In this course, dog-and-handler teams will be able to work on whatever areas they feel could use a bit of coaching or guidance. Are you feeling like you aren’t progressing in a skill or behavior? Maybe there are skills or tricks that you would love to train but not sure how to get started? Maybe you got started and now are struggling to complete the process. Struggling to add verbal cues? Choreography got you down? Sequences aren’t working well? Heeling not as snazzy as you would like? Want to get more precision and accuracy? Struggling with duration? Julie can help!
Though this course is meant for those working in Freestyle or Rally-FrEe, there is a lot of crossover to other sports! And while lectures will focus on areas that tend to be problematic for handlers, such as eliminating hand cues, building value in positions, layering, transitions and timing of cues to benefit flow, handlers can get help and coaching on any area of MF or RF training they would like.
Bronze level students! What's in it for you! The gold students will bring a variety of topics, behaviors and skills, training issues and concepts to the threads. Observing these teams and applying what you learn to your own training will have a huge benefit to your own freestyle or Rally-FrEe journey. Silver students have the same benefits as bronze students and in addition, may ask unlimited questions and submit up to 2 videos for coaching.
Teaching Approach
As a handler's choice class, there will not be a specific set of lectures and exercises to work through. Lectures will consist of common areas handlers struggle with and will be added to as the course develops giving students a variety of ways in which to improve on their training. Some of the lectures will be pulled from Julie's other courses, while others will be new, dependent on what skills handlers choose to work on. Handlers are not required to work on the lecture material and may submit video and questions on any area of skills in which they are needing coaching.
Instructor's feedback is in written form and often supplemented with video demonstration, photos or diagrams. While there is no TA for this course, there is a student-run study group for support and accountability. You can join the group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1238962546905599/
To be part of the study group you will need to send a screenshot of your FDSA library showing you are enrolled in this course to the group moderator Esther Sophia.
Julie Flanery (she/her), CPDT-KA has been working professionally with dogs and their handlers since 1993. She focuses on the needs of the dog and helping people form a strong relationship, through clear communication, and positive reinforcement. She has placed Obedience...(Click here for full bio and to view Julie's upcoming courses)
Lectures will be added here as needed and will include areas that handlers often struggle with. Lectures are generally restricted to the training of skills or concepts and will not cover behavioral issues such as reactivity, ring shut-down, or similar concerns. FDSA has an abundance of instructors whose classes address these issues in a much more comprehensive format.
If you have taken any of Julie's past courses then you are likely aware of the kinds of equipment she uses. In some cases, props, such as standing platforms, pivot platforms, or training gates (small barriers) or targets may be used. In other cases, no equipment is required. Dog and handler teams should have a list of skills or goals they wish to work on, though the class will be very flexible in terms of what or how many skills or concepts each dog and handler team works through.
Whether you are using lure-reward methods with the use of hand-signals as an intermediary step or shaping with a clicker, no method will be wholly successful without applying an effective and efficient process for placing behaviors on cue. I have found this to be the most misunderstood and misapplied process in training. I believe this is the primary reason many have difficulty creating effective verbal cues. This is also why many handlers choose not to use shaping or the clicker as a primary training tool – there is a lack of understanding on how to get behaviors on cue and stop the dog from offering multiple behaviors in a frenzied attempt to earn the C/T.
The process for placing behaviors on verbal cue is very specific and when followed provides your dog clear understanding of the meaning of the verbal cue. When applied incorrectly or incompletely the response to a verbal cue can be inconsistent at best and at the whim of the dog at worst.
You’ll want to refrain from adding the cue too early in the training process. This can cause a dog to perform a partial or incomplete behavior when cued. If we add the verbal cue too early in the process, before the dog has a clear understanding of the primary or essential parts of the behavior, we are inadvertently labeling the inevitable errors, often presented in the early stages of training. How often have we seen a handler say to the dog “heel, heel, heel” as their dog is lagging, thinking they are encouraging the dog to heel correctly. They may be associating the word “heel” with lagging. By adding the verbal cue before the dog understands how to perform the behavior, we can cause the dog to carry these errors or miscommunications into his understanding of the verbal cue.
