- Moving Engagement/ Social Play for working on "transitions" in the ring
- Pivoting Skills: Fading the perch with left pivots and starting pivoting to the right
- Finishes: 3 styles of finishes, fading props, proofing heel position
- Stay: duration, distance, distraction behind the dog, handler's back turned
- Jumping: taking a jump without handler movement
- Scent articles: Fading food lure in finding your scent, switching to a retrieve alert
- Mark: Teaching a cued look straight ahead, watch me vs look forward on cue
Release Schedule:
Week 1: Pivoting left and right in heel, Position changes (heel position and pauses), Marking, Send to Target
Week 2: Retrieve, Fronts, Position Changes (marching and distractions)
Week 3: Scent articles, Finishes, Position Changes (distance), Play/engagement
Week 4: Stays, Jumping
Remember each student can pick what they want to work on each week from any of the topics a lecture has been released on. Students will likely not be able to master all skills in the 6 weeks and will focus on topics they need the most guidance in.
The exercises in this class build off of those in TEAM 1.
It is recommended that Gold students have either taken TEAM 1 (OB115) with either instructor at any level (gold, silver, bronze), OR have passed the TEAM 1 test.
Many of the gold teams will still be working on level 1 behaviors while ready to start level 2 work with other behaviors!
It is HIGHLY recommended that students start looking a level ahead of where they are at early on. This prevents boredom for both human and dog, and allows the dog to advance in exercises that are well known without getting "stuck" rehearsing only the earlier level. Gold students will be able to work at the level they are currently at, even if it isn't quite level 2 ready!
If you do not have the TEAM 1 class, the following skills are prerequisites(NOT needed if you have the level 1 lectures!). While not all the skills are needed since you can't work through every single topic in just 6 weeks, I will refer students back to level 1 lectures for any skill that isn't ready for the level 2 notes:
Pivoting in heel on a perch
Understanding of how to teach sit and down with a front foot, rear foot target, OR a platform.
Stay with a zen bowl/distraction on the ground
Front to a platform
Scent articles started (to food in a container or a smear of food on the article is ok!)
Equipment needed is dependent on which skills each team wants to focus on. Ideally, teams will have access to:
Perch for pivoting (round bowl, phone book...)
Dumbbell or other formal retrieve object (something the dog does not see as a "toy"
Foot target for position changes (Whatever the team is used to such as PVC box, larger platform, front foot target, rear foot target...)
Scent articles. Teams who have been working on a nose touch indication to a flat lid may continue that, or we can talk about switching to a retrieve alert if they are ready. Retrievable articles might be canning rings, leather bracelets, or traditional dumbbell shaped articles.
Jump. Any jump will work but the lectures will specifically start talking about training a broad jump. Instructions on how to build one will be in the supply lecture
Marking in this context (as opposed to "marking" as the reward cue we use to bridge the time between the dog's behavior and getting their reward) is the act of a dog looking forward out towards another object. The dog can watch a thrown retrieve item and mark the location of the landing (especially useful if thrown into long grass!) or the dog can be given a mark by the handler which tells the dog when and where to look. This second part will be the focus of this lecture as it is not a natural behavior for the dog. Dogs have to be trained to follow a point and while they readily pick up on it (compared to wolves!) their first instinct is still to stare at your hand versus following the invisible line you are pointing out to the object.
Teaching a mark is a useful skill for directing your dog to retrieve something they didn't see thrown and for directing your dog to a specific item/cone when there are multiple choices for the dog to pick from. It can also be used to point out the next task your dog is to do such as looking ahead to mark their "go out" location in Utility, or the first obstacle in agility.
Here is an eventual goal behavior of Vito working in Utility. I mark him to look forward to his go out location so he knows what to expect, and then stand up straight waiting for the judge to start the exercise and tell me to send my dog. I want my dog to continue to look where they should be going next.
And here is final picture for the TEAM2 test: dog looks at you when you return (a cue is allowed, but I would suggest that you train the dog's default to be looking at you unless told otherwise), pause, cue the look forward and remove your hand, pause, then release forward.
Step 1: Teaching the Look Ahead
Since most dogs will readily stare at cookies or their favorite toy, we will begin by using their reward as a lure. For this exercise, I place my chosen reward in a bowl or on a target lid to make it clear to my dog that they might be getting released to it. Since I don't allow my dogs to be released to distractions on the ground, the bowl or target quickly becomes a cue to my dog that they will be able to get the item at some point. This bowl/target is often referred to as a Zen Bowl as the dog learns to develop impulse control before being released to it. If your dog does not already have a solid stay or auto leave it while you place a distraction on the floor, you will still be able to start this particular marking exercise by simply holding your dog by the collar/harness for the early lessons.
