Stimulus control training is all about response to cues

For a behavior

1. The behavior occurs immediately when the cue is given.
2. The behavior never occurs in the absence of the cue.
3. The behavior never occurs in response to some other cue.
4. No other behavior occurs in response to this cue.

This means, for example, if I have trained the behavior, “Sit pretty,”:

1. When I say, “Pretty,” the dog immediately sits up with his front feet in the air.
2. He doesn’t ever do that unless I cue it.
3. He doesn’t do it if I cue something else like down or sit.
4. He doesn’t sit or lie down when I say, “Pretty.”

Saturday, April 22nd and Sunday, April 23rd, 9 am to 5 pm

Samantha Parsons is a dog trainer and dog agility enthusiast. Sam’s goal is to develop teamwork between the dog and handler through clear communication and positive experiences.  Sam leads with compassion and empathy in her work.

Working spots limited to 10 per day.

Cost:  $150 Per day working spot
To Register, Email:  FPACEvents@gmail.com
Location: Flying Paws Agility Club, 6695 N Bottom Road, Bloomington, IN 47404

Day 1:  General Stimulus Control:

Reinforcement Markers Review

• Food markers (from hand, room service, from ground)
• Toy (preplaced, tug from hand, thrown, placed behind the dog)
• Discrimination between different markers (food vs food, toy vs toy, food vs toy)

Reinforcement Markers with Agility

• Toy placement for independence (weaves, contacts, turning cues)
• Food for handler focus (Bypassing off courses/dog name for handler focus, soothing/arousal control)

Crucial Stimulus Control Prerequisites for Agility

• • Loose leash walking (dogs not pulling to enter rings etc.)
  • Start-line stays
  • Stopped contact / table faults & building duration for stopped behaviors
  • Control around reinforcement (when should the dog take the reinforcement, delayed reinforcement – dog doesn’t get rewarded in the ring but rather ring side etc.)

Day 2:  Stimulus Control During Agility Exercises (putting day 1 into practice):

• Tunnels – when to take and when not to take
• Dog obstacle preferences (tunnel, contact, weave “sucking”)
• Ring of fire exercises (pinwheel of jumps with tunnels on the outside of pinwheel- dog must take jumps and not tunnels until handler cues tunnels, basically a compare and contrast drill for tunnel suckers)
• Patience circles (just running with the handler without taking obstacles)
• Nose touches & handling (helps cue convergence, obstacle discrimination, threadle help)
• Sequence work and how to handle errors

Each session will be a full day of training.  Some will be lecture, and some will be hands-on with your dog.

We strongly recommend that people attend both days to get the most benefit out of the seminar.

Day 1 is required to attend day 2.  Day 2 will be a continuation, and use what was learned in day 1 within the agility environment.

Prerequisites:

Since day 2 will do some course work, attendees must have jump, tunnel and short sequencing experience.

About Samantha (Sam)

Samantha Parsons is a dog trainer and dog agility enthusiast. Sam’s goal is to develop teamwork between the dog and handler through clear communication and positive experiences, and leads with compassion and empathy in her work.

Her credentials include a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of animal science, as well as over a decade in the sport of dog agility and dog training.

Some noteworthy accomplishments include:

• Qualifying for AKC national agility championships from 2012-2021 with three different dogs. In 2019, she was able to place 2nd place at AKC national agility championships in the preferred 12” class with her border collie Trio.
• She has completed personalized coaching with Sarah Stremming to improve her problem-solving skills with performance dogs.
• Currently, Sam is training and trialing a rescue, border collie mix named Mucho. In addition, she is training a young border collie, Zippo, for the sport of dog agility.

Event Hosted by:
Flying Paws Agility Club
6695 N Bottom Road, Bloomington, IN 47404
Website:  flyingpawsagility.com
To Register, Email:  FPACEvents@gmail.com