Introduction to Do as I Do Workshop – Sunday 12:30pm – CJ Hazell

Dogs have a wonderful ability to learn through social learning. That means that they can see what someone else does and then try it for themselves. They can imitate what they have seen, learning new skills as they do. We can tap into this ability by teaching our dogs to learn something new by imitating what we do. The Do as I Do technique was developed by Claudia Fuggaza as part of her graduate research and has grown in popularity as a training method. Tapping into social learning allows us to teach some skills more quickly, teach complex behaviors more easily, and often the dogs will remember it better.

In this workshop I will introduce this method. Your dog needs to know 3-6 behaviors that they can do independently of touching you. At least 2 of the behaviors should involve a prop like a jump, platform, or toy. They should know these reasonably well.

Choose behaviors that you are comfortable demonstrating. If you don’t want to get onto the floor and rollover, then rollover should not be one of your behaviors. But if you are fine doing it, then go for it. Some suggestions that work well are SPIN, BACK, DOWN, SIT PRETTY, 2 or 4 FT ON, GO AROUND, FOOT TARGET, TOUCH OBJECT WITH NOSE OR PAW, LIFT PAW, JUMP, or PICK SOMETHING UP.

Cost: $80 for members, $95 for non-members. Limit 10 working spots, unlimited auditing. $25 per auditor.

Instructor: CJ Hazell

Email CJ with questions about this class.