Let the dog see you put their reward on the ground in front of them, anywhere from 1 ft to 5ft at the very most. Then encourage them to look forward it! When you see your dog looking ahead, use your release cue or another cue that means the dog can have the reward in the bowl. Gradually increase the time your dog has to look ahead from 1/2sec to 3 full seconds.
For some dogs this look will be easy. For others you've done such a good job of teaching them to look at you, not the food, that it might be harder!!! We may need to take the dog out of heel position and switch tactics. Check out the problem solving section a little below if you're stuck.
With Loot I have him on a platform to help him wait, return to him and gently touch his chest and assume a track start to try and be clear I'm not looking for focus. As soon as he looks at the dish I release him with "cookies!" which is my marker cue to tell him he can have the treats in the dish! He anticipates the second rep and I let him go, but make sure he's in a sit for the next rep.
Here with Zumi I gently grab her collar to help her wait, and I add a "ready" cue to get her to look ahead as she knows that from the restraint games I've done. Note in this old video I mark with "yes" or the clicker. Now I would use a different marker/release cue that made it clear I wasn't rewarding from hand but was allowing the dog to get the food. I currently use the marker cue "cookies" to release to a reward on the ground.
Problem Solving:
If your dog struggles with this first step, switch to tossing the reward in front of them versus placing it. As your dog watches the throw you can release them before they have the opportunity to look back at you! You may also want to be out of heel position for this exercise as your dog likely has a strong foundation of keeping eye contact in heel! Move to the right side of your dog, a foot out in front of your dog, or even try having your dog between your legs!
Here with Grace I place a cookie in the dish just in case she looks before I toss, and then I toss one in. Right before I toss I give her my mark signal so that will come to predict that the toss is going to happen. I release her with "cookies!" when she is looking at the motion of my toss! She's a bit hesitant to release on the cue here even though she has a lot of practice already in knowing that "cookies!" means run to the dish!
And here Ginny is working on this. I also try to have a treat already in the bucket in case she looks early. I am choosing to add a verbal cue to look here that predicts that I will toss a treat into the dish. I'll toss a second one if I need to!! I'm holding her collar to prevent her from going early. You can see she isn't quite getting it yet!
Here Ira has also struggled with looking at the dish. Mom slides it forward so the dog is looking at the MOTION of the dish. On the first one she isn't quite sure yet, but the next two she nails the focus forward! Mom is just starting to delay the release to the dish until after the dish has stopped moving! She's also adding in a chest hold here as a reminder of oppositional reflex/restrain games. This could actually stick as the dog's eventual cue to look ahead.
Still struggling? Look at changing your position so you're not in heel!! Here with Wren I start her between my legs!
Step 2: Adding in the Hand Signal and/or Verbal
Most trainers will use a hand signal to tell their dog when/where to look ahead. Since your dog will be starting from heel position, the most common signal is lowering your left hand to your dog's head level. You may need to bend your knees with a small dog! Hold your signal still either directly above their head or in the space between your dog's head and your leg. Remember this hand signal is about giving a direction for your dog to look. It will not give your dog permission to actually run out! Hold your signal still and wait for your dog to stop staring at your hand and actually look ahead at the reward like you have been working on. Release your dog verbally and without moving your hand forward.
Here is Nala who also has a very strong foundation of giving eye contact with the Zen Bowl! I discover with her that she remains looking at the bowl while I'm setting food in it. It's the start of my standing up that makes it hard. So I quickly send her a few times with my hand lingering at the bowl. When I realize that this can start a hand signal I try switching to my other hand (the one closest to her). I release with the marker cue "cookies."
This is Candy's first time seeing me add a hand signal. You can see in the first rep she is already expectedly staring at the bowl, but as soon as I add my hand she mobs it thinking I have a cookie in it. I try to keep my hand still and wait for her to look at the bowl again. My hand is way too low here and makes it harder for her to look away from my hand. This is a pretty old video without a clear marker cue to release.
