Dog Community

Teaching a new class need advice/suggestions (Update!)

Posted : 3/11/2011 9:51:34 AM

My life has been busy working in a shelter but I love all the dogs I care for. I have been helping with obedience classes which, along with my work, has caused my understanding in dog behavior, training and anatomy to exploded with so much knowledge. I have even been in training with a few professional dog massagers who are teaching me really interesting things. Now I'm branching off on my own to start a new class.

In just a couple weeks I'm going to teach a canine relaxation class. I have a rather good idea of how I'm going to run the class but any advice or suggestion would be wonderful! If anyone has ideas of dog games, or fun activities that I could add in a class-like setting to make the experience even more meaningful I would be happy to hear. This class is mainly designed by me and it's the first class I'll be instructing solo so I'm a bit nervous but completely excited to get started.

Description of the class:

For anyone who is interested in learning to better their relationship with a dog, The ARL is offering a relaxation and bonding class. Relaxation activates include positive mental stimulation and low arousal physical activities that will enrich the lives of the dog. Each session will help form a closer bond with your dog. You will learn how the help the dog deter from destructive behavior at home and live a more stable lifestyle. The class will incorporate massages, smells and calming exercises to ensure you get the best experience you can through trust building and socialization instructions.

Thanks so much for your input!

Liesje

Posted : 3/11/2011 10:38:59 AM

T-touch for sure!

Also my obedience instructor has us to a calming exercise in *every* class we do (puppy though competitive obedience). I'm not sure of the name or who it's credited to. Basically, we have the dog lie down and then stroke them with a firm hand but slowly. The goal is for the dog to relax enough to end up lying on his side, head down, and for us to press our hands on their ribs and feel their breathing change from excited to how they breath when they sleep. She has us do this with every dog at the beginning of class, mostly because she works with a lot of fearful and reactive dogs that need to learn to relax in the building. I don't always do it because I work my dogs in drive in a higher state of arousal.

Jewlieee

Posted : 3/11/2011 10:45:54 AM

Games shouldn't be part of a calming class imo because that goes against the idea that you are teaching the dog to relax in an already charged environment.

I would do on off switch stuff though. Rile the dog up then teach the dog to instantly calm.

Take a look at the control unleashed stuff. Relaxation is a big part of that

Xebby

Posted : 3/11/2011 11:23:29 AM

The type of games I was thinking of would be very low arousal games, like -which cup is the treat under? Focus type of exercise mainly. At end I will add in an unwinding activity to finish things up but for the most part the class will be teaching the owner how to bond with their dog.

So the way I have it structured right now...
The class starts with a 10 min structure play which will allows for the dog to adjust to the new surrounding, investigate the room and take away some of the curiosity of being in a new place. Then some leashed walking exercise. Once everyone is a bit more settled in we will get into the relax part when I will go over some massages, acupressure and petting techniques thats where I will also add in focus activites. Then I'll Go over typical problems people face with high energy or SA dog, what health concerns to be aware of, and basically how to live a comfortable life with the dog in the home. then after that We will do some unwinding. So that's it in a nutshell but I'm always open for more ideas.

Jewlieee

Posted : 3/11/2011 1:46:26 PM

sounds pretty good how you have it. Let us know how it goes

stardog85

Posted : 3/11/2011 2:15:24 PM

Maybe play around with Doga (dog yoga lol)? I would have Through a Dog's Ear CDs on in the background, too.

TTouch has some cool walking exercises. And I second checking into Control Unleashed for more ideas.

Xebby

Posted : 3/11/2011 4:46:29 PM

Thanks, I looked up Control Unleashed and it sounds great, it's giving me a lot of ideas. I am also going to go over things like how to use a crate properly and other problems that people have inside the house. The trainer I'm working with has some really good handouts so that's a start.

DougB

Posted : 3/11/2011 4:50:39 PM

Plan to more than you think is possible for each session. Nothing worse than running out of class before running out of time.

spiritdogs

Posted : 3/11/2011 5:54:05 PM

Actually, for cheap money you can get Ian Dunbar's video (Amazon video on demand) and watch the jolly up/settle down thing that he does with adolescent dogs. I've tried it in my classes and it really works. Great for the owners who fidget with their dogs to try to settle them. The dogs learn that they can control themselves, and they are paid handsomely for it. It gets them pretty tired, too, and then it's easier to go to the other calming stuff.

Rexy

Posted : 3/15/2011 11:02:44 PM

We recently finished a set of reactive classes with Rexy.

The first few classes were exclusively about helping the dogs relax in the new environment....massage and t-touch, going from crate to mat calmly, spending lots of time with the handlers focusing exclusively on the dog.

Whenever the instructor wanted our undivided attention, the dogs were in their crates.

We did a lot of hand targeting. This quickly became a game to Rexy. Also played a lot of "look at that". I would also try to click and treat for sleepy eye blinks and her relaxed "dopey dog" look.

Treats were often dropped on the ground to lower the dogs' heads and arousal levels. I would regularly ask Rexy for a "stretch" (play bow) to loosen her up and release tension.

Once the dogs were all able to handle it, dogs would be off their mats for hand targeting.

Depending on the dogs in your class, you may want to consider visual barriers to help them relax (and not just for the fearful ones, I can think of a few excitable dogs that could benefit from this).

Xebby

Posted : 3/23/2011 5:03:27 PM

Well I did it!
I taught my fist class last night! I was so super excited and didn't get much sleep the night before just thinking about how it would go. I had it all played out in my mind, I knew the whole script. I pulled out all my best dog training books including the one I have on T-Touch and studied like crazy getting ready for any question that might come my way.

Of course it didn't really go as planed and was so totally different then I had expected once I was standing in front of real people, but that was a good thing. The turn out was good, seven dogs came and it was a nice variety of dogs. There was a moment during the massage section where I was standing in the middle of the room and there was total silents while all the dogs where laying nicely on their mats getting belly rubs. I meant to have peaceful music playing the whole time but my CD player had the wrong settings and stopped after one song. Also one of my lessons was cut short due to losing intreats of the owners but I was able to move on smoothly to the next thing. The feedback I'm getting is very positive so hopefully it will only get easier from this point out.

I'm very excited for next weeks class, it's going to be a group of volunteers who will be bringing dogs from the adoption floor to my class and we will try the same thing with them. This will be fun.