11 February 2012
DOG PLAY with Lisbeth Plant KPACTP
Have you considered taking your dog to a dog park or a dog walk, but aren’t sure if you should? Do you want to learn more about reading dog body language and what good play and bad play looks like, so you can keep your dog safe when playing with other dogs?
Not every dog is, or should be, a “dog park dog”!
The safety and enjoyment of dog parks depends on one thing: dog owner education. This presentation will help teach dog owners watching off-leash play how to recognize red flags and when to step in and help their dog out of a risky situation.
This 2-hour seminar is a pre-requisite for participation in the Cowichan Canine Walking Club, but it is useful to anybody that lives with, or is exposed to, dogs. The seminar is FREE and open to all, Cowichan Canine students as well as the general public. Please bring your friends! No pre-registration is required.
SORRY – NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED AT THIS SEMINAR.
Our next seminar is scheduled for Saturday 11 February at 3:00pm.
Venue: Cowichan Exhibition (The Pancake House)
2-5 October 2012
CHICKEN CAMP 101
with world famous dog training instructor
TERRY RYAN
WHY SHOULD DOG OWNERS (or DOG TRAINERS) TRAIN CHICKENS?
Trainers are not “bonded” to their chickens. Chickens do not have big brown eyes. Dog owners do not have bad (or good!) chicken training habits, because they’ve never trained a chicken before, thus avoiding the baggage often taken to dog training workshops. You will not be showing your chickens at the next performance event, nor will you be taking them home, so there is no pressure on what will happen in the future. You probably do not have a library full of chicken training books and DVD’s to influence you, much less television shows on chicken training.
Training a chicken is a stretch and a boost to your mechanical skills. The average chicken is faster than the average dog, giving you a chance to improve your coordination and timing.
Chickens will freeze or fly away if they don’t like the way you are training them. Unlike dogs, you will know immediately if you are taking advantage of a chicken or pushing too hard too fast. Chickens don’t give their trainers a second chance as often as our dogs do.
Using chickens as a training model, each course will focus on different principles of classical and operant conditioning.
Each student will have two chickens to handle and train, using a clicker and food pellets. Students will work in pairs, taking turns training their own chickens and coaching their partner.
THE COURSE
CAMP 101– DISCRIMINATION
Exercises include observing and graphing (ethogram) chicken behaviour. We’ll explore how chickens acquire, store and process information. We’ll practice mechanical skills with special attention to timing and eye-hand coordination. Lessons include systematic desensitization, capturing a behaviour, shaping a behaviour and the use of targets. We’ll work on a three or four-component discrimination and conduct extinction trials.
Prerequisite: An above average interest in training.
Dates: 2-5 October 2012
Venue: Cowichan Exhibition, Duncan, BC (Vancouver Island)
Cost: $750 (discounts apply, see registration form)
(or $375 for Observer Only spot; NO working with chickens, NO discounts apply)
CLICK HERE FOR Chicken Camp 101 Registration
6-7 October 2012
THE BEST OF COACHING
with world famous dog training instructor
TERRY RYAN
“Coaching” is a good foundation for new instructors, whether involved with pet, competition or 4-H classes; it is based on Terry’s book by the same name, which students receive as part of the course.
The course is also great for experienced instructors as a forum for exchanging ideas, combating instructor burnout, or just seeing
what’s new or different.
Some clubs sponsor their members’ attendance as a thank you or as continuing education for their instructors! Information includes
people skills and class organization. Tips to structure classes for the specific needs of your community are included.
A variety of orientation strategies will be discussed. Should dogs attend the first night of class or not? Instructional formatting—what are your objectives, how do you measure your success? Should your course be time or goal driven? Should you offer one-skill classes?
We’ll get into the art of listening, learning to observe, effective communication, learning styles, lateral thinking and critical thinking exercises, depth and breadth of knowledge, criteria for selecting training
techniques & equipment and what to do about your drop-out rate.
Utilizing your area to the maximum, traffic control strategies, effective use of assistants, and options for last class activities will be covered.
Hear about helpful organizations and networking opportunities. This seminar is interactive! Students will get an idea of how effective various training techniques are by participating in exercises such as “Pavlov’s Dog” and “What Humans Teach/What Canines Learn”.
This two-day course is an intensive and compressed version of the two-week programme.
Prerequisite: An above average interest in training.
Dates: 6-7 October 2012
Venue: Cowichan Exhibition, Duncan, BC (Vancouver Island)
Cost: $350 (discounts apply, see registration form)
CLICK HERE FOR Best of Coaching Registration
TERRY RYAN
Terry & Brody
Terry Ryan has been a dog training class instructor since 1968. She teaches pet dog classes, writes books, presents national and international seminars and workshops, hosts in-terns and consults.
Terry was the Coordinator of the People-Pet Partnership, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University from 1981 until 1994, where she also did under-graduate studies in psychology. She is an American Kennel Club obedience trial Judge Emeritus. She is on the American Humane Society’s advisory board for humane dog training.
From 1997 to 2002, Terry taught ten-day behaviour courses at the American Wildlife Foundation in Indiana, using imprinted wolves as the study subjects. In 2002, she was one of six chairs who wrote the national standards for humane dog training for the American Humane Association, which was later published by the Delta Society as Guidelines for Humane Dog Training.
Terry has been hosting dog training camps since the 1980’s. For several years, her students trained rats in Skinner boxes, and she has been using chickens as training models since the early 1990s.
In addition to the chicken camps, Terry has included chickens in her current instructors’ courses “Coaching People to Train Their Dogs” and the one-day “Poultry in Motion” chicken training workshops. Terry lives with her husband, Bill, in Sequim, WA, with their English Cocker Spaniel, Brody.