And here with Mayhem I'm going a slightly different route of training a verbal "look" cue first. I had already taught her "collar grab = look ahead" from restraint games (see an example in the send to a target lecture under building motivation). Since she struggled with being confused by my lowered hand, I decided to go the route of new cue ("look") followed by old cue (collar grab). Well that was my plan. You will see the first several reps my timing was all over the map in that sequence! But I get better as I go :) Ideally I want that verbal "look" before I grab her collar and do a track start!
With Loot I'm changing from a chest hold to an arm signal. I also reach across with my right arm to grab his collar as I don't quite trust him to stay and this removes that conflict!
Note that I mark the dog for looking forward and always reward them by letting them go to what they were looking at. While the technique of marking the look and feeding the dog from your hand can be successful, it is not one I recommend at this stage. Often a dog could inadvertently learn to face their nose forward but they are still thinking about what the handler has versus actually applying their full focus forward. The technique of rewarding from your hand would be best for a dog who already has very strong focus forward and needs to learn to relax a bit before being sent.
Duration!!
Build until you have 3-5 seconds of your dog looking forward to where you are directing with your hand and a minimum of six feet.
Here Wren is working on a tiny bit of duration before the release! I occasionally have to re-mark her before sending. And note that I'm also working on Step 3 below (focus first).
Step 3: Focus First
Now that your dog is eagerly looking forward and isn't confused by the presence of your hand, we will start to teach him that looking forward is only to be done when given the cue. Contrasting an "auto watch me" (this will be the dog's default behavior) with "look ahead" (only on cue now!) may be initially confusing but will start to cement the concept that your hand going down actually means something!
Here is Puppy Zumi working on this concept. I review the mark and then start to add in rapid reinforcement for looking at me before marking. This is where a marker cue like "yes" or a click that tells the dog food is coming from your hand is important! For Zumi the low value food on the target in this challenge wasn't difficult. You can see a little bit of difficulty with going back to marking and with moving off as soon as my hand goes down. In this older video, my release cue also isn't super clear! Now I would release her with "cookies!"
And here Loot is working on this skill. I feed him several treats quickly before touching his chest and assuming his track start. I *skipped* to this step a little earlier with him then I do with some dogs as I thought it would make more sense with him to have a clear difference of when he should look at me and when he shouldn't. He already had a lot more experience with a Zen Bowl and looking up at me before starting this marking exercise and I could tell he was getting unsure on what the rules were. The look ahead is not solid yet, and still on a chest touch versus a hand signal.
Problem Solving: Working on Focus around the Dish
If you are struggling to get your dog to actually look at you, review our automatic leave it homework first from TEAM1. You may need to back up to holding the dish in your hand and getting eye contact!
Once the dog is looking at you and not the dish, give your dish marker cue and lower the dish for them to eat. Work up to doing a quick discrimination exercise of "yes" = cookies from your hand, and "dish" = grab a treat from the dish. Work this with the bowl in your hand to prevent errors before putting the dish on the ground.
Here Loot works on controlling himself around the Zen Bowl. I start with pure eye contact= release to the dish and I set it down for him to eat. When it's on the floor (you may need to still have it in your hand at this next step), I discriminate between yes vs cookies.
Then, try doing an around the clock game with a Zen Bowl. Start with the dish behind them where it should be easy to look at you, and gradually work that dish out in front. Instead of marking the dog to look at it before sending, send the dog only when they are looking at you for at least one full second. Your "cookies" cue will reward the focus on you. Don't transition back to telling the dog to mark/look at the dish until that eye contact is easy!
Here Marina demonstrates working on this skill. You can see her trainer does one "test" rep of cuing her to mark/look at the bowl towards the end, but the next rep she makes sure to reinforce Marina directly for the eye contact.
Some dogs will have a harder time transitioning from handler focus to object focus. For these dogs, stay close to your Zen Bowl and after giving your dog a cookie from your body for eye contact, go back into the encouragement position you used in the very first step. This may mean crouching into a track start, looking forward at the object yourself, and possibly putting a hand on your dog's chest to raise excitement levels!
Duration!!
Remember to build up your dog looking forward for at least 2-3 seconds!!! Keep your hand still and make sure the dog is looking forward when you release them.
Here Wren is working on more duration again! A few times I have to remark her when she looks up too early. And at the end I find she's not quite looking forward at the target but off to the side. I don't want to practice releasing her too much with this off look. Fortunately I figure out she's looking at her dinner bowl and I change the angle I'm working on!