Placing Shaped Behaviors on Cue
Three questions to ask before starting to put a behavior on cue:
Is the behavior predictable?
Are the primary and essential parts present? (criteria such as desired duration or distance can be added later)
Does the dog appear confident in his execution of the behavior?
Once you can predict that your dog will offer the completed behavior, insert your verbal cue just before he performs it. Below is an example of Phee learning the verbal cue to get on her cot.
Adding a Verbal Cue to a Shaped Behavior: Step by Step
Set the dog up in the context he is likely to offer the behavior. Mark and reward the offered behavior a few times.
Once predictable insert your verbal cue, just before the offered behavior. Mark and reward correct responses.
After several repetitions of verbal cue followed by behavior, hold off on providing the verbal cue for a count of 1-1-thousand after your dog finishes the reward.
If your dog performs the behavior without the verbal cue, do not mark and reward. Re-start, and right away provide the cue and mark and reward behavior.
Alternate/vary between these two - always provide the cue more frequently than no cue.
To prevent frustration during this process and to help the dog understand that "waiting for the cue" is a good thing, provide rewards prior to giving the cue. This will give the dog a reason to wait for the next cue before executing. He is waiting for either, the next treat, or the cue.
In the below video you can see how I give Phee several treats in a row before giving the cue. This helps her to wait for the cue with out making several errors and becoming frustrated.
You will see understanding, sometimes in the form of a “false start.” The dog will start the behavior before he hears the cue and catch himself. When this happens reward, then give the cue right after the false start, and mark and reward the completed behavior.
If you are using gates, platforms or other aids, you will want to add your verbal cue before beginning the process of removing the props or aids.
Placing Lured Behaviors on Cue:
Once you have transferred your active food lure to a hand cue or signal and your dog is consistently responding to a hand cue, you can start to transfer to a verbal cue.
The protocol of transferring to a verbal cue can be spelled out in one sentence: New cue followed by known cue or Verbal cue followed by hand/physical cue.
Transferring a Hand cue to Verbal Cues: Step-by-Step
Choose a recently trained behavior, not yet on verbal cue, but predictable on a hand signal.
Give the hand signal to ensure it is meaningful and results in the completed behavior. Mark and reward.
Give your verbal cue, pause half a second, then give your hand signal, Mark and reward completed behavior, repeat several reps.
After several reps, you should start to see the dog initiate or start the behavior before the hand signal. Mark and reward initiating the behavior – don’t wait for the full behavior to C/T. The criteria for your marker is starting the behavior on the verbal cue. Marking will likely cause the dog to end the behavior. That’s okay! He met criteria!
Ping Pong between Giving the verbal cue, a half-second pause (about the length of a quick breath), then hand signal, Mark and reward for full behavior and Giving the verbal cue, slightly longer pause (one second or saying: one-one thousand) to give him the opportunity to be marked for initiating the behavior.
Increase your criteria to the full behavior without the aid of the hand cue.
The process above should not take more than 3-4 sessions to transition to verbal cue. If it is taking longer than that, check to make sure you are not over-lapping your verbal cue with your hand signal. Check your video. You might think you are separating them, but the vid can tell a different story. Also check to make sure you aren’t helping the dog too soon later in the process, teaching them to wait for the hand signal rather than initiating the behavior.
Here Phee is learning the verbal cue for Sit
Here is Finn learning the verbal cue for Stand
While I’m showing the process for simple behaviors, the process is the same for more complex behaviors. Knowing how to apply the protocol to simple behaviors gives you the experience to apply them to more complex behaviors.
A sampling of what prior students have said about this course ...
New class for the August 2022 session
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Instructor: Julie Flanery
