Concepts are defined by a set of common attributes that characterise that concept which can be applied to novel situations or objects to recognise that specific concept in the future.
Examples of concepts that we can teach our dogs include:
There are frameworks and methods to systematically teach each of these concepts to our learners. However, we first want to have the foundations in place to then make it easy to layer the discriminative aspects on top for each concept in the future.
The foundation required is primarily mechanical and communicative – the animal must be able to station, observe and clearly indicate an item cued by the handler in the presence of multiple choices. The handler must also be aware of their own movements including their base position, consistently setting up the choices, explicitly cueing an indication and clicking/marking and rewarding when the dog correctly responds to that cue.
This course will provide the required instruction and guide the handler to teach their dog each of these foundational mechanical components before teaching concepts work. Successful completion of the course will enable each team to then progress to further courses on teaching specific concepts to their dog.
Goals of this course:
Please watch the demo video to determine if you already have the skills covered in this course. If you wish to film a short snippet of you and your dog demonstrating the sequence shown and email it to me, I am happy to guide you on whether or not the course would help you further.