5. Give Your Dog Time Off Let them just be a dog... for me that also means that we do not trial every weekend. For me as well as my dogs, we have at least one, often two weekends a month when we do “other things.” When we go back to training/trialing—they are fresh and rarin’ to go. 6. Don’t Forget Fitness I work at keeping my dogs fit to avoid injury. I have gone to multiple seminars to learn about di ff erent types of exercis- es (the “kids” think it is tricks!) for core muscles, front end, back and back end. We go for walks (1-2 miles) per day when- ever possible—and do the treadmill when it’s not. Th ey see a chiropractor/animal massage expert monthly. And, of course, they see the vet, get the best food and only eat homemade/human-grade treats. 7. Cross Train It makes it fun for them to have di ff er- ent things that they can do.
acheive those same high levels. Th ey teach me what I need to know about the “han- dling” and training needed to get the most out of my dogs. 3. Know Your Dog Know what motivates them and what demotivates them. Take the time to teach them di ff erent motivators. Each dog, even among my three Cairns is slightly di ff erent. Ella is food motivated to the Nth degree... but I also taught her to play with toys... it helps a lot at keeping atten- tion on me. Bret is my toy boy—he loves his toys and is often seen walking around
with a toy in his mouth... he is also Mr. Congeniality... and wants to give his toy to play with anyone who is nearby... I taught him to be more food motivated. Th e bottom line is to have a relationship with your dog. 4. Train Outside of Class Put to use what you learn in class so that both you and your dog remember... and make it fun training—not drudgery. We mix in lots of play and treats with our training so that they think it is fun. And we never spend more than 15 minutes at a time doing training.
“let them just Be a dog... for me that also means that we do not trial every weekend.”
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