IGP Training Explained

Hello, dog peeps. Jack here. Just a quick one before we get into this episode. You may or may not be aware that when I'm not talking dog stuff with Max, I in fact interview people who are incarcerated in prisons across the United States on a show called One Minute Remaining: Stories from the Inmates. And that show has been nominated for an award in America. And I would love your support if you've got 60 seconds to click the link in the show notes of this episode and just vote for my show. That would be amazing if you could. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, and don't forget to verify your email address. Otherwise, the vote does not count. Thank you.

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It's the Dog People Podcast with your host, Jack Lawrence. Secretly, I decided to start this podcast for some free dog training advice. You know, Malinois seem to be like the dog at the moment. Like, I think people see them on Instagram doing these incredible things. Yeah. Go, oh my God, that's awesome. And then they get one like, oh my God, what the fuck have I done? And Max O'Neill.

You would not believe how many people I meet and I go, what made you want to get, say, an Aussie Shepherd? I don't know. I'd go, had you met one before? They go, no. If you wanna ask me how often I walk my own dog a week, it's only twice a week.

It's

the Dog People Podcast, the podcast hopefully giving you a no-nonsense approach to dog training so you never have to shout, it's okay, it's friendly. My name is Jack Lawrence. Max O'Neill, the Down Under Dog Trainer. Max, we're doing our little series on dog sports. Obviously, you know, we're big advocates of trying to get people to do more with their dogs than obviously just that sort of simple sort of walk around the park or going and throwing a ball because dogs So dog sports can be fun, obviously not just for the dog, but for you as well. It helps, you know, so many different aspects of your life and the bond with your dog as well.

Absolutely. It's, you know, as we say each and every episode, we bang on about is walk around the block isn't gonna cut it. And a lot of people think dog sports are way beyond them and their dog, but I can tell you it's absolutely not. And some of our clients that compete in dog sports, we've got mixed breeds, we've got pugs, we've got all sorts. So you don't just have to have this super high-dry Malinois or Collie or Shepherd or whatever. It's probably a lot closer than you think. So that's why we're doing this little miniseries, just to chat about the range of different dog sports, 'cause a lot of them you probably haven't heard about. And today we wanna cover the sport of IGP. So IGP, our guest is gonna tell you a lot more about in terms of what it is, why we should do it, how to get into it, et cetera. And I'm really, really stoked and honored to welcome Sharónica from Clear Canine in Brisbane onto the podcast. Welcome, Sharónica.

Hi, thanks for having me on, guys. It's lovely to see you.

No, no problem at all. I've been a big fan for a while, so I'm absolutely stoked to get you on the pod today and really keen to pick your brain and hear about not just IGP and what it stands for and what it is and a bit about it, but also just like your approach to things. 'Cause I've seen you and your dog work, not in person, but just through your Instagram and Facebook. And

before you jumped on, Max was really talking up your dog. So I'm looking forward to jumping on Instagram now and checking out this machine of an animal. That's— but how did you get started in dog training?

So as a kid, I always wanted to be a vet. I never actually realized that you could train dogs as a living. I thought it was just you bought a dog, you had a dog, you raised it, and it was in the family, and that was it. As I started to obviously mature and grow and find out all these avenues actually existed, I started doing some volunteer work at a pet obedience company, and I did that for about 2 to 3 years just as a senior instructor. And during that time, I got my first working line German Shepherd, which was a very big eye-opener for me because I'd never had a dog like that ever. Wow. Like, the only dog I ever owned was was one that came with a company house that my dad had when he was working for BP. So— Yeah, right. That was as close to a dog as I had. And then I had a cat, which was kind of like a dog, but not really. So yeah, it was a huge eye-opener. And as I was doing just usual, you know, general obedience with her, I was starting to get the feeling it wasn't enough for her. Like, there was just so much oozing out of her, and I was— I just didn't know how to, like, put a cap on it or what I could do with it. And a couple of the breeders that I'd been chatting to prior to getting my first dog, Jetta, they had pointed me in the direction of what was previously known as Schutzhund, which is now obviously IGP. And they said, hey, have you checked out Schutzhund before? Do you know what it is? And I was like, no, I have no idea. So I looked it up and I was like, oh wow, this seems pretty interesting. It was completely new to me. And so it just so happened that the week after, there was a seminar happening at the Gold Coast and it went for a week. So what I did was— Wow. It was after work every day. I would, at 5 o'clock, I'd drive down to the coast and then it was an evening seminar. So I drove down there from Brizzy and went each night of the week and just got a feel for what it was, got to see how the dogs worked. And I actually got to take my own dog down and work her there. And it was, you know, they said, I remember quite funnily, I walked out on the field and they said, oh, you know, what does your dog know to do? I said, oh yeah, she can heel, she can recall, she can do all this stuff. They're like, okay, show us what she can do. And so I walk out there with my pink fluffy wobba toy and I chuck it on my arm and I'm like, all right, let's go for a heel, Jetta. And she's just loose leash walking, right? 'Cause it's just general heeling. And they went, Chaz, that's not what heeling is. I said, what do you mean? And they went, this is what's heeling. And I was like, whoa, holy moly. Like it was, yeah. I went, yeah, my dog doesn't know how to heel. Yeah. So it was interesting and I just kind of fell in love with it from there. And that was back in 2011 and I've been doing it ever since.

