by Julie Symons | Dec 31, 2018 | Dogs Sports
As we celebrate ringing in the new year, it got me thinking about how we celebrate our “end line” routine, whether it’s agility, obedience, nosework or another sport. We spend a lot of time training our start line routine and deciding what works best...
by Julie Symons | Sep 23, 2018 | Dogs Sports
Teaching teams in multiple sports and training my own dogs I often see where we just go through the motion and are not present to watch and learn from the training session and our dog. All training sessions give us information if we are willing to watch and listen!...
by Julie Symons | Aug 24, 2018 | Dogs Sports
First, I prematurely published this before I was done and had to quickly un-publish it. I heard from lots of people so it’s nice to know my blogs are being enjoyed and that I need to get them out more frequently! Back on topic … Being a good actor is kinda...
by Julie Symons | Jul 21, 2018 | Dogs Sports
I was reflecting the other day how well my dogs sleep at night and wish I could do the same! They are out like a light, often belly up with the fan cooling their underside. They also even sleep in! I do have an older dog, who’s age does affect how much she...
by Julie Symons | May 24, 2018 | Dogs Sports
A training gem I picked up many years ago from Patti Hatfield Mah was that our seasoned dogs still need to have baby dog training days. Pick one day a week where you go back to training your foundations skills. Foundations is everything! Without a strong base,...
by Julie Symons | Feb 23, 2018 | Dogs Sports
With many teams getting ready for NACSW NW3/L3 or AKC Master/Detective levels, having a solid search strategy and a strong mental game plan is key! At these higher levels, you will have unknown number of hides – very different from knowing how many in each...
by Julie Symons | Jan 29, 2018 | Dogs Sports
In my nosework classes, I talk more and more about how important handler mechanics are. Mechanics include your handling (position, movement, leash), timing, markers/cues, and delivery of reinforcement (having them ready, not dropping treats). This is very ingrained...
by Julie Symons | Dec 24, 2017 | Dogs Sports
As discussed in my last blog on how training methods need to make sense to you … I’d like to chat about how I handle false alerts in nosework and why the approach makes sense to me. You need to decide what makes sense to you. A false alert is the...
by Julie Symons | Dec 16, 2017 | Dogs Sports
Scent detection training is rapidly growing in popularity in the competitive dog sport community. Known as Nosework or Scent Work, the sport involves searching for essential oils or handler scent, using training methods similar to what professional K9 detection...
by Julie Symons | Nov 23, 2017 | Dogs Sports
If you are a dog trainer, how many times do you feel you are dragging yourself out of bed early to go train when you really just want to stay under those warm covers and sleep some more? Sometimes it may be training after a long day of work when you’d rather...
by Julie Symons | Sep 29, 2017 | Dogs Sports
We all know we need to be an advocate for our dogs ALWAYS. This means not putting them in an unsafe situation or not letting someone treat them inappropriately, etc. When we are trialing and under rules of an organization/exercise we can sometimes lose our judgement...
by Julie Symons | Sep 18, 2017 | Dogs Sports
Last month Savvy earned her NACSW NW3 Elite title. With trials few and far away, I was thrilled not only for all our skills and preparation, but not having to drive 9 hours to the next one we got into months later! And her previous NW3 trial was 8 months prior!!...
