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Webinars will run approximately 1-2 hours including presentation and questions.
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Lucy Newton - Getting Started in Tracking

Date: Thursday, March 21st, 2024
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time). 
Fee: $19.95 USD

This webinar will cover what you need to know about getting started in tracking as well as discuss the details of what you will need to know and plan for when you are ready to enter a tracking trial. The webinar will be focused primarily on AKC tracking competition but we will also discuss other tracking venue options as well.

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Erin Lynes - Read The Room: Awareness and Development of Context Cues

Date: Thursday, March 21st, 2024
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time). 
Fee: $19.95 USD

Context cues are stimuli in the environment- sights, sounds, smells and even social cues- that influence behavior and memory. Dogs are incredibly good at picking up on all sorts of context cues- it feels like they learn in pictures, where all parts of the environment are built right into what we are teaching. This is why it's often said that dogs aren't naturally very good at generalizing behaviors. To your dog, the behavior is part of that very specific snapshot, where it was learned!

In some situations, we actively train our dogs to ignore context cues. And we have to work pretty hard at this! For example, we generalize obedience cues in many different settings, with different handler positions and postures, and unusual distractions- so that our dog truly understands that our handler cues- like sit, down, stand and heel- are relevant, no matter what else is going on. No matter the context.

But in other situations, it is helpful if our dogs can learn to read the room: to examine the entire context and draw conclusions about suitable default behaviors for that setting. To ease into the most suitable arousal state simply because they know what is expected in that circumstance. And to do this by just recognizing the picture, rather than requiring handler cues or micromanaging. Default behaviors in certain contexts don't just happen by magic though- well, at least not the desirable ones. If we don't plan appropriately, it frequently happens that our dogs attach too much excitement, arousal, or animation to situations where, long term, we'd prefer they were a little calmer! We need to be a little bit strategic, looking at our training scenarios from the same viewpoint as our dogs, to ensure that the end goal emotional state and behaviors we are shaping in that context will best serve us and our dogs.

In this webinar, we'll examine how expectations drive emotions, and how emotions drive behavior... and how crafting your dog's expectations in specific contexts helps to build consistent appropriate emotional states and desirable behavior in similar situations in the future. We'll look at how you can incorporate building context cues with a new puppy early on, so that while you are socializing and developing foundation skills, you're also building valuable expectations in key environments that help, rather than harm, future goals. We'll also discuss re-training for dogs who have already developed undesirable behaviors in certain contexts, and you'll get tips about avoiding some of the most commonly poisoned context cues too! This webinar will help you learn to perceive the world 'in pictures' and give you the ability to appreciate all the ways you can anticipate your dog's behavior based on their environment and their past experiences in similar situations. As a result, your dog will be better prepared to read the room!

This webinar is for you if your dog exhibits any of the following:

  • Struggles to settle in situations which should invite relaxing
  • Tends to be overexcited for vet visits, grooming, or even waiting their turn in class or at trials
  • Attempts to greet everyone they meet with excessive, overly friendly enthusiasm
  • Pesters you relentlessly while you are working, working out, or otherwise occupied
  • Whines, barks, or scratches in their crate or ex-pen in anticipation of release or due to FOMO
  • Has an inappropriate or undesirable behavior or arousal level in any routine situation

This webinar is also for you if you have a new puppy and want to avoid any of the above without sacrificing their socialization.

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Jennifer Henion - Retriever Sports: Start and Build Marking Skills

Date: Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time). 
Fee: $19.95 USD

Marking is definitely the most fun part of retriever field sports! Watching the dog run with joy and focus through grassy fields dotted with trees, ponds and undulating hills to retrieve a mark... It's what they were born to do!

Marking is also the core skill being judged in Hunt Tests, Working Certificate tests and Field Trials. In the rule books it states "...marking and memory of birds are of primary importance."

This webinar will use lots of exciting video to discuss the art and science of marking. We will also cover how to start teaching your dog to run marks - and in a way that makes it easy to progress into intermediate and advanced marking concepts.

You will learn how to use single marks to develop your dog's field skills for depth perception, running distance, water and cover. As well as teaching the concepts of multiple marks, like doubles and triples.

We'll also cover:

  • How to build double and triple marks
  • Why steadiness and line mechanics are important
  • How to teach retired marks
  • Why certain marking combinations are difficult and how to overcome that
  • How to approach group training day marking tests to best fit your dog

This will be a great topic for the Q&A as well! It's a great opportunity to ask questions about different marking scenarios and how to approach them.

[Don't know what Marks or Marking means? A mark is when a retrieve object is thrown or shot by a gunner in the field. Marking is your dog's ability to watch the object and pin point where it landed, as well as taking the accurate route through the field to get there! Of course, the dog then picks up the object and runs back to deliver it to us.]

This will be a fun one!

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Stacy Barnett - The Secret Sauce: Key Critical Skills for the Nosework Dog

Date: Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time). 
Fee: $19.95 USD

Did you ever wonder if there was something you could do or a drill or exercise you could set up to give your Nosework dog an edge or to improve your pass rate? There are! This webinar will give you a list of critical skills to develop and sample setups and drills to build the Secret Sauce into how your dog works. Distractions? Sourcing? Problem Solving? Focus? We will talk about all of these and more!

Note: This Webinar is back by popular demand. Please check your webinar library before purchasing.

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