Two trainers work with Keara in a park session, using brief pressure and heavy play rewards to build obedience for competition. They start with mostly play, gradually shifting toward more work, running through stand, down, heel, sit, and front cues while praising her strength and responsiveness.
So I've got Kira at the park. We're gonna do some training. I'll be in a training vest. We will, uh, you don't need a training vest for stuff like this, but this is just for some competition that we'll be entering into later this fall and maybe late summer. It kind of depends on what the calendar looks like, both mine as well as the competition calendars. So I'll be giving her a little bit of guidance. We're using some negative reinforcement. That's just trainer speak for put a little bit of pressure on. I don't want her saying, "Ow, ow, ow," but I do want to make that contrast of feeling to get into the right position. And then I reward her in a big way with play. So right now we're probably at a 2 or 3 to 1 ratio of play to obedience or play to work. And we'll start cycling that down to closer to 1 to 1. And then eventually it'll be 2 to 1, 3 to 1, 4 to 1, 5 to 1, whatever it is for work to play. So that's where we're at, and, uh, next one you'll see the tripod up. Okay, so I've got Miss Kira right there. We're about to play. She knows what we're here for. So I've got a long line on her, she's on a flat collar. We're gonna work some of her basic obedience. I'm gonna cue her into play. You're gonna see how I give her some guidance. So I start with puppies typically with food, with targeting. I start to teach them how to play, and then by the time that about a year, we'd want them on tools.
So we'll get started.
Ready to play?
Are you ready to play?
Okay.
Good stand. Down. Nice. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Good girl. Come on. Up. Out. Hey.
Thank you.
Heel. There you go. Nice. Down. Down.
Stand.
Perfect. Heel. Good girl.
Nice girl!
Hey, thank you. Down. Good girl. Sit. Good. I'll take it. There's dogs barking. Sit. Front. Little closer, little closer. Good.
You might have broken a little early. You might have broken a little early on that one.
Just get better. We'll just get better.
So strong.
You're so strong. Here you go. Come on. Good girl. Good girl.
Nice.
Good. Not bad. A little crooked. But not bad. Okay. Let's take a break.
Three simple steps to take to start helping your dog be less frustrated, conflicted, and "reactive."
