Teaching Engagement Skills

Once you enroll, you'll be able to get access to the following:

• 101 Videos - These videos include lectures from Forrest Micke, detailed training demonstrations, various examples of engagement featuring trainers just like you, and more.

• Student Discussions - Talk to your peers on the forums about the course content and anything else related to dog training.

• Course Tests - Ensure your knowledge of the course content with our tests. After you pass, you'll receive a Course Certificate which will be sent to you via mail.

When a dog is engaged with its handler it desires to be with the handler, and understands and looks forward to who the handler is and what he or she has to offer. The dog is an eager student who pushes the educational process and feels empowered to make things happen within the training. The picture of an engaged dog is a happy dog that is willing to do what the handler asks because it's learned to trust and crave interaction with the him or her through the use of various high value rewards, interactive play, proper management, and clear communication and expectations.

In this course Forrest will teach you how to promote engagement, how to maintain engagement, and how to make engagement work for you as you move forward in your training relationship with your dog.

Packed with rich information, this class will prepare students with both the why's and how's of making and maintaining engagement as a central attitude, mental state, and defining feature of any and every training program.

Module 1

The first module of this course exposes students to terminology, necessary handler mechanics, and underlying concepts that define and help us create engagement between the handler and his or her dog.

Students who complete the first module will understand:

• What engagement is

• The benefits of prioritizing it in their training

• How to begin encouraging it with their own dog.

There will be a heavy focus on handler education and mechanical skill-building which will prepare the student for the hands-on emphasis that they will find within the curriculum of the second week.

Module 2

Module 2 of this course focuses on the practical application of hands-on training. Students will begin inviting their dog into the training sessions with the goal of creating a strong and confident work ethic. Handlers will learn how to take engagement from the sterile training environment into the increasingly distracting environments that define every day life.

Working through distractions, overcoming outside temptation, and creating a thick and robust attitude of effort and assumed responsibility from your dog is a central focus.

Every pet dog owner should understand and practice engagement skills with their dog, the same is true for every dog sport competitor. Day one of every training program should begin with the trainer working on engagement skills with his or her dog.