Thursday 6:00-7:00pm, for 8 weeks, starting August 13th with Jane Hammond & Lisa Lambert. Please indicate which course you are signing up for.

Prerequisite for this course: successful completion of Dog Sports Foundations.

Heeling skills 1: Handlers coming into this class should have a solid understanding of shaping and luring mechanics as these will be used to teach many of the skills in this course. Dogs should already have some value for the hand touch which was taught in Dog Sport Foundations. It is helpful if the dog is highly food motivated as some of the skills are more readily learned with food reinforcement rather than toys but value for toy play is also quite useful.

Heeling is a complex behaviour which will usually take two or more years to learn well. The best teams continue to train aspects of heeling behaviour throughout a dog's entire sports career. To teach such a complex skill, we will introduce your dog to various skills contained within heeling before we ask your dog to heel. Once your dog has learned these various bits and pieces of heeling, we will put the skills together. This practice of teaching your dog manageable-size chunks is known as “splitting” and it allows your dog a great degree of understanding without the frustration of a ‘too difficult task.’

Our Heeling Skills program is broken down into three separate courses with Heeling Skills 1 as the introductory course in which we teach foundational skills in preparation for eventual heeling. The goal of these courses is to work on building both joyful and precise heeling behaviors for use in sports such as Rally, Freestyle and Obedience. Teams will learn a variety of games to build drive and enthusiasm while also balancing those games with precision-based skills to create dogs who both love to heel and do so with great accuracy. Focus will be an important element of these courses as it is impossible for a dog to heel without focus.

This course is suitable both for dogs who have no previous heeling experience as well as dogs who already have a trained heeling behavior but whose handlers wish to work on balancing the joy and precision in their performance.

This is a homework-heavy course and consistent training at home between classes will be necessary to be successful. Crating is required for this class.

Heeling skills 2:

Prerequisite for Heeling Skills 2 is the successful completion of Heeling Skills 1 or permission from the instructor.

During the first heeling skills course, students began to use platforms to teach their dogs the precise position necessary for heeling while the handler remained stationary. In this course, we continue to develop those platform skills. As well, handlers will increasingly use games to teach their dogs how to maintain the correct position when the handler is in motion. In addition, handlers will work on the final three changes of position (Stand from a Sit; Sit from a Down; Down from a Sit). Handlers will work on stays in down, sit and stand positions. Throughout this course, handlers will work with their dogs to increase duration of the dog's focus on handler and will also help their dog learn to focus in increasingly distracting situations. Dogs should already have the ability to relax in a kennel OR handlers should be willing to work with their dogs to help them become more content in a kennel.

Heeling Skills 1 & 2

$250.00

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0/500

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I agree that NADA, Inc. has the right to refuse this registration application for cause, which NADA, Inc. shall deem to be sufficient. In consideration of the acceptance of this class registration, I agree to hold NADA, Inc. including its members, officers and directors, owners of premises upon which NADA, Inc. events are held and their employees, harmless from any claim for loss or injury which may be alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly to any person or thing by the act of this dog while in or upon the event premises or grounds or near any entrance thereto, and I personally assume all responsibility and liability for any such claim; and I further agree to hold the aforementioned parties harmless from any claim for loss of this dog by disappearance, theft, death, or otherwise, and from any claim for damage or injury, be caused or alleged to be caused by negligence of the parties aforementioned, or by the negligence of any other person, or any other cause or causes. I hereby assume the sole responsibility for and agree to indemnify and same the aforementioned parties harmless from any and all loss and expenses (including legal fees) by reason of the liability imposed by law upon any of the aforementioned parties for damage because of bodily injuries, including death at any time resulting there from sustained by any person or persons, including myself (ourselves) or on account of damage to property, arising out of or in consequence of my (our) participation in this event, howsoever such injuries, death or damage to property may be caused or may have been alleged to have been caused by negligence of the aforementioned parties or any of their employees or agents, or any other person. I certify and represent that the dog(s) participating in NADA, Inc. events/classes is (are) not a hazard to persons or other dogs.
Newfoundland Athletic Dog Association, Inc. (NADA, Inc.) may provide a full or prorated refund for classes, workshops, or trials on an individual basis. If the class has not commenced, a full refund can be given. If the class has commenced, and the first class has been attended, a prorated amount of 80% of the class fee may be given as a refund. If two classes have been attended, no refund will be given.

Newfoundland Athletic Dog Association, Inc.

Heeling Skills 1 & 2

General Agreement

Refund Policy

Covid 19 Clause