And isn't it crazy getting into, like, I think IGP is definitely one of those sports where you can get so technical and intricate and just consistently learn and evolve because there is so much room for growth. And I bet you're still finding that even, you know, years later, you're still going, oh, there's still this I need to work on, I need to get better.

100%.

Someone will come over for a seminar and you go, oh my God, that's bloody amazing.

So for people who listen to this, and obviously we keep saying IGP, can you explain exactly what that is for someone who has no idea what we're saying?

Sure. So in simple terms, basically, It was a test that was made specifically for German Shepherds back in the day, just to test their workability and character and traits. Now it's like a worldwide sport. So you've got different breeds doing it. So instead of just the German Shepherds, you've got Malinois, Rotties, Dobies. I've seen Jack Russells do it now. There's Border Collies, there's mixed breeds, there's Dalmatians, there's cracker little Spaniels. Like, there's so many different breeds out there doing it. Okay. Which I think is fantastic, 'cause every dog has working traits, and just because it's Just not a shepherd doesn't mean it can't work. So as long as a dog can show that it can do the job, why not?

Exactly right. And it's so funny how some dogs are just these absolute genetic outliers. Like, I— one of the videos I'll sometimes show clients is like, there's this French Bulldog doing an IGP1 somewhere over in Belgium, and the thing's just an absolute monster of a dog. And it is really cool because you, you might have, you know, gone and tried to get this beautiful fluffy little Border Collie, but then next minute you go, oh no, this dog like really wants to punch on and wants to do this. And it's—

They're brutal animals. I've seen them like herding like cattle and Just attacking the cattle. Yeah, they're like, they're insane. Anyone who has a Border Collie goes, I don't know why it's reactive. It's like, what do you do with it? I take it for a walk every day around the block. And that's why. So obviously IGP. So anyone listening to this who's got a dog and they're thinking, okay, so will my dog suit IGP? Is there a way to know whether it will, or have you just got to give it a go?

