At first glance, ItsYerChoice might look like a simple game: you hold cookies in your hand, and your dog learns not to dive for them. But the truth is, this game is actually the foundation for everything my dogs do, both in life and in sport.
ItsYerChoice (IYC) teaches self-control through choice. Instead of spending your life telling your dog “leave it” your dog learns on their own that good choices bring good consequences. That cookie in your hand? It’s not just a cookie. It represents every distraction your dog will ever face… dropped food at the dinner table, toys on the floor, people walking by, or even the thrill of the agility ring.
When we play IYC, we are not controlling the dog. We are controlling access to reinforcement. The dog is free to make choices, and through those choices learns that waiting, holding position, or ignoring something they want brings them the best rewards. Over time, that clarity becomes a way of life.
From Supper Table to Sport
For a family dog, ItsYerChoice means you can drop food from the dinner table without your dog lunging for it. That’s already a win. In sport, the value grows even bigger.
Every time your dog holds a start line, waits at the end of a contact, stays in the weave poles while you run away, or commits to a tight turn instead of blasting straight ahead, you are seeing ItsYerChoice in action.
It looks like a simple “don’t steal the cookie” game, but what it grows into is focus, independence, and resilience under pressure. That’s exactly why I call it the foundation of everything in agility.
Why It Works
Traditional “leave it” puts all the control on you. You end up constantly telling your dog what not to do. ItsYerChoice flips the script. Your dog learns to think for themselves, pause, and offer the right choice… all without micromanagement.
This creates dogs who are relaxed, reliable, and engaged, because they know the rules of the game. What is rewarded gets repeated, and dogs who grow up playing ItsYerChoice carry that clarity all the way to the competition ring.
One of the most valuable layers of ItsYerChoice is the ability to work with reinforcement on the ground. Whether it is a bowl of food in plain sight or toys left on the field, the dog learns not to take them until you give permission. This gives us incredible freedom as trainers. We can set out food or toys during practice and know our dogs will stay focused and connected. That consistency builds confidence and mirrors the kind of self-control needed in real competition.
The Layers Matter
Like all great learning, ItsYerChoice grows in layers. We start with a cookie in our hand. Then a cookie on the floor. Then toys, people, and the environment itself. Each success builds confidence and trust. By the time a dog is asked to make a brilliant choice on an agility course, the understanding has already been rehearsed hundreds of times at home.
That’s the magic of IYC: small choices stack up into extraordinary behaviour.
Today I am grateful for the thousands of dogs and handlers who discover, through ItsYerChoice, that every small choice can lead to big success.
Be Part of the Agility Journey
If sport is your passion, do not miss our upcoming Agility Masterclass starting September 8, 2025. You can follow along with me, Enya Habel, and Max Sprinz as we share the games and strategies that build clarity, joy, and confidence in the agility ring.
Join the waitlist here to be the first to know when registration opens.
I Struggle with my dogs focus when I enter the ring..they blow me off..don’t stay..take off coursez..muss contacts..
Thanks for all the great advice
I’m struggling to understand how to add layers on the agility course. My dog is great at leaving treats and other things on the floor as it is clear to me how to remove the distraction if he goes for it. I can’t figure out though how to remove a tunnel if he decides to take it without permission.
I have started playing IYC with my 3month old bordercollie pup, and she is soooo good at it. So much so, that we now have introduced toys into the game! I absolutely love her focus!
Thank you so much for such an incredible and useful game 😍🙏
Having done ‘Home School the Dog’, and ‘Recallers’ and ‘Crate Games’ and currently in H360 (though taking a break after surgery) we sure have played IYC 🙂 I do need to get back into it more though as was evidenced when one of my dogs snarfed a cooked chicken leg out of the fridge and ate it bone an all! CRIPES! The interesting thing is, I adopted her at two and a half. She is a resource guarder, has body handling issues, and is highly food driven. My other dog who I have had from a pup and has been through all of the programmes, wouldn’t dream of just taking food. I must admit, I have avoided doing more IYC with my adopted dog because she has so many issues I’m afraid to fail, and I’ve tended to avoid. She is so great at everything else. very affectionate, loves agility and is very keen and obedient to do anything else – recall is great, does tricks, has a great retrieve. I avoided teaching her retrieve for a long time too, because she was a real ‘keep away’ dog. But we got there in the end, so I must get back to more advanced IYC!