Dog Park & Main Street, two new activities

Hey all, on Friday I started something new. Your company is more than welcome. If interested, let me know in advance so that I can square up the times.

At the dog park. Working on the periphery of the dog park, I'm walking, training, playing with my dog. My own goal is getting him ready for a group agility. For that I need him accustomed to the sight of other dogs doing high speed exciting things while he pays attention and minds me.  The more action happening in the dog park the better.  Friday's at 11am is pretty low key. I'm also going out on Sunday afternoons, plenty of action on weekends.

What I do.
At the parkinglot, I use the walk up to the dog park as an excellent opportunity to practice and maintain good leash walking skills, and let him settle and sniff and pee.  Along the fence, outside of the dog park, I practice fun tricks and obedience, and desensitization to running active out of reach dogs.
If someone goes for a leashed walk, if I'm feeling socialble, I ask if they want company and walk the circle for a pleasant polite leashed walking experience.  All great opportunities.

Main Street Urban Hiking.
I park at the Longo's plaza and walk the very busy urban street of Stouffville Main Street West.  Great opportunity to desensitize to traffic noises and people. Sidewalks are wide and maintained throughout winter. There are fun obstacles along the way for tricks and training.

Meet-Up at the Lake

December Newsletter

December is here!  And Snow! & Winter Weather, not always nice.
Sometimes the wind is howling, sometimes it's bitter cold, sometimes the walkways are dangerously icy, or minefields of razor sharp salt.

Thursday Meet-ups remain regular, weather permitting, unless cancelled (please signup to the facebook group or email list for specific time & place as I don't post specifics publicly).

Other meet-ups will be announced through facebook or by your request on an ad hoc/last minute basis.

While the purpose of the group is to train together, there may be a switch to group walks as a way to deal with colder weather (keeps bodies warm).

I want to thank EVERYONE who has come out for a session. It has been a pleasure to meet you and your canine partner. I love you all.  My happiest times have been those sessions when we travelled as a small polite dog mob.  It was wonderful, my inner tribal self came out, it was fun.  I absolutedly loved getting together to promenade together on the Trails of Fairy Lake Newmarket.  There was a memorable dark grey rainy day in Stouffville where we sent are dogs up onto a flat bed trailer, all at once, just for fun. I still have pictures to prove it.  There was a last minute meet-up that took us into Uxbridge to mix with the artsy set in Art in the Park.

Also a very special thank you for my friends who come out regularly, who make training so much fun, who carry-on or put up with my non-stop dog-nerdy conversations, you are fabulous. I am so glad I met you.

In future, I hope to grow the group for you, for me, and our canine partners.
NEW:  I'm trying google docs for a shareable changeable one stop online schedule. Send me your email and I can send you the link.

Please use the comments for questions, or drop me your email (I will not publish your email, but will get back to you).

How To Join 

November Newsletter

November Newsletter

Wow, what a change a few days makes. Instead of rain, it's Snow!  A good time to talk about cancellations.

BAD WEATHER.  Meet-ups happen rain, shine, sleet or snow, however, severe winter weather may result in cancellations, check facebook on the morning of.  It's hard to know in advance, but if it's too cold to train wearing fingerless mittens, ice storms, cold rains (raining below 10C), meet ups may be cancelled. We are a hardy bunch. Dress warm and wear boots with good traction. 

Last year, sharp road salt created some painful problems for the dogs. I'll being trying out rubber dog booties to tackle the salt problem. 

Meet-ups are regular Thursday's at Memorial Park Stouffville, Friday at Coultice Park, Musselman's Lake, and occassional Thursday Night slots & Sunday afternoon (to be announced).  Details are available on the facebook group Stouffville Dog Training Practice Meet Up or via email (I'm still working on getting a working mailing list).

Facebook is still our best option. Please check group postings for times and places. If you are interested in coming out, please leave a comment, so I know to be there, otherwise I might cancel without notice.

Thursdays!!!  I know some of you can't make it to daytime meetups. For that reason, I will occasionally make a Thursday night available. If you can come out on Thursday night after 7:30, please keep an eye out for the weekly announcement and if you are interested, please let me know. 

Sundays!!! I'll be trying out some Sunday meetups.

Everything is on facebook, or, if you've shared your email, with your permission, I can let you know through email.

Here is Team Sonic practicing in Coultice Park.

Meet-up Planner for keeners & newbies

Stouffville Dog Training Meet-ups are casual self study sessions.  If it's your first time out, or you are fairly new to dog training, it can be a little confusing to be standing around with your dog wondering what to do. Other members may be working on things that don't interest you, oe working at a distance, and may be busy with their own dog. 

For this reason it's good to have a plan. On this page, I'll give pointers for getting together a training plan.

Jot down your goals, figure out how you can get there. If you need help with the basics, find a local group dog training class to get you started with the basics.   Group members are familiar with local trainers & internet resources, so feel free to ask for recommendations.

