RA590 Tricked into Freestyle: From Foundation to Fantastic!

Are you ready to add some paw-zazz to your trick training? Tired of the same old tricks of spins and weaves? Let’s kick it up a notch! We’ll take the basics and transform them into an array of awesome tricks and behaviors! Whether you do freestyle, therapy dog work, enjoy earning Trick Dog titles, or just love to train, this class will give you plenty of options to enhance your repertoire, your routine, and your training relationship!

Course Details

Teaching Approach

Each team works at their own pace and at a level where their dog is showing understanding and confidence for the exercises. Each week contains several exercises as handler's choice depending on dog and handler skill level.

Lectures are released weekly and include written descriptions and video demonstrations of each exercise in a step-by-step approach. Some lectures and exercises also include diagrams. Lectures and exercises start at a foundation level and take you through the process to more advanced skills. Supplemental lectures may be provided depending on need.

Video demonstrations of the exercises include the instructor's training sessions with her own dogs as well as actual students working the exercises. There are a variety of breeds and sizes represented in the demo vids. Demonstration video length varies between 1-3 minutes. Many of the demo videos are also captioned.

Students will be provided with both general and specific written feedback, often including timestamps for clarity. Students will be able to show their work for any previous weeks as well as the current week’s exercises for continued feedback.

The exercises can generally be completed in a small space. The equipment list is very specific to the class exercises so you will want to be sure to have them ahead of time to get the most benefit from the class.

This class will have a Teacher's Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the Bronze and Silver students! Directions for joining that Facebook group will be in the classroom after you register.

Syllabus

Wk 1 Lecture: Trick, Tricky, Trickier Trickiest!

How the Class is Structured
Expectation for Students
How to Pick and Choose

Wk 1.1 “Get this Party Started!” - Building Block Behaviors/Tricks

Lecture and Exercises: Value of base or foundation tricks

Pre-requisite Base or Foundation Tricks to Brush up on or Start.

Fly: Wrap/around a cone or other prop
Around: Circle handler
Jump: A bar, person parts or other prop
Thru: Pass between handlers legs from one side to the other
Spins: CW and CCW
Paw lift: On independent cues (verbal or physical)
Back up: Independent of handler
Between: Dog between handler’s legs
Left and right side cues a plus!

Wk 1.2 Lecture only: Adduction/Compound tricks – Simplifying Complex Tricks

Wk 1.3 Lecture: Adding cues

Wk: 1.4 Base behaviors for week 2 tricks: Circle handler/Circle cone or prop instruction

Wk 1.5 Homework: Practice your dog's base behaviors and check cues

Wk 2 “Will it go Round in Circles” and “On a Wing and a Prayer - Tricks built from Circles and Jumps

Wk 2.1 Circle handler opposite/Circle prop opposite
Wk 2.2 Hoola hoop 8’s/Fig 8 between handler and prop
Wk 2.3 Circle single leg/Circle 2 circle 1
Wk 2.4 Rebound off wall/Rebound off handler
Wk 2.5 Jump handler Arms (while circling!)
Wk 2.6 Homework - Trick, Tricky, Trickier, Trickiest

Wk 3 “Dreamweaver” - Tricks built from Thru/forward weave

Wk 3.1 Fig 8/elongated Fig 8
Wk 3.2 Walk back weave from in front/Forward weave to walk back weave
Wk 3.3 Fancy A weaves
Wk 3.4 Arm weaves
Wk 3.5 Homework - Trick, Tricky, Trickier, Trickiest

Wk 4 “Baby got Back” and “So Far Away” - Tricks built from Backing/Distance as a concept

Wk 4.1 Back away distance/Distance Behavior
Wk 4.2 Back circles/Back around a cane or prop
Wk 4.3 Turn back thru/Back weaves
Wk 4.4 Back fig 8/Back fig 8 with pivot
Wk 4.5 Back up crawl or bow
Wk 4.6 Supported Handstand
Wk 4.7 Homework - Trick, Tricky, Trickier, Trickiest

Wk 5 “You Spin me Round and Round” and “Keep Lifting me Higher” - Tricks built from Spins and Paw lifts

Wk 5.1 Inside spins/Thru to inside spin
Wk 5.2 Kick spins
Wk 5.3 Wipe/cover eyes
Wk 5.4 Hold a cane
Wk 5.5 Limp/Hop
Wk 5.6 March (with or without touch/in front or behind)
Wk 5.7 Homework - Trick, Tricky, Trickier, Trickiest

Wk 6 “Stuck in the Middle with you” and "Stand By Me" - Tricks Built from Left Right or Middle!

