Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE465: Training Levels

Course Details

If Level 1 was kindergarten, Level 2 is all of elementary school, and in Level 3 we're getting into high school - making the standard behaviors not only reliable but useful in competitions and in daily life.

You'll both be introduced to many new behaviours, with all training resting firmly on the skills from Level 2.

The "4 Ds" - distance, duration, difficulty, and distraction - will now make up a large part of your training. You can make any behaviour stronger by working on any or all of those 4 parts, and thinking about them as separate parts of every behaviour will help you remember the need to split everything you teach her into the smallest possible lessons.

Every behaviour the dog learns teaches her the actual behaviour, but there are also incidental lessons built into each Step. You AND the dog will learn to trust each other, to have faith in the performance of your partner, and to see that you can accomplish anything if you approach it in small enough steps and don't lose your cool.

In Level 3 you'll also start to see the enormous potential each behaviour has to support what the dog knows about other behaviours.

Sit and down may be different, but they each teach the dog to assume a position. Sit, Down, Zen, Focus, Lazy Leash, Go To Mat, Crate, Relax, and Handling are all behaviours that require duration - the dog must not only perform but CONTINUE to perform for a period of time.

Song diligently working on her eye contact duration. It's a heavy head, though, so she always appreciated a pillow to rest it on.

Madrid having some difficulty with his prehensile lips on the dumbbell.

Stitch and Fish practising Go To Mat at an agility trial. We eventually embroidered their names on their chairs so humans wouldn't sit in them.

Come, Sit, Down, Lazy Leash, Go to Mat, Distance and Jump require distance - she'll have to respond when she's a specified distance away from you, or go a specified distance to perform.

Communication encompasses several behaviours, starting with keeping the leash untangled. All the behaviours will get tougher and more useful as you work through the Steps.

Note: This is class three in a four part series. Parts one and two are taught on the regular FDSA schedule with instructor Heather Lawson stepping in for Sue Ailsby (now retired). Students are welcome to continue working these materials with feedback from Heather using the FDSA one-to-one online private lessons. Interested students should email Heather at dogwise@telus.net for more information.

Instructor: Sue Ailsby

Susan Finlay Ailsby (she/her) has retired from active teaching for FDSA. She is a retired obedience and conformation judge. She has been "in dogs" for 54 years, having owned and trained Chihuahuas, miniature pinschers, miniature longhaired dachshunds, Australian cattle dogs, miniature schnauzers, giant schnauzers, and Portuguese...(Click here for full bio and to view Sue's self-study courses)

Syllabus

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COME – getting solid recalls through distractions

COMMUNICATION – learning to keep leashes untangled

CRATE – learning to enter and stay in crate with the door open

DISTANCE – going around and jumping

DOWN – beginning out of sight stays

FOCUS – increasing duration of eye contact

GO TO MAT – more distance, more duration

HANDLING – allowing handling of entire body and grooming and care tools

LOOSE LEASH WALKING – maintaining the loose leash over distance and personal nightmare distractions

RETRIEVE – learning to hold and pick up articles correctly

SIT – adding distance and duration to stays

ZEN – staying off treats dropped or tossed and applying Zen to door safety

Prerequisites & Supplies

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PREREQUISITES

EQUIPMENT

A hungry, willing dog, clicker, delicious treats.
A 6-foot leash.
A buckle collar or martingale, limited-slip, or similar type of collar.
Doors to outside.
Various people, dogs, and other distractions varying in difficulty from easy to almost impossible for your own dog.
Mixing spoons or other retrievable objects in plastic, wood, and metal.
A mat big enough for the dog to lie on.
A crate.
A pole or cone and a PVC or wooden bar at least 4 feet long with some way to hold it off the ground up to your dog's elbow height.
Your own dog's handling and care articles - clippers, thermometer, toenail clippers or Dremel, toothbrush.
Miscellaneous outdoor poles - signposts, power poles, etc.

Sample Lecture

COMMUNICATION STEP 1 - Dog untangles a leash from around a pole.

One of my very favourite advanced behaviours. I know people with Miniature Pinschers who can't walk more than one step without their MinPin snagging the leash under his paw. Then they have to stop and unsnag it, walk another step, stop and unsnag it, and pretty soon it's OBVIOUS that MinPins have to be walked on tight leashes so that doesn't happen.

Phooey!

We'll start with untangling the leash from around a pole.

Remember the part about sit interfering with down and come interfering with stay? Well, you just taught your dog to go around a pole. Now we're going to teach her NOT to go around a pole.

What's the difference? OFF leash and ON CUE goes around poles. ON LEASH **NEVER** goes around poles.