Yeah. So basically in IGP, so you've got 3 disciplines. So you've got obedience, tracking, and protection work. Obviously not every dog may be suitable to do certain things. For example, like in the obedience portion, we've got, uh, like a meter-high hurdle. So obviously a very small dog may struggle to get over that, but that doesn't mean that you can't train, you know, a jump at a suitable height for that dog. Like, you can still do all of the aspects of the sport. The entry level is open to everybody, so you don't have to do anything fancy like big hurdles and jumps and things like that. It's all basically obedience, control, character testing, temperament testing. So it's all very open. It's Essentially, IGP is like canine Olympics, right? So you've got to have a dog that's athletic, that can wants to work, that has got good handler connection. So you're building all of those things up to try and create this dog that essentially wants to work as one with the handler. So it creates a lot of nice harmony. So putting all of those things into perspective, if you want to see whether your dog is able to do it, for me, the only way is really to try. Align yourself with people who know what they're doing. So people who have a lot of experience. experience in the sport. And when I talk about experience, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's got to be someone who is, you know, been in the sport for 20 years. Like, you can still have people who are quite young, very young, like, you know, in their 20s, like very early in the game, who are quite good at what they do and are very astute, very open, and have a lot to offer. So I think don't limit yourself by age. I know a lot of people who are just coming into the sport who are brilliant trainers who would like pretty much overshadow any other person who's had years and years of experience by itself. And no disrespect to them, it's just because training evolves, a lot of the techniques evolve, how we even breeding itself has evolved over the years. So you're getting a different kind of dog coming through as well. So all of those things put into place, give it a crack, make sure you do your foundations and everything really, really well. And if you can see through those foundation work that you do that the dog can give you what you need to get through the levels, then absolutely. Absolutely go for gold. So there will be cases where dogs may not be suitable. Could be genetic genetic issues, nerve issues. There could be cases where the dog may not look like it's suitable, but actually be quite good if it has the right right foundations put into it. Also, in saying that you can have dogs that are really strong that you go, hey, this would be really good. But then you have to have a really good way to handle those dogs so that you're not going to create too much conflict in the work. So for me, it's all about getting out there, giving it giving it a good crack, and then if you can see through the foundations, this is going to work great. If not, use it as experience for your next dog. And in saying that, as we know, every dog is different, so the next one will throw you different hurdles. Yeah. But it just gives you a good baseline to go off just so that you can get that hands-on experience. It is, it is quite a disciplined sport. It requires a lot of work. It's not just something you can do once a week. Like, you have to be at it on the daily grind. So commitment, dedication, and just giving it a red-hot crack.

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And that's it. There's sort of levels to the sports a little bit in terms of how much work is required. And for, you know, for some people with the sport we've just described, IGP, that might not speak to you at all. You go, oh, that doesn't sound like me or my dog. But there's going to be some people out there who you know, like Jack and Kira go, mate, I don't know what else to do with her. Or like you with your first dog, Jetta, like, I just need more. She just needs an outlet. This dog's just got this crazy drive that I just cannot seem to satisfy any other way. And if you are someone who's really into your training and wants a dog sport that will give them enough homework where every day you've legitimately got a heap of stuff you can work on, then this could be the perfect sport for you. Because again, it is like a tiered system, isn't it? You've got your, your BH or your basic handling, which you've got to pass first, which is like a 10-minute, pretty strong and long obedience routine and character assessment to make sure before you even start letting that dog off leash and doing protection work that this dog's going to be safe around judges, safe around other handlers, not a danger to themselves or anyone else. And then you've got those 3 levels of the IGP to progress through, and it's pretty incredible. And I've got to say, even dogs I've met that are an IGP1 dog are bloody impressive. Like, it's a, it's a tough sport, but it's, it's incredible. I love watching it.

Yeah. I mean, I watch, I'm watching a hell of a lot of it online at the moment. And, you know, it's just, it's amazing. But the one thing I obviously notice is, you know, a lot of these people, they get their dogs knowing that they're gonna do it. So they get them from puppies and this training starts very early, obviously with, you know, socialization, which we all do. But the socialization is a little bit more, not intense, but, you know, you're focusing on that IGP. So if someone hasn't done that and they've got an older dog, so, you know, 2, 3 years old, and they've never introduced them to anything like that. Like, I mean, I'm thinking about my dog. There is no way she'd be doing the protection stuff 'cause she's a bit of a wimp. Yeah. And she would just run in the other direction if someone came, if someone made a loud noise at her. So, you know, but as you said, there's different things that people can get involved in. Obviously there's the scent detection stuff, uh, and that. So can you just do certain aspects of it? You don't have to do all of it?

Yeah, absolutely. So, so the, um, the requirement that you have to do first is the BH. So obviously, as Max mentioned, it requires all of that sort of base work. So your obedience, making sure they're safe around people, other dogs, that sort of thing. So you can actually get them out on the field and work. So that's like the entry-level requirement. Once you've got that down, and the BH is essentially lots of heeling. So it's like—

But it's not, is it focused heeling or is it just he— like it's focused heeling?

Focused heeling, yes.

Which is obviously, as we mentioned at the start, is very different to just your dog walking next to you.

