I was planning to set a challenge last weekend but I've been in bed with flu. If someone else wants to volunteer hopefully I will be back to normal soon.

What you’ll need - A happy, healthy dog. - Food/treats to reward - you’ll be holding food in both hands so make sure you have enough and don’t be cheap. - A clicker or verbal marker (doesn’t matter what your marker is. Just make sure it’s the same every time). - Phone or camera (or a friend to film). I recommend filming your sessions to identify what worked well and what didn’t. - Quiet, non-distracting space with good light - especially when starting out. Step-by-step Step 1 — Get a dog. Step 2 — Food in both hands. Hold a treat in each hand. Step 3 — Dog by your side — doesn’t matter which side. Start with the dog in a neutral standing position at your side if you need to. Step 4 — Lure from start to finish - Start by showing the lure (food) low near the dog’s nose and slowly move it to the target finished position (e.g., sit at your left). Keep the lure moving smoothly and clearly so the dog follows with their head and body. - Swap hands behind your back to keep a nice flowing movement. - Mark and reward only when the dog reaches the finished position. Click / “Yes!” the instant the dog is in the correct spot, then give the treat from the closest hand. Marking & rewarding — keep it clean 1. Always mark the finished position (click / “Yes!”) the instant it happens. Don’t mark early. 2. Reward from the closest hand so the dog learns the finish position - make sure you’ve got food readily available in both hands before starting the training session. 3. Avoid paying partway through 4. Don’t reward or let the dog take the treat while they’re still in motion or not in the finished position. If you reward mid-move, the dog may learn “get reward in the middle” — not what you want. If the dog makes a mistake 1. Correct with the lure: calmly place the lure back where it needs to be and guide them to the correct finish, then mark & reward. OR 1. Reset: Simply start the exercise again. Don’t get frustrated or tell your dog off - keep it neutral and short. If for whatever reason it’s just not happening then move on to something your dog knows how to do and end the session on a high.

For this weeks challenge I decided to pick learning names. This is a nice add on to the hold of the first challenge, as later on you can combine the two. The goal is that your dogs knows the names of different people. So the end picture would be you saying a name of a person in the room and the dog turns his face to the right person. This is the foundation to be able to use the names to send your dog to a certain person, search for a certain person or bring something to a certain person. Incase you dont have helpers near to help you, you can teach this with items instead. You will find an adaptation at the bottom. 1. Decide a person whose name you want to teach first. 2. Have the person standing next to your team. Both you and the helper have treats in a pocket. 3. Say the name of the person, followed by a pointing gesture to the person. As soon as the dog looks at the other person, the helper says something encouraging, does an inviting movement and opens the hand with a treat for the dog to grab. 4.The moment the dog takes the food, you mark/cheer, so the dog turns back to you and you pay with another treat. This way the dog learns, that after completing the task, he always and immediately comes back to you to get new instructions. 5. If the dog doesnt look around and doesnt turn to the person to begin with, the helper should make an inviting noise right after you said the name. If the dog now looks, he gets encouraged and paid by the helper. Mark and reward. 6. Practice this until the dog turns to the person without hesitance. 6. Gradually increase the distance between your team and the handler. (You can here add a second cue like „Go to…“, which will mean move to the right person, instead of only looking at the person.) 7. As soon as there is a distance depending on the excitement of the dog it can be handy to use a very short leash to hold the dog, so he doesnt anticipate, before completing the cue. He has to wait the whole cue „Go to Max“ and not start running after just hearing „Go to..“. This will be important when you add other names, so the dog doesnt start running before even hearing the name of the right person :)

Hi everyone! Just letting you know there is a new post in our training chain! I’ll pin it at the top so it’s easy to find. It’s super fun and creative so get involved to keep this community active and buzzing 🐾🙌🏻

Alright team, let’s start something fun! Let’s play a game called Training Chain 🐾 Here’s how it works: ✅ On Fridays, one person posts a training exercise for everyone to try with their dogs for the week. ✅ It can be anything, trick, skill, enrichment idea, confidence game, just make sure every dog can take part and we don’t need special equipment. ✅ You can share a video demo or just describe the exercise ✅ We all practice it during the week and post our progress in the comments of the original challenge post ✅ Tag the next person at the end of your post so they can prepare an exercise for the following week ✅ Keep the chain going! ⛓️🐶 Let’s build the most inspiring little chain of training and positivity 🙌 Can’t wait to see what you all come up with! Ready? GO! 👇