Workshops and Seminars

Below are some of the workshops/seminars that we present related to handler and canine health, fitness and performance. Please contact us if you are interested in any of these topics.

g K9 Nose Work This workshop focuses on teaching you how to encourage and develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love for toys, foodand exercise.  It’s a great workshop for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy. Each handler and dog team will learn the basic foundation skills modeled after working detection dogs.Ultimately nose work is about interacting with your dog in a fun, positive way and building a stronger connection.  We welcome companion and performance dogs of all ages. (For more information click here)

g Warm-up and Cool-down for Agility Handlers and their Canine Athlete       (For more information click here)

g Stretching for Agility Handlers - Length of workshop: 3 hrs
The sport of agility is very demanding on the musculoskeletal system. Agility performed at a high level is fast moving and quite intense. As much as we strategically plan our approach to handle a course whether in practice or in competition, we need to be prepared to improvise and make split-second decisions on what to do and where to go. This can put us in compromising positions. Our minds can do it. Can our bodies?

Because of these particular demands, the sport does not come without risk. The occurrence of injury is very high for both the handlers and the dogs. Most injuries occur either from improper use of the body over time (referred to as cumulative injury cycle) or from an acute event. If movements are inhibited or compromised for one reason or another, it becomes difficult to have fluid, sound and efficient movements on the field and we will unconsciously start to compensate and create undesirable muscle imbalances and possibly pain.

This workshop will focus on how we can help our bodies stay flexible and accepting of variable work/training loads and minimize the risk of injuries.

To inquire about this workshop click here

g Stretching for the Canine Athlete - Length of workshop: 2 hrs
Although canines are very good at stretching on their own intuitively, there would be several good reasons why humans should help their canines out or encourage them to stretch more. Dogs love to stretch, especially if they can do it without our involvement, at first. However, if we work with our dogs gradually and carefully and allow them to initially set the pace and give them some treats, they will get the concept and change their view. The keywords here are guiding versus forcing.

Just like in the human world, dogs that are flexible move more smoothly, effortlessly, and efficiently than dogs that are not flexible. These dogs are also less prone to injuries.

And, again, just like in the human world, dogs that are rigid and inflexible will have more labored movements and are more likely to have muscle imbalances that can possibly turn into injuries.

In this stretching workshop we will focus more on active than passive range of motion. We will also understand what end range of motion means, so that we never get ourselves into the position of manipulating a joint or pushing the dogs limb beyond its intended range.

To inquire about this workshop click here

g General Conditioning for the Canine Athlete. (For more information click here)

g Body Mechanics and Stretching for Handlers - Length of workshop: 3 hrs
The physical demands of being a dog trainer or any dog handler for that matter can be quite high. There are a lot of repetitive and sometimes abrupt, unexpected movements involved in training dogs. We only think about how our body movements effect our canine trainees not how our movement mechanics affect our own well being or longevity as a dog trainer. The cumulative effect of all of these repetitive movements could easily lead to various nagging or even more severe injuries. Although trainers rarely sit (with the exception of writing reports) we do a lot of bending over due to the fact that we are generally taller than the dogs we work with. To couple that with our “chronic” heeling on one side puts a lot of stress on the body over time which can cause muscular imbalances. This could lead us right down the cumulative injury cycle.

The question is: what can we do about it? How can you prevent these injuries from getting to you?

The key is awareness and an understanding of how our bodies work and move with and against the opposing force on the other end of the leash. We will be addressing the importance of posture and core in this context and practice a set of stretches that can help in preventing some of these concerns.

To inquire about this workshop click here

Additional Topics ...

g Speed, Agility & Quickness Training for Agility Handlers. (For more information click here)

g Foundation Workshop/Optimum Posture and Core Training for Handlers   (For more information click here)

g General Conditioning for the Agility Handler. (For more information click here)