# Loving It



## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> I am spending the weekend at a Denise Fenzi seminar. I am totally loving it, have about 8 pages of notes already. I was completely blown away when she was working with Faelan and I and first said what a nice boy he was and then just reached out to touch his head commenting on what a BEAUTIFUL golden he is.
> 
> He is beautiful and he is respectful and he does so want to work & please and to have all that recognized, well it just made my day - he also is playing and tugging very nicely in that environment  Now I need to decide what to work on tomorrow...I am thinking changes of pace in heeling LOL
> 
> Brag over


That's awesome!! Glad it's been a good one. 

Maybe she can help embrace the slow


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins - embracing that darned slow is what I am thinking ...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

*Doggie bling Denise Fenzi style*

2 new leashes for my crew ; one green and one blue.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

That's funny I thought slow too :--sleep:


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

You know I cannot say enough good things about this seminar, so I won't even try 

But she truly understands dogs, motivations, drives and what may be underlying certain behaviors. She can very quickly get the dogs driving to be in position, had one dog starting articles up to 5 within minutes with no misses, quickly ramps up distractions without undue stress etc. Ring preparedness, how not to warm up your dog, how to know when the dog is ready for more and how to use variable distractions to help build focus, games, interaction with your dog in the ring and outside the ring, even how to play games that don't annoy fellow competitors 

I chose for my mini session; ring preparedness. Walking into the ring, handing over the leash, stepping off first with rows of people chatting, then quiet and staring. Angling the pattern, releasing to his ball, or having it on the table outside the ring. Having multiple people acting as judge and one actually sent me in a panic when she took my leash, stepped into me and said

Good morning, welcome to my ring. This is your _UTILITY A_ class, are you ready?

I immediately glommed onto the UTILITY A - no we most certainly are not ready!! Such a small thing really, but it set up those stress hormones so sure enough, Faelan and I lost our connection!! Exactly what I was looking for help with!!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

it sounds like a wonderful seminar!!


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## IndyBindy (Nov 4, 2011)

Sounds wonderful! Feel free to share more! lol!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

well darn, I thought I was going to get some tips for doing slows LOL. I think that will be first on my list for the seminar I'm going to in April


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

I am so glad it was more than you expected. Maybe I'll suggest my training facility bring her in. She is on the West Coast isn't she?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I was going to ask about the slow, but while chatting in the morning with a few friends, I mentioned it with them - you know, should I ask about the slow, or about ring prep. So one of them brought how to do the slow up during the lecture portion so Denise covered it  She pulled out her metronome (on her iPad - free app) and set it to 130 or 132, And basically you can keep the cadence but shorten your footsteps. Videotape, videotape, videotape to see if your dogs responds as you want or if you should add/subtract the bounce etc. Someone else suggested a half rate cadence for the slow but your stride length remaining the same.

She had us all working the metronome, and various individual mini sessions worked with it as well - she is really liking using the metronome.

What seminar are you going to?



Loisiana said:


> well darn, I thought I was going to get some tips for doing slows LOL. I think that will be first on my list for the seminar I'm going to in April


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

What a fantastic way to spend a weekend!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yes, she is on the West Coast  She mentioned she normally does 1 seminar a month, unless she can fly to one within an hour and a half; in which case she'll do 2 seminars.

She has such a great way of explaining things and how some things just happen (like a lady asked about when to start cuing HEEL, Denise thought about it, and mentioned some day you'll just notice you are saying it - it happens at the right time); she is upfront about coming from a compulsion background but how she has just transitioned away from it - so she understands both sides of the fence. With me it was an event (the fear I saw in Rowdy's eyes followed by a shut down), with her it was the desire to do everything in a motivating way. 

She spends enormous amounts of energy getting her dogs to WANT to work with her; not in terms of training time per session but rather in terms of months elapsed. Makes complete sense to me. She also advocates using all available drives, but mentioned some dogs just don't have certain drives so you work with other drives. You want many types of motivators but in the end it is you, not the food, not the toys, and certainly not any corrections, which will create the drive to work with you. And once your dog truly wants to work with you, stopping the availability to work can be a powerful 'correction'. . 

This is the 2nd seminar I have gone to of hers, and no doubt I will be going to others if they are available! She is so successfully using and embracing the very essence of how I want my training to look and be. Her dogs styles are different than what my ideal for my dogs is, but her methods and results are what I am striving toward. Honestly she is an inspiration to me and I have few others in obedience right now - Michelle & Titan you are among those few  



DNL2448 said:


> I am so glad it was more than you expected. Maybe I'll suggest my training facility bring her in. She is on the West Coast isn't she?


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> well darn, I thought I was going to get some tips for doing slows LOL. I think that will be first on my list for the seminar I'm going to in April


:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> Yes, she is on the West Coast  She mentioned she normally does 1 seminar a month, unless she can fly to one within an hour and a half; in which case she'll do 2 seminars.
> 
> She has such a great way of explaining things and how some things just happen (like a lady asked about when to start cuing HEEL, Denise thought about it, and mentioned some day you'll just notice you are saying it - it happens at the right time); she is upfront about coming from a compulsion background but how she has just transitioned away from it - so she understands both sides of the fence. With me it was an event (the fear I saw in Rowdy's eyes followed by a shut down), with her it was the desire to do everything in a motivating way.
> 
> ...


Okay now I am blushing....


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Just ordered some (very inexpensive - like less than $1 apiece at Specialty Bottle  ) hinged metal containers to begin Ms Towhee's initial scent discrimination training - I think keeping the initial scent discrimination training objects different from her dumbbell will work out beautifully as she completes her training of he retrieve; I also ordered some strips of leather from amazon that I will cut into smaller pieces and knot. I thought of using canning jar rings but read some of them have that toxic PBA so don't want to take a chance and will stick with the tins.

Another thing I learned at the seminar  Denise mentioned there was also a write up by Connie Cleveland (I think) of a very similar method using the containers.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Wow, lots of complexities to think about. Thanks for sharing, I'm glad you got so much out of it.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Sunrise said:


> Yes, she is on the West Coast  She mentioned she normally does 1 seminar a month, unless she can fly to one within an hour and a half; in which case she'll do 2 seminars.
> 
> She has such a great way of explaining things and how some things just happen (like a lady asked about when to start cuing HEEL, Denise thought about it, and mentioned some day you'll just notice you are saying it - it happens at the right time); she is upfront about coming from a compulsion background but how she has just transitioned away from it - so she understands both sides of the fence. With me it was an event (the fear I saw in Rowdy's eyes followed by a shut down), with her it was the desire to do everything in a motivating way.
> 
> ...


Yayyy! So glad you enjoyed it! My local club had her down a couple years ago and this past December, I drove up north to do a couple private lessons with her. She has completely changed how I think about training obedience. I can't wait to start a puppy with some of her methodology.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I so agree! She puts a whole new spin on consequences and responsibility  I just dug out my copy of Control Unleashed and am re-reading it looking at the principles in a different way again thanks to the seminar.


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