Yeah, very different. I found that when I first started. Yeah, so it's focused heeling. So it requires a lot of like motivation from the dog to wanna stay with you. So when we go out on a trial field, we don't get to talk to the dog. or give the dog food or use toys or anything. It's all just, we give a command, we go. There are tiny portions in between where you can give your dog a pat, but that's about it. It's like a second and then that's it. And then you've gotta keep going. So, it's really gotta come from the dog. And when you have that baseline set up, then you can then opt to either go full bore and do the whole 3 disciplines, or you can do each discipline individually. So, you can do tracking on its own, protection on its own, or obedience on its own. And there's other ones that have, Like joint, so you can do obedience and protection but without the tracking. So there's different options that people can, can go for. So if your dog can't do all 3, you can most definitely, you know, pick one and focus on that.

Which is really cool, hey? Because like, like, like, for example, Kira, like

scent stuff, 110,000%. She's a weapon. She's got a weapon with a nose.

She's got the drive to teach her that obedience. But like I said, she's a bit of a wimp. She probably never does protection.

There's no way she would do protection.

But it's pretty cool. You could do your OB 1, 2, 3, your tracking.

Although focused heel, my dog in focused heel, I just don't see it. I do not see it. It

can happen. Trust me, we all go through that. We're like, what's wrong with my dog?

Yeah. Although, although we're doing a training thing with Max at the moment, there's a pug, Lala the pug. This thing does a focused heel. I'm like, it's just amazing to see this pug doing this focused heel. And I'm like, Kira, well, look at that. Come on, mate. What are you doing?

No pressure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. I put a lot of pressure on my poor dog. So that's fantastic to know you can, you know, just look at doing those, those sort of bits because, yeah, specifically my dog. Yeah, she would love the scent stuff, but I don't think protection would be her thing.

So the other thing too is, so years ago, so, um, you may— people may or may not be aware, but the, the way that the BH and even, uh, the IGP1 and some of the 2 now is, um, performed is very different to what it was quite a number of years ago. Right. So in the BH, so basically it's just entry-level obedience. Um, you do, uh, on— so previous years it would be on-lead heeling, off-lead heeling, um, some in-motion exercises, and then a long down with the and like insight, and then we do what's called like a temperament test. So we test the people— dog around joggers, cars going past, walking just generally through a crowd, how they cope with being, you know, surrounded with people, walking past dogs that are tied out, handler out of sight, all that sort of thing, just to test the overall temperament of the dog. That was sort of previous. The temperament test has remained pretty much the same, but the obedience portion has changed, and it's more so because It's to try and bring more people into the sport because the BH out of all of the levels, I would say is the hardest one to actually train because it is healing like central in your level one, two, and three. You've got lots of other fun stuff to train. You've got your dumbbells. You've got hurdles. You've got send out. You've got all those things that can give little different dynamics to that picture. So it's interesting. But in the BH, it's all obedience, all healing. So it's quite difficult to train. So now what they've done is they have reduced a lot of their criteria. For the BH. So now it's all on-lead healing, but it's like no off-lead portion anymore. So you don't have to do like the on-lead portion. We used to have to repeat off-lead. You now no longer have to do that. It's just one on-lead portion, the in-motion exercises, and then a long down. And then it's, it's just so that it opens up the opportunity for more people to come in because it is quite hard. And over the years, they've basically found that it's just too difficult for people to train with their dogs and to actually get into the sport. So it's a way to try and open up the doors, so Some people are for it, some people are not for it. It's all sort of as with anything in life really. But I think it's good in a way that it allows more entry into the sport because then you can see, you know, there may be dogs that are quite capable of doing it, but they just need that step in to actually do it. And this should hopefully allow that.

I agree. Sometimes lowering that barrier to entry is all, is all that you need. And it's like, it's not like we're now making the really important levels, IGP 1, 2, 3, easier to obtain, or they're not just, you know, putting in a cereal box and giving them out. But if it just gives, you know, that little bit of a lower barrier to entry and letting more people or putting more people in the position where they can attempt those levels, that's awesome. And if you're listening to this and you go, oh no, I heard about IGP years ago and my friend told me like it's so hard, even the BH, that I don't reckon I'm gonna have a crack. Well, maybe this is just the thing that you needed to go, actually, like, okay, maybe this is closer in sight than I thought. So we've kind of talked like what IGP is and, you know, who it might be for and what's the best way to get into it, would you say? Are there clubs around the country or?