Wk 6.1 Indies/Add a bow!
Wk 6.2 Feet on Feet/on the move!
Wk 6.3 Tuggers!
Wk 6.4 Homework - Trick, Tricky, Trickier, Trickiest

Prerequisites & Supplies

Teams should have a basic understanding of markers, shaping, luring and targeting.We will be working from a list of foundation tricks such as spins, circling the handler, passing thru the handler's legs, paw lifts and backing. We will be building on these base tricks to create more advanced tricks, so having at least some of the base behaviors will be beneficial. I will be providing only brief instruction on the base tricks. There are alot of choices in this class on which tricks to train so you do not have to have all of these. The more you have the more options you have of what to train in class. If you are unsure if your dog has enough understanding of the base tricks for class you can e mail me! You will also have the opportunity to practice and improve on the base tricks as well.Base Behaviors - Starting points for tricks covered in class Wrap and curl: around a cone CW and CCW Around: Circle handler Jump: A bar, person parts or other prop Back up: Independent of handler Spins: CW and CCW Thru: Pass between handlers legs from one side to the other Paw lift: On independent cues (verbal or physical) Left and right side cues a plus! Equipment list: Several pieces of equipment are optional depending on the tricks you want to train. Training gates – These are configurable barriers that will be used for several tricks, both basic and more advanced tricks. Theycan be home made using "wire cube organizers" found online. A set of 2 strips of 10 panels will work best. One strip of 10 are shown below. They usually come in 10-12" heights. For small or medium breeds a "guinea pig exercise pen" can work well, also found online https://www.chewy.com/prevue-pet-products-multi-color-small/dp/133525. For large or giant breeds, an 18" exercise pen can work as well. I have found the wire cube organizers put together with velcro strips work best for most all dogs and sizes.Pvc jump bar or similar – If you plan to do any of the jumping tricks you will want at least one jump bar or length of pvc.Cone – will be used for several tricks (good to have a hole at top and at side that fits your pvc jump bar, though optional)Hoola hoop – cheap and easy to find at dollar stores – large enough for your dog to jump through. A way to have it stay upright is helpful – something as simple as zip-tied to 2 chairs, jump standards, or a home made stand.Target stick: Ball end for nose, flat end for feet (spatula’s work well)Solid board for rebounds (4’x4’ for med to large dogs, or 3’x3’ for small to med dogs) covered in yoga mat or foam matting. – Needed only if you will be working on wall reboundsSmaller board similar in size of a standing platform for supported handstands – if you use your platform be sure it’s very rigid.Useful but very optional: KLIMB platform or CATO board

Sample Lecture

Wk 3.2 Walk back weave/Forward weave to walk back weave

These are a couple of fun “thru” variations with a twist! Both figuratively and literally!

The base behavior is “thru”. The handler will be moving backward though as the dog weaves forward:

To start this behavior:

Cue your dog to pass thru your leg to the other side
As he does so, move your forward leg (the leg he just passed under) back, as if taking a step backward.
This now leaves your other leg forward for your dog to pass thru. Cue your dog to go thru and again, step back with the other leg.

Forward weave to walk back weave – with a pivot transition

In this next variation, we will combine the forward walking weave, with a pivot, then the walk back weave:

Steps to create this combination

Start with a few steps of your forward thru or walking weave
With your leg forward, and your dog just finishing going under, encourage your dog to stay next to that forward leg, through your eye contact, hand target or position cue.
Put your weight on the ball of your feet, bringing your heels up slightly and pivot in place with your dog is moving next to you on the outside as you turn away, 180 degrees.
As you turn, your far leg from the dog is now open for you to cue your dog to go thru.
Then step back with the forward leg, providing the new opening for your dog to go thru.
You can now step back into the walk back weave.

Instructor

Julie Flanery

Faculty

Julie Flanery (she/her), CPDT-KA has been working professionally with dogs and their handlers since 1993. She focuses on the needs of the dog and helping people form a strong relationship, through clear communication, and positive reinforcement. She has placed Obedience...

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