I loved how this course was structured and how clear and concise Michael Ellis is with his teaching. I chose the Michael Ellis courses because of his teaching style and his vast knowledge and experience and did so with the goal of becoming a better handler for my Shepherd. My long term goal would be to compete in Ring sports.
I have nothing but great things to say about Michael Ellis and the courses here at Leerburg.
- Kaitlyn Thomas on 06/03/2025
This was a great mini-course. I have heard most of this information many times from other sources, but the presentation manner and discussion was really in a great sequence and well explained - it drove it home and increased my understanding. The big take-away for me and what I think has been a hole/weakness in my training with new dogs/puppies was the development of engagement separate and prior to training behaviors. The 'break down' of presenting on how to teach engagement and what that really means (which I now understand to be the dog developing desire to engage with me - not simply giving me "focused attention" but learning to 'push' me to move and react and engage with them resulting in the dog being more motivated to engage) will really help me to grow a stronger relationship with my dog early on and increase their desire and joy for interacting and training with me. The discussion on reward events, movement as part of the reward event and reward event duration vs rate of reward also gave me greater clarity on how these things effect the dog's learning and reward experience.
Thanks very much for putting this together. It is fantastic to get really useful, actionable information for an affordable price!
- Arlene Lillie on 06/03/2025
I enrolled in this course with the primary aim of learning how to improve my dog's engagement, and I must say, it has been incredibly helpful in achieving that goal. I also learned that practicing without a dog will help me improve my training abilities. As a result, I now want to take Michael Ellis' course titled "Luring & Footwork Without A Dog."
I also particularly appreciated the authentic feel of the training course. Michael Ellis's interaction with real people, instead of just talking to the camera, added a sense of realism to the course. Additionally, his example of a TV in a kindergarten class served as a powerful illustration of how important training in a distraction-free environment can be. I am excited to continue learning through Michael Ellis and explore his cool training style.
- Shirley Powell on 06/03/2025
This is the first course I've ever bought for dog training and I'm happy that the overall quality is good. Michael Ellis explains the principles of engagement easily. I can't wait to enroll more on the courses offered here.
- Mark Valenzuela on 06/03/2025
I really enjoyed the small bite sized pieces this course was broken into. Looking at this topic in those small pieces gave me perspective on how to break down this information for my clients. So much gets lost in translation when transferring information from trainer to pet owner and it is easy to forget they don't have the foundation in training and behavior that I do.
I appreciate being reminded that building drive, speed and enthusiasm is a process. Too often we get focused on the end result and forget all the micro steps that go into creating the end picture. The discussions of what is engagement, how to create engagement and then how to use that engagement to build behaviors are so important. Engagement is often misunderstood in the pet training world and leads to creating a dog that blankly stares at your face rather than a dog that is ACTIVELY engaged with the handler- the point that staring at your hands or body is just as valuable as eye contact was an excellent point made during this course. Pointing out that each dog is going to require different motivators and levels of intensity is key information to remember going through any training process.
Thank you so much for this quick course!
- Emilie Swett on 06/03/2025
THANK YOU.
I'm sure you read/hear this so often, but very eye opening for some of the mistakes I have made in bringing my dog along. I would also like to thank you for clarifying engagement.
I am new to dog sport and have begun with my first doberman pinscher. My breeder was excellent g in placing with me a dog who has drive but is also super affectionate. I say an old soul dog with a new soul trainer. He has been super patient and forgiving as I refine my skills to be the partner he deserves (he started with more talent than his handler did).
I greatly appreciated the portion that discussed engagement as engagement onto my being as a level. Part of the reason for my breed choice was for some domestic assistance behaviours and having a dog who is aware of me but not necessarily doing face time all the time encourages me as to the level of engagement I currently enjoy. This course has also informed me to set the proper expectations for environments/situations and to clearly set my expectations.
I look forward to re-working movement, especially contrast of movement, better controlling duration and ensuring that I am not violating my dogs expectations with high/low, toy vs. food. I now understand why my dog will spit out a food or why the first toy is the only toy.
This is a course I will be revisiting I am sure as I progress to more complex movements and patterns.