I learned this one day in Los Angeles when I was riding a bike with my Giant Schnauzer running at my side. She knew loose leash very very very well and I held my end of the leash in my hand.

I went a little too close to a stop sign. She went right. I went left. She wasn't injured. I was.

Llamas taught me this too. You would be awestruck by the amazing trouble a picketed llama can get into when she doesn't know how to untangle herself.

And if you want to see an incredible demonstration of the value of HANDLING, RELAX, and giving to pressure, watch this video:

If you don't want to watch the whole thing, start at 4:00 and see 16,000 pounds of horse relax and give to pressure when it hits the fan.

In the beginning, we need the dog to understand that she can get herself out of trouble when she gets into it with her leash.

She has the skills she needs already. She trusts you, she knows she's working to earn a click, she knows how to give to the collar pressure, and she already knows how to untangle herself from your legs. So here we go.

With the dog on one side of a solid-in-the-ground post, put the leash around the back of the post and put some pressure on the leash. Here's our own Lynn Shrove's Lily in position:

Lily looks a little put-upon because she knows this behaviour VERY well. We had to do a lot of You-Stay!ing to get her into this position long enough to take the picture!

The amount of pressure you put on the the leash is important. You have to put enough pressure on that the dog can NOT continue walking forward, BUT if you put too much on, you're going to grind her cheek into the post and she won't be able to get her nose back around the post.

You've got to give her a chance to fix it. If she absolutely can't figure out what to do, keep the pressure on but reach back and hook a finger in between the leash and the pole to pull the collar more backwards and less sideways:

Be ready to click when she does the first thing to relieve the pressure. Then start leaving the pressure on to give her more and more opportunity to step backwards, and have a BIG party every time she gets herself out of that jam!

And here's Lily getting herself out of trouble. Note how much space she needs to get that schnozz back around the tree!

COMEAFTERS

Once your dog has the idea of giving to pressure to get out of trouble, there are a million places you can practise. Please do NOT practise with things that move - like kitchen chairs. We're not trying to make her crazy.

If you walk toward a door, she goes through, and you turn right before you go through, there's a door jamb between you. Teach her with (trained) people. Table legs.

Go bigger - posts in parking garages.

Guard posts on walking path entrances. How fast can you walk past them? How close can you walk? You've now graduated from teaching her to get herself out of trouble she got herself into, to clicking her for ducking behind you to KEEP herself out of trouble.

Testimonials & Reviews

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A sampling of what prior students have said about this course ...

I was petrified to take my first course at gold level, but I hoped a push from a live teacher would move me along at a better pace and erase the slacking I was well able to accomplish in my many bronze level courses. I wasn't disappointed. Sue met us where we were and encouraged us with such care that it turned out to be a stellar ride. We will be journeying much further as we use this material for the rest of our training adventure. I highly recommend every Ailsby course, especially at the gold level. Donna E

As I have said before, it's hard - even in in person classes, to find an instructor who teaches you how to do something. Mostly instructors simply say, do it.....Sue is the epitome of teaching one how to do it - and in her use of videos and stories, she demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of many approaches to learning it. Can't wait for the next class to begin! Sherry H.

Sue, you have an amazing way of getting the message across to even the newest of newbies and that is a rare talent. Have enjoyed your classes very much. All the best!! Carolyn & Molly

Thank You! Thank you Thank you! The more I focus on one step at a time, the clearer the big picture becomes. Although I haven't had direct contact with you from my position at Bronze, I feel a sense of connection and camaraderie. In large part because of the ways you share your own stories of learning; by failing first and then breaking it down into doable steps. When Pikachu suddenly seems to have become utterly stupid, I'm now more easily remembering to chute back to the part of the behavior where she can be brilliant again. And to only ask her to do what she can now, even if she yesterday she could do something different. Frustration and hopelessness are short-lived with this approach. I'd have to say that this levels class is helping me be more hopeful and effective in my life in general. Thank you for teaching it.

Sue Ailsby is one of the best of the best at FDSA. I was studying her levels before she became an FDSA instructor and FDSA credibility skyrocketed for me when she was brought on as an instructor.

Registration

This is a self-study class. The lectures will appear directly in your library, under the "Self Study classes" heading. Self Study classes do not have class homework forums. You will not have any access to the course instructor for questions or feedback. Please note there are no refunds on self-study classes so review all the information provided carefully before purchasing.

You will have access to these materials in your library for one year from the date of enrollment. You can keep your library pass current by enrolling in at least one course or workshop a year. Alternatively, you can purchase a library pass for $25 per year for as long as you wish to have access to prior class materials.

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