Yeah. So there's, so obviously it's not as like in Europe, it's huge. Like it's massive over there, but in Australia it's not quite as big, but it's growing, which is good. There's different organizations within Australia. So I believe at the moment there's 3 organizations in Australia that run IGP clubs. Yep. And so basically my advice would be to first decide, you know, obviously what breed you want, research that immensely as to, you know, what kind of traits they have, all that sort of thing. And then when you start looking for a club, have a look around at a few of them. So When I first started looking around at clubs, I had no idea who was what in the game or anybody in that sort of field at all. So I went around to a few different clubs and just got an idea of the training that was being done, what the requirements were. And then you sort of, you'll find your people, so to speak. Yeah. So every club that I visited, the people were wonderful, very welcoming. You can go and watch and see and talk and ask as many questions as you want. And then you'll sort of find a place that kind of fits into the way that you like your values, your training methods, or what you really like, you know. So things that you see, people that you meet, you'll start to go, ah, I feel really like kind of with this crew of people. I really like the way these guys work together. I really like, um, you know, the setup of this place, or, you know, I feel comfortable here. So it's, it's a case of surrounding yourself with people that you can gel with and that are gonna pretty much become your second family, pretty much. So as much as you see your own family at home, you're going to see these guys quite often, 'cause that's how much training you need to put in. So you need to be very comfortable with the people you surround yourself with and make sure that they're giving you and you are also giving them what they need to create that whole training picture. 'Cause you can't do this on your own. It's a, it's a team sport and you have to have people around you to help create that, that success. So anybody that steps out on a field and competes with their dog, you can guarantee there's a multitude of people surrounding that one person that helped create that success. So it's not just one person doing the work.

And I love that you said that. Like, as much as it's, you know, a lot of people consider dog sports an individual sport 'cause it's just them as a handler. And I think, you know, it, and, you know, or a lot of people think of it as a team sport just between them and their dog. But you're right, like, it is such a club thing. And that's one thing I've really enjoyed, you know, growing up playing sport my whole life and then being out of that for a while is now being, you know, part of the Big Show PSA club and just going like, it's a sick, you know, not that I don't manage to get to club nights very often at the moment, but when you're there, just that atmosphere and it's so cool. Yeah. It's, you know, everyone's going for the same thing. It's, it's not that sort of environment where everyone's like really competitive against one another in a shitty way. It's like we all genuinely want the best thing for everyone because you want to be a part of the club that's got the best dogs and it's so cool. And because we're all just dog nerds at heart, it's such a good environment. And if you don't go well, if you strike out, like it happens, no one's there laughing at you. No one's like that. You go, oh well, like, as you know, if you work with animals long enough, like they have their off days, as we just did our podcast on before the episode. And, um, or weeks. Yeah. And, uh, it's— and that's all part of it is kind of rolling with it and not taking it too seriously and being like, yeah, but— and you said, yeah, you just end up being surrounded by a really cool group of people. And that's what dog sports are so good for, guys. If you're listening to this and go, oh, none of my mates are into dogs, I have no one to talk to about this shit, join a dog sport club. I promise you, if you think you're the craziest dog person that you know, go to a dog sport club. There will be someone there that is 10 times as much as you, where you go, okay, I am dogged out. Like, I know we've got a few of those at our club.

Thank you so much indeed for giving us, uh, some background. There'll be people listening that'll go, you know what, I might Give this a crack.

Well, count me in. As I know we're going for Nelson's PDC in March, but I want to go for it and have a crack at his VH. His heel's coming along so nicely. I want to give that a crack.

So, all right. Well, thank you so much indeed again for joining us. It's been an absolute pleasure. I'm sure everyone has got a lot out of that and food for thought to go and go and try it out.

No worries. Thank you very much for having me on, guys.

Another big thank you to Sharonica Williamson from Clear Canine. Check her out on Instagram. Also her website cleark9.com.au. That kind of rounds out part 1 of this series. We are gonna come back because there's still more dog sports that we want to check out. One that's got my heart, which is gundog training, which I do with my own dog Kira. So we're gonna be talking about that. Also some sheepdog trialing and things like that. So that is still to come. But coming up next week for you, we will return to some regular programming. In fact, we'll take some of your questions via the Facebook. If you've got any for us, make sure you check out our Facebook and Instagram, The Dog People Podcast. The Dog People Podcast is a Mashed Pumpkin production hosted by Jack Lawrence and Max O'Neill. Edited, produced, and audio production by Jack Lawrence.

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