TRAINING BY YOURSELF OR
WITH A FEW FRIENDS

LOCATION

There are many places where you can train your dog to do Dog-Games -

• In your garden
  
• In a local field or park
• Any place where you feel confident that you will not be disturbed while working with your dog

The main consideration is that it there should be no visual distractions around that may break your dog's concentration and interest in playing with you (eg. Passing traffic, pedestrians, loose dogs that may come over to "say hello" at an awkward moment, members of your family suddenly appearing, etc.) See Where and When to Train Dog Games

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Print out a Summary of the Game that you wish to train for.
  
  
• Either a First Entry Form or a Main Entry Form
  
  
• The dog's Training Record Sheet to record what the dog has done in the past and in this session.
  
  
• You may also like to print the relevant training pages from the website (eg. Recall Starters) to help you plan the training.
  
  
• Ask someone to help you train your dog (eg. a friend or member of your family) and also act as your Helper/helper. They will also act as the tester/witness so that they can sign your Entry Form afterwards.
  
  
• Check the Game's Equipment Needed section of the website to make sure you have everything you need (eg. Recall Equipment)

TRAINING

Step-by-step instructions of how to train each of the Games can be found on this website via the link to Our Games. Remember to record the dog's progress on the Trainers Record Sheet.

If your dog is successful and passes the Stage, either -

• Fill in the Handlers section of the First Entry Form, if this is your dog's very first entry of any Dog-Games. Make sure that you include your post code, and then ask your Helper to fill in the Testers/Witness section. Then send us the completed entry form, enclosing a cheque or Postal Order for £2, payable to “DOG-GAMES” (or pay on line by using our web shop and e-mail us your details)
  OR
• Fill in the Main Entry Form for all subsequent entries to Dog-Games, making sure that all the Tester/Witness's details are on the form as well. Then send us the completed entry form, enclosing a cheque or Postal Order for £2, payable to “DOG-GAMES” (or pay on line by using our web shop and e-mail us your details each time the dog achieves a certificate or rosette)

Do not be tempted to do another stage for at least an hour. Let your dog go and relax somewhere quiet and let it get its breath back. If you do pass another stage make sure you fill in the Main Entry Form – the rule is one line on the entry form for each successful attempt – and send £2 for each line.

FAIL

• If your dog is unable to do the Dog Game level you do not have to fill in a form or send in any fees.
• Please do not worry if your dog is unable to do the stage within the five attempts.
• Try to finish the session asking the dog to do part of the Game that it feels happiest doing, so that it can go and rest without feeling that it has displeased you or “failed”. Always finish on a good note.
• Don’t regard the test as a failure – look at it as a learning opportunity for you and your dog. It has highlighted an area of the dog’s training that needs more practice or a different approach to how it is trained. Stand back and assess where the dog went wrong and make plans for how you can train the dog to understand what you want it to do in later training sessions. Maybe the dog has not yet grasped what it should be doing and you have asked the dog to do a stage before it is capable of succeeding. Or it could have been distracted and unable to concentrate on what it was doing – were you able to do the test under the correct conditions for the level it was attempting?
  

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