Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - O3002: Upping your Game in Obedience

Course Details

3 WEEK CLASS -

I can’t even begin to guess how many times I’ve been told, or more often it’s that I’ve overheard, that obedience is boring.

It’s not motivating. It's predictable. It’s too uptight.

And its true. Obedience CAN be all those things. But it doesn’t have to be.

Obedience can be intense, it can be fast, it can be creative, and most importantly it can be joyful for both you and the dog!

In this class we will look at using a few simple games that you can build into a variety of training exercises to bring more engagement, creativity, and joy into your training.

We will work with cones, spins, hand touches, backing up, and even play with suspenseful pauses. Each week I will present some games, and then help you brainstorm ways you can insert those games into the obedience exercises you’re working on.

Working on your dog being able to heel with less rewards? Stuck on drilling fronts and finishes? Combatting travel on your dogs drop on recall?

The games will give your dog another way to understand each exercise. And just as importantly, we will give you tools to unstick your training and get out of the rut of drilling!

Learn to bring more flow and creativity in your training and up your obedience game!

We’re not just bringing games into your obedience training, we’re using games to train obedience differently. Obedience can be joyful!

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 talk to the camera or use voiceover or subtitles in the video. At the end of each lecture is a homework summary with the steps quickly summarized in order.

Instructor: Laura Waudby

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)

Syllabus

View Full Syllabus

We will cover 2 foundational games per week.

Lectures will go over how to get the skill started in different positions (ie from stillness and from movement, from in heel and from in front).

Then the lectures will go into applying these games to other exercises. Advanced teams may apply these games to any exercise their dog knows, including open and utility exercises! Teams newer to obedience may use props to help structure their dog for success.

Week 1: Cones, High Hand Touches
Week 2: Spin, Suspense
Week 3: Go through, Backing up

Prerequisites and Equipment

This class welcomes a wide variety of dog skill levels! We will be going over 6 foundational game skills, some of which your dog may already know and some of which might be brand new, or perhaps you have never done the skill in a certain context before! Advanced dogs will be able to apply these games into high level exercises.

To get the most out of this class, dogs should have some start to understanding heel position, front position, and position changes. It is ok if your dog needs props such as a pivot bowl or foot targets!

Registration

GOLD LEVEL $149 - Students may ask instructors questions and post up to six minutes of video per week for instructor feedback. Access to all class materials and can post to class forums.

SILVER LEVEL $99 - Students may ask general questions in the discussion forum and post ONE 90 second video per week (3 total) for instructor feedback. Access to view all class materials and class forums.

BRONZE LEVEL $49 - Students have access to all class materials and may view all class forums. A Teacher’s Assistant (TA) will be available for this class. Instructions will be provided in the classroom after registration.

For additional details on enrollment levels please view our Getting Started section on our Help Page.

O3002: Upping your Game in Obedience