It's always okay to ask for tips, be inspired by others, or suggest a group exercise.

It's always a great idea to let others know what you are working on, and what your goals are.  Sometimes there are great group exercises we can work on together, and other times, distance is your friend and we can help with that too.


Below are some internet sources you can use to help you get started.

It's a work in progress for now, suggestions welcome.

Basics/Manners

Sometimes it's handy to crib from elsewhere.  This one is handy if you need some guidance, also outlines a comprehensive training method starting at the absolute beginning.
Sue Ailsby's Training Level

Intermediate/Advanced

CARO Canadian Association Rally Obedience.  This is a competitive obedience association, if you download their rules, you will have a collection of pages that can be used as goals or prompts. In rally you learn to heel on the right & left, turn in different directions, and some fancy footwork. Levels will give you guidance of where to start.

Caro Rally Handbook & Rules Here

Look up canine parkour

Tricks

Training in the Rain and other aversities.

I learned a few things today that in a perfect world would have been missed.
It was raining, not just raining, but pouring rain, nasty wet newsworthy weather.  My meet-up partners had to cancel, so it was just team Sonic.  Worse yet, Sonic has a bit of limp today, so that meant meant a big fat no to the fun stuff. No play, no excitement, no getting the dog excited, no spins, no twirls, no tugging, no chasing, no no no & more no.

I decided that 'stays' would be okay for a slightly sore dog, and I'd keep the running to minimum by being boring.  So the treats would come out, but not get tossed to be chased. I'd speak soft and calm, no excitement, no cheer leading, no chase me rewards.  And guess what; he loved it.

I brought some carpet mats along so he'd have something warm & comfy to practice on.  I put them out under the pavillion in Memorial Park. The pavillion is a great rainy day public training space; much of it was crispy dry, a little dark but plenty of fresh air, a dry surface, and a bit of a view.  My raincoat & bag tossed aside turned into a confusing distraction (both much easier to see than the carpets) so I put the raincoat on one carpet and bag on the other. Now he has some clear targets to head to.  I moved them further apart, and at one point, had to put them closer together. It's always good to back up a few steps if the dog is hesitating.  I didn't much care what he did as long as he 'stayed' at the carpet, and moves out ahead of me with confidence (easier said than done).

Sorry about the lousy video (dark) but here's a sample of what you can practice on a less than perfect day.

So what did I learn? I learned that sometimes 'fun me' is 'confusing her' to Sonic. Sometimes 'fun me' is 'she's pushy' to Sonic.  Sometimes I throw too much at him at once, thinking, but he knows all this, and I fry his little brain until he spins in unprompted circles.  What I saw is that while he seemed a little bored at the beginning of what turned out to be a very long session, by the end, he wanted more, and he wanted action. He was ready to play, to run, and to spin on cue. Well, not today, sorry Mr Sonic. But I learned a few things by slowing things down and tuning down the excitement.

Sometimes being forced to things differently can be a learning experience.

Have you had moments where your routine was broken, you had to improvise, change things up & learned a valuable lesson as a result?

October Newsletter -- Stouffville Dog Training Practice Meet-Up

Some of us getting ready for the big stage ;-)   (just kidding, having fun on the Elgin Park outdoor stage)

 October Newsletter --  Stouffville Dog Training Practice Meet-Up

1st Inaugural Monthly Newsletter

 

Stouffville Dog Training Practice Meet-Up

We are small but mighty.  Regular meet-ups happening now, weekly, Thursday & Friday during the day, Memorial Park & Coultice Park, details announced on the facebook group and via email.

It has come to my attention that FB is not sharing meet-up times/locations and announcements to all group members and some of you are missing out.  For this reason, I am gathering email addresses for an opt-in Monthly (or less) newsletter to be distributed via email.  If you are interested in attending occasional or future meet-ups, please send me your email address & I'll add you to a monthly (or less) 'newsletter' mailing list. 

Also, on an opt-in basis, I will send all meet-up announcements, re-schedules, cancellations and last minute adventure opportunities via email as they happen so you don't have to miss the fun.  <-- ask for 'all meet-ups'

The facebook group will continue to function as the main stage for event & meet-up information, along with social chitchat, brags, and relevant training links for tips and continued learning. 

Anytime you like, you can ask for meet-up buddies through the fb group or via email.  (to add yourself to the email list, please use the comments section, I will not publish your email but I will contact via email with more info).

Face Book Group Url: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253969018545476/

Or send me your email & say you want to be on the 'all meet-ups' mailing list (this will be announcing meet-ups, times, cancellations & reschedules only), if you only want monthly, ask for the 'newsletter'.

Team Sonic--what we are currently working on. What is your team up to?

Join us on facebook Stouffville Dog Training Practice Meet-Up