Clean Run - March 2011 - 43

FOCUS is an acronym that defines the important aspects of our training system— Fun, Obedience, and Consistency lead to Unbelievable Success.
As an instructor it is in your best interest to offer (or even to require) FOCUS and impulse-control classes to prepare dogs for higher level training. You will become familiar with the dogs and trainers before they even get to agility training. You will be able to structure your advanced classes to continue building on the foundation that has already been started. And you will likely accomplish much more in your upper-level classes since time won’t be wasted on beginnerlevel training problems. students. But do teach the exercises in the order given. They are specifically designed to increase skill levels and challenges appropriately. We set an ideal limit in our classes of eight working teams and allow observers, particularly encouraging family members to attend. It usually turns out that we allow one or two extra teams into class and end up with 10 working teams as the actual limit. We are highly likely to allow extra puppies into the class because we feel puppies need to get off to a good, focused start the most. But, it is important not to allow the class to become so big that it is overwhelming and chaotic. We need to be able to give specific coaching and feedback to each team during class time. Our limit is based on having two instructors for the class. If I were teaching alone I would likely limit the class to four or five teams. Another option would be to incorporate FOCUS and impulse-control exercises into already existing pre-agility classes. You may want to pick and choose from the suggested exercises and add them in where they seem to be most relevant. If you do this just be aware that we have planned the progression of exercises carefully and thoughtfully to increase challenges at a steady pace.

the First step
If you are not familiar with our FOCUS and impulse-control work, it is a good idea to follow the class progressions and practice with one or two of your own dogs first. You need firsthand experience before you can confidently present the concepts and exercises to students. You might also consider getting together with a small group of like-minded fellow trainers and working through the lesson plans together. You can give one another coaching and feedback as you go. You will also have an opportunity to see how different dogs are likely to respond and what typical problems may arise during the training process. Preparation is the key to a good class experience. In the next article I will discuss all the important issues you need to consider before you hold your first class. For more information on the concepts, underlying ideas, and exercises in the FOCUS training system refer to either of our two books on the topic In FOCUS: Developing a Working Relationship with your Performance Dog and The Focused Puppy: A Training System for Raising a Great Companion and Performance Dog. Our FOCUS training system is also a fundamental part of our In FOCUS DVDs (Foundation Work, Need for Speed, Crying for Control, and Focused Obstacle Skills) as well. D

class organization
We have organized our FOCUS training concepts and exercises into eight onehour class lesson plans. We have divided these into two (Beginner and Advanced) sessions of four weeks each. Each of the four-week sessions could be combined and taught as four-hour workshops. Weekly classes have the advantage of allowing plenty of practice time between and the ability to actually see week-toweek progress. Workshops have the advantage of introducing more exercises and concepts at one time, which may help students to see the bigger picture. If it would work better for your schedule you could even divide the material into two classes of two hours each. The class format can be flexible depending on what works best for you and your

Deborah Jones, PhD, has taught a wide variety of psychology classes at Kent State University at Stark (North Canton, Ohio) for 15 years. Her specialties are learning and social behavior. Deb enjoys participating in dog sports and has earned advanced titles in agility, obedience, and rally on sporting, toy, and herding dogs. She is co-author (along with Judy Keller) of the In FOCUS books and DVD series.

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One dog may not change the world… But he can change the world for one person.

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A funny, tearful, and poignant story of a special boy and how he led his person to a new way in the world as a canine rehab therapist.

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March 11 | Clean Run

by Jean C. Pavlakos
Available at:

“My Heart”

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Clean Run - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - March 2011
