# Our seminar week/end/s



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

We're halfway into a 9 day seminar... the presenters are from Belgium, they do a lot with police dogs and ring sport dogs...meaning a lot of obedience. It's AMAZING. I don't want it to end! Many people are staying for multiple days, a few are in it for a huge chunk of time....it almost has a camp feel!

And then every evening we're going for dinner and doing more talking and learning with the presenters and the attendees. And then I stay up late, thinking about it, not able to sleep. I'm waking up at 5 or 6 to train my dogs. I've not been THIS excited for three years! 

There are people attending from all over the US, very experienced and talented enthusiasts and trainers. It's -really- fun and exciting.

Some of the main things I've learned:
- How to be better with my toy reinforcers, specifically placement of reinforcer.
- How to use fancy training gadgets (like a cool ball launcher) to decrease hanlder movement before reinforcement.
- How to tug/play with my dogs better (watching a room full of ring sport people does that!).
- Selecting and maintaining a different set of criteria for the same result
- How to use training buddies and why some behaviors are NOT good to train on your own.
- To be aware of props and prompts and plans for fading things. Am I being as efficient as possible?
- To encourage and use enthusiasm. To not slow it down...just direct it the way we need.
- US clicker training is SOOO different from a lot of European clicker training...even things that devloped separately there. Here it's about taking normal / well loved training plans an adding a clicker..... theirs are REALLy breaking it down and using different criteria.

I'm just so impressed with the information and how supportive the presenters are. They're putting in a lot of effort to help.... I got SO many notes today. And they're talking from first thing in the morning until late at night, day after day. It's just amazing. 

The downside, is i only got two days of working...I should have signed up for more! This is THE best seminar I've ever been to and I feel WAY more comfortable working my dog here than anything I've been to (...and I haven't worked my dog/s at many because I didn't feel comfortable!). When they go home next week....I don't know what I'm going to do! It's SUCH an opportunity to have people who compete at a high level, successfully, that are fairly good at teacihng, that REALLY want to help. And they're all clickerly in a way that makes a LOT of sense to me. I have to miss part of tomorrow to get my dog (and myself) to his obed class and for a few appointments...I'm so sad!


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

Can I say.. jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Summer says she isn't talking to Griffin anymore 

Yay for good seminars


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

wow, a 9 day seminar. I can't imagine!


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

I think my brain would explode! LOL!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

My curiosity is killing me! Who are the presenters?


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

LibertyME said:


> My curiosity is killing me! Who are the presenters?


Yes... who are they?!?!?!?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

No one local and no one well known here (....yet!...): Welkom bij de BelgianK9friends. De BelgianK9Friends is geen club, maar zijn vrienden rond Guy en Axel die houden van africhting. Guy en Axel vonden elkaar tijdens hun zoektocht naar positieve trainingsmethodes om honden af te richten.Axel is als insp

There is a huge CA crew attending, people from all over the US and even further away. Very very interesting stuff. I only made it out for three hours tonight (scent work! Extra work on top of the seminar) and took way too many notes. 

It's been a seminar where not only you get ideas and notes...but you realize how BIG these concepts are and how much they'll apply all over to your training. 

It's ridiculously long of an event, especially with all the additional talking....but you really get into it after a while and it's just like a summer camp... .wake up, eat.... learn and train and do. lunch. More learning and training and doing. Dinner. Evening activities. Bed. Repeat day after day after day. And eventually some of your new friends go home but you also make more new friends. At most seminars, esp with people from so so so far away, you barely start to get to know someone and you part ways.... it definitely gives a VERY different feel!

I'm -really- enjoying it.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> No one local and no one well known here (....yet!...): Welkom bij de BelgianK9friends. De BelgianK9Friends is geen club, maar zijn vrienden rond Guy en Axel die houden van africhting. Guy en Axel vonden elkaar tijdens hun zoektocht naar positieve trainingsmethodes om honden af te richten.Axel is als insp
> 
> There is a huge CA crew attending, people from all over the US and even further away. Very very interesting stuff. I only made it out for three hours tonight (scent work! Extra work on top of the seminar) and took way too many notes.
> 
> ...


Ohhhhhh! You're at the PosiDog event! I know Chad through Facebook. The event looks AWESOME! Enjoy the rest of it!

On a similar note, I just recently connected with Morten and Cecilie... trying to see if can bring them to CA sometime next year!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

HAH.... he seems to know everyone on facebook.....

Arrrggggggggg! That. Drive. Is. So. Far. They almost did one in TX in March.... I was going to drive down... not much of a choice. If you're wanting another location in the US for the following weekend to help split the travel cost..... let me know...... can't commit right this moment.... but may be seriously interested. And if you get a date for yours.... LET ME KNOW.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> HAH.... he seems to know everyone on facebook.....
> 
> Arrrggggggggg! That. Drive. Is. So. Far. They almost did one in TX in March.... I was going to drive down... not much of a choice. If you're wanting another location in the US for the following weekend to help split the travel cost..... let me know...... can't commit right this moment.... but may be seriously interested. And if you get a date for yours.... LET ME KNOW.


Cool. I'm hoping I can catch them on a trip when they're already here... like maybe when Clicker Expo brings them out... let Karen Pryor pay to get them to the states! ;-) I'll definitely keep you posted. Waiting to hear back from Morten.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

And now it's all over...I'm SO sad. I got to work my dog on Tuesday and Thursday and part of Sunday.... it was so much fun.

Really, really different stuff in some ways. And some of the activities were variations of things that already exist (yet were developed independently!). They know OF Karen Pryor, yet haven't read her books and don't know much of her. They're really so isolated, both literally and figuratively. They don't do a lot of reading or DVD's. They know what goes on in the working dog clubs in their area and have heard some stories of other places. But mostly, they're doing their own thing, and with great success. It's really fascinating on that part alone!

Weds PM we did scent work...my dog did well...it was recommended I go slower so he has to go slower. Thursday we had a working spot and did work on the positions/signal exercise, using a platform. I was embarassed with how poorly my dog did. I thought he would be more proficient and it really showed holes in our training. And we did more work on our SFE. But, having a different training plan is making me feel better....we'll have to see how it goes.

Yesterday, we did work on heeling, an introduction to a ball launcher (these guys use it for EVERYTHING...and for good reason!), and working on our play skills. It was great.

It was really an amazing week. Spending so long with presenters allowed me to get really good notes but to also hear things again and again to fine tune my notes and understanding. I got to see beginner dogs, advanced dogs, problem solving. And really a lot of puzzlement over some of the things people try to do. 

We saw dogs doing, essentially the scent article exercise, after three sessions. Dogs learning to play and play improving. Handlers who thought they knew about shaping who did not. Puppy pet owners learning many of the same foundation skills (platform work, heeling foundation of backwards walking, some recall work). And a lot of inspiration that we're not crazy and to keep working and of course our dogs can be successful. 

I really hope I get this opportunity again.


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