No I don’t mean moron Mastery I mean more-on mastery:). Since writing this post last week I have had a number of you that have offered to move to Alberton to achieve the immersion I suggested when wanting to learn Italian. I am flattered you would have picked our program to model, but the impracticality of all of us in the tiny apartment has prompted me to write about how one may immerse yourself in other ways.

To really get a grasp of the Say Yes program you would start right here at this blog. Have you read aDSC_0104ll of the archived articles? Next, are you signed up on my newsletter? There are two very easy ways to start the process. Obviously it would be great if you could join us in Ancaster for one of our camps but the next best thing would be to take the shrink wrapper off of my DVDs that are sitting on your bookshelf and really get to know the content.  If you don’t have all of my books and DVDs get them now!  Click on the link at the top of the page that will take you to our online store. If you can’t get them all at once, buy two at a time until you have the collection. Go through each of them not just once but enough times so you thoroughly understand the concepts being taught.

In addition to all of that, I will make available my “Foundation Notes.” This is a set of notes that is normally only available to those that come and see me live and in person. In your quest for mastery I will make these available. The cost is $45 CND plus shipping. I normally don’t sell these  unless you have attended a seminar with me and have a grasp on our program as some of the articles may be overwhelming if you are new. In this package there are over 100 pages of articles I have written for different magazines and some articles that have never been published, that I have used only for camps here at home. The notes are divided into Foundation, Puppy work, Obstacle training and some on handling. If you are interested you can contact Penny at [email protected] and she will let you know how you may purchase them.

For those that are fortunate enough to be able to take the next steps and train with me in Alberton, the progression of workshops would be:

1) Advances in Dog Training (unfortunately I have never offered this program at home but it is invaluable). The “readers digest” version of this is “Lurer’s Anonymous.  Both of these workshops have a lot of lecture and demos with minimal working with the dog.

2) Puppy Camp: is a three day seminar available to puppy once they have had 2 vaccinations (10 weeks) up to 1 year old. The focus of this camp is relationship building, puppy jump grids, body awareness exercises and laying down the building blocks for handling and contacts skills.

3) Skills Camp: is a four day workshop open to any  dog 1 year old or over (or 10 months or older if you have attended Puppy Camp) that wants to immerse themselves in the skill work of the Say Yes program. We have dogs brand new to agility as well as former National champions attend this one. It is a great follow up to puppy camp but also is a stand alone camp for those wanting train or re-train their  jumping, contact training, 2×2 weave work or body awareness. There is no sequencing or handling at this camp.

4) Tweener Camp: is not offered routinely, only on demand. It is a 4 day camp open only to those that have attended either a Puppy or a Skills Camp.  Very much like Skill but with more work for the dogs to further along the skills introduced in your last camp.

5) Graduate Skills Camp: is offered only once per year. Here we introduce foundation handling as well as jump grids and polishing up contacts and weave training before starting your dog’s agility career. Many students re-join us at Graduate Skills camp to tune up on skills that might have gotten sloppy after a year of trailing.

6) Contacts & Weaves Workshop: This program is not offered routinely (when my timetable allows) and is open only to those that have take one of the above workshops. It is an intense 2 or sometimes 3 days that furthers along all of the contact games (we have 35 of them) and 2×2 weave pole training.

7) Handling Camps: Here students are introduced to or reminded of the nuances in Greg Derrett’s handling system. We offer camps at a higher “Master” level as well as once aimed at you “Growing in Teamwork”.

I made a decision last week that I will  be suspending all of my teaching of  privates lessons and weekly classes at home and will not be doing seminars away from home for the next little while. Those of you that have currently  lesson booked with me, I will work with you,  but I can’t book new ones.  I need to follow through on a few projects that I currently have on the go. What I have in store are things to help everyone that I know will make learning much easier for everyone (like my free 2×2 webinars). Until the time I will be back doing seminars (I love to teach so this will not be permanent)  my instructors; Lynda Orton-Hill, Tracy Sklenar, Katie Oilshlager, Penny Hewitt and Blanche Cooper will carry the load of any teaching in the Say Yes program to be done away from home.

So for those of you booked into my workshops in Colorado in August, that will be my last one for now, so lets make it a real party! If you need more information you can contact Susan Anderson at [email protected].

Yes I will be doing camps in Florida in Jan 12-14 & 18-20th with a smaller novice one in February. My goal is to have all my new projects wrapped up by the new year, but I won’t take on any new assignments until I do.

Today I am grateful for all of the wild ideas I get running through my head that allows me to continue to offer a fresh approach to dog and agility training.