- Karri Lea Estabrooks on 06/03/2025
Throughout this course, I learned a lot of helpful material. I did this course because I would often times feel frustrated with myself when I couldn't get an amazing focus with my dog. In module one, I learned about making a training journal for my dog(s). This has become an extremely beneficial tool to keep in my "tool box". It holds me accountable. In this journal, I write what I want to accomplish with my dog, the behaviors we need to accomplish to get where we want as a team, how I want my training sessions to go, an analysis of what I want to do better, her feedings, our routine for that day and more. I also found the "practice without a dog" section helpful to me. At first I thought this would be silly and even awkward, I ended up finding out it was beneficial to me and made me reward quicker. I was used to the terms used as I have done several internships. I truly believe that practicing without a dog helped with muscle memory a ton and has helped me get out of the habit of being slow to reward. I learned to understand how my dog learns and use the appropriate tools + treats for my training sessions. In module 2, I learned to check my dogs mood before starting a training session. If the dog is not into it, I need to stop the training session. I also learned how to engage with my dog in a better way than I was previously. In module 4, I learned a lot of things that I did not have much knowledge of before. I learned that you should not mix different value treats (Ex: if I went from a really high value treat that is their favorite to a low value treat that they do not like as much, that would be seen as a punishment). It should always go from low to high, not fluctuate. The dog should also have the desire to learn, so they should be hungry during the training session. We should never end it when they do not feel into it anymore, we should end it while they still want it. The dog does not always have to be "on fire" during training either. I enjoyed learning new things and different methods on how to gain engagement.
This was such a beneficial course and I would recommend it to anyone that is wanting to get better engagement from their dog or just learn! I learned a lot of new information in this course that I have not heard of before. It helped put me in a more clear mind during training, get out of bad habits I was having while training (ex: being too slow to reward) and see things from my dogs perspective. Thank you!
The only things I can think to suggest to change in the course would be to provide more examples doing things both with the dog and without the dog. It would also be nice to have some sort of format for the discussion questions for specific topics within the course to discuss. Maybe even video submissions too!
- Katie Simpson on 06/03/2025
I learned a lot over this short course and it left me wanting more (putting the course teachings into action on humans I see lol). Some things that I learned were new like the idea of keeping a training journal. While others I knew about due to our nosework and SAR trainers providing the feedback during training sessions (ex: movement with rewards). Whether I had previously learned some of Michael's teachings in this course before or if they were new, watching these short clips helped tie everything together and provide a lot of "why" behind the methods rather than just knowing how to complete them. Very insightful and now I can't wait to create a more purposeful training schedule with my pups.
- Riscann Belyk on 06/03/2025
I took this class concurrently with the focused healing course, as I realized I was lacking engagement for heeling with my dog. As always Michael is the best when it comes to explaining big concepts in a way that makes sense! This was definitely an older video, and you can tell in some parts with the audio and video quality., but it's still well worth the time to sit down with it and learn the concepts. I am a dog trainer myself and I will recommend this course to my clients to help with their own training struggles.
- Jay Margarucci on 06/03/2025
I started this course because I own 3 Belgian Malinois or Dutch Shepherds, 2 adults and a puppy, all with different levels of motivation. I wish I had known about and purchased some of these classes years ago.
I learned alot about engagement, movement and teaching behaviors that I didn't know before, before I could not figure out how to motivate several of my dogs who don't find me as interesting as smells, dogs or anything else, and it's because I was not engaging them, nor offering higher value food or toys.
Movement and distributing of treats is a major issue for me, I am not overly enthusiastic about obedience and would rather play with bite sleeves or balls and dream about paying someone else to create focused OB so I can enter into bite sports. I learned through this class that in order for me to move out of Pet Obedience and into the dog sports are that I am going to really commit to structure, something I lack with my ADD. Speaking of ADD, I have found it incredibly hard to get organized with gear and get out the door without losing momentum myself. And doling out treats without fumbling, dropping them, has made me overly frustrated myself, let along how my dogs must feel watching me.
While studying this material and a few other trainers like Robert Cabral, I have already purchased a training vest and magnetic balls to help me get my structured. I plan to attempt a training journal on all my dogs, this can be difficult as I found it difficult to start and maintain a food journal when I was working out and losing weight. However, the comparison of dog training and weight loss or muscle gain is the same, and I could stand to get into better shape.
I'll be moving on to another Engagement Skills class and the Dominant and aggressive dog classes and hope to improve my own body mechanics. I share many of your classes with many facebook pages I'm part of and am Admins of to help others learn.
- Mahala Collins on 06/03/2025