Step 4: Fading Duration of the Hand Cue
The goal of both the verbal cue to look and the hand signal is to give the dog a cue to look forward in a straight line for something to do. Like all other cues, you don't want to have to hold the cue constantly for the dog to do the behavior. It should be a quick action and then your hand should return to your side while the dog continues to do the behavior of looking forward.
Your hand being removed might be difficult for your dog to keep focus without looking back at you. Having a strong verbal cue can help with this! Don't hesitate to mark and re-mark. As your dog gets used to doing 2-3 marks before each send the desire to look back at you in between should decrease.
You can also try making your hand signal smaller so it's easier to get rid of. Instead of bending over completely, try a tiny bend! Or instead of pausing as you mark, lower your hand and then smoothly continue moving it down to your side.
Here with Ginny I'm working on having my hand signal be in continuous motion so there is no pause of it down before it slowly starts moving back to my side. This makes it less obvious that I'm removing it. I'm able to get in several good reps without her looking back at me and only have to re-mark her once in this session!
Here Lina does a great job of responding to Mom's continuous signal! (Note she occasionally has to re-mark her and that's due to not always having food out there as she works towards a later skill of sending to targets instead of food!)
Here Wren is starting to get my hand slowly being removed. I'm trying not to bend over too much as I give my mark and slowly slide it back.
And here Grace is struggling a bit with her owner in being distracted by the hand motion. While Grace does look back up. Mom is trying hard to send her as soon as she's looking forward, even if she isn't quite taking her hand away yet!
Overview
1. Reward your dog for looking at a dish with food in it! Release them with a special cue such as "cookies." Do NOT click or say "yes" as that will mean they get a reward from your hand!!
2. Add in a hand signal if you haven't already been using one. Typically this is your left hand lowered down to right at their head level. You may also wish to add a verbal "look" type cue right before your hand moves if you want!
3. Get focus on you!! You may need to warm up with the dish in your hand and getting eye contact! And/or practice pivoting away from the dish and then sending the dog only when they are looking at you before going back to the mark!
4. After the dog is looking at you, give the cue to mark the dish, then release to the dish on your "cookies" cue.
5. Continue to work on duration. Build at least 2-3 seconds of your dog looking forward with your lowered hand before you release them.
6. Remove your hand. Dog should be looking at you - you give the mark signal - remove your hand - (dog is looking forward still) - release to the dish! Try a continuous motion signal so there isn't any pause with your hand out as your hand slowly slides back to your side.
A sampling of what prior students have said about this course ...
This is a great class and a great instructor. The team program is lots of fun for both handler and dog- it presents obedience skills in chunks that build neatly upon each other. Laura's videos are clear and very helpful- she has an excellent eye for each student's need, and is able to quickly find the tweak need to make the team successful.
I found Laura to be kind and understanding when I was having difficulty and genuinely happy for us when we made progress. I'm hoping to return for Level 3 to continue the fun challenges.
Laura, I can't thank you enough for all the feedback and video examples that you have given me the past 6 weeks!! I feel that I can now continue training Brodie by following the many suggestions that you have given me. I can hardly wait for T3! Also, I liked that you posted all the lectures at the beginning of the course. It gave me a chance to choose what I thought would be most beneficial for me and my dog.
This was a great class! We were able to work at our own pace and cover the exercises and skills that we needed the most help with. Laura was terrific, offered great critiques and a variety of strategies to tackle each problem, often running off to make a video with her own dog to demonstrate a point. It was like having 6 weeks of private lessons in whatever we most needed! My observation is that all of the dogs and handlers improved over the 6 week course. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning foundation skills and perfecting them, and to anyone interested in the TEAM program.
Thank you,Laura,for all the time and effort you are putting forth making your classes so very valuable! Appreciate the extra videos you post for individual students!
Awesome lectures, awesome feedback , awesome problem solver, awesome timing of feedback to students, awesome ability to break down desired behaviors, awesome dedication as Laura has been known to whip out a new video for students so they have a visual aid, awesome ability to watch each and every moment of your video. Did I mention she was awesome? I can not think of one thing to recommend for improvement.
Registration
Next session starts: October 1, 2024Registration starts: September 22, 2024Registration ends: October 15, 2024
Registration opens at 11:30am Pacific Time.
The instructor will be participating in the FDSA in-person training camp in Ohio from October 4-6 and will not be available to answer class forums. Class will be extended to compensate and will end on November 13, 2024.
Instructor: Laura Waudby
