Making Choices, Managing Prey Drive

Today is the last day of Part II of Making Choices, Managing Prey Drive at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.  Everyone is filling out their exit surveys, sending me their final videos and getting ready for two weeks off before the next semester of classes.

The meat world class here in Clearwater, Florida starts this coming Saturday at 6 pm and I can't wait to see a whole new group of dogs learn that their humans are more exciting then the squirrel in the tree.  If you wish to join us in this class, call me at 727-686-4246.

Here are some of the success stories from this class:

Just wanted to say thank you for everything! You have made a huge difference in my little dog. We will continue to work hard and start taking our games on the road. Hopefully we will take the distractions class at bronze in June. I will miss your feedback but we are excited for the new games! 

Thanks for a great class - got a lot out of it.. I will be taking the distractions class in June, not sure at what level yet. We still have work to do, but before these classes, we would not have stood a chance of being able to work in this situation 

LEXI RECALLED OFF A CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now it is a good thing the fence was there as she charged it , I called out Lexi!!!!! She whipped around and came back ...I nearly died. She came in and ate and turned away I said her name again and tossed a handful of treats in the air ...she stopped and proceeded to eat. Overall I am pleased -still a ways to go but very pleased. What I liked was she was relaxed and not on edge. I am looking at the distraction class ....thinking :)  Jamie thanks ever so much for the great class. 

I just completed your managing prey drive 2 class with my youngster Gus. He is a squirrel, bunny and deer happy boy. I participated in the bronze level and still got so so so much out your class. Thank you! I've only had this pup for 11 months. He's a shelter rescue but he is pure joy and I'm loving where this class is taking us. Looking forward to more of your fenzi classes in the future. Thank you again. 

If you struggle with a dog who loses focus quickly, takes off with zoomies around the ring, distracted by smells and sounds, doesn’t listen, bolts out the door; Prey Drive class is for you! And besides building our relationship so those distractions aren't important we also got an awesome recall! 

I liked this course , its format is out of the box thinking . For those of us who applied ourselves and tried the games we saw changes in our dogs. 

My dog couldn't relax outside and was always obsessively searching for birds and squirrels. He was much more than a casual squirrel chaser, hunting prey was the only thing he could think about. He remained on a long line in his own back yard for several months because I was worried that he would jump the low part of our fence in pursuit of prey. We couldn't train off leash without him bolting into the bushes or charging the fence in hopes of finding prey. Prey did not even have to be visible for him to get over aroused, just their scent could send him over the top. In the past couple of weeks, he has ditched the long line. He thinks his mom is pretty cool now and he is so much more relaxed. His personal play and recalls have improved and we worked through so many fun games to improve his willingness to be with me. I also loved that Jamie provided us with ways to satisfy their prey drive, like games for scenting, shredding, etc. If you are committed to the training, it will be well worth your time. 

Thanks again for such an amazing class. We fell behind here and there but we will continue thru the break and hopefully snag a gold spot for the distractions class 

This was an amazing class. I thought I knew what Prey Drive was...not even close! Thank you to the Gold and Silver students for asking the questions and putting yourselves out there. Looking forward to Distractions! 

Donna Hill Jamie I love your classes! I've been spreading the work both locally and online. I think your class is hugely needed by many people! 

Loose dogs approaching us today.  Guess which game we played? GO (on cue)!!! Bodhi had a blast, didn’t care about those other dogs J

At the beginning of this course I had an unruly 21 month old whippet, Layla. Any time she would see a dog she was off over to it with not a glance back and turning deaf to my attempts to recall her. After completing the 2 part course I find myself on holiday with a 3 mile long beach and 1 mile wide with the tide out. Needless to say it's heaven for most dogs. I let Layla off the lead and there were a group of dogs 30 yards away she trotted 5 yards from me and then stopped and she turned round to look at me!!!! she actually turned round and asked if it was ok to go and play!! I said 'ok' and let her go play feeling triumphant! When I whistled her to call her back she 'whipped it' good and shot back over to my side with a huge smile on both our faces! I never thought this possible. Thank you so much Jamie Robinson for this amazing fun course, we have learnt so much and my gorgeous whippet has loads more self-control and even more love of life if that's possible. 

A great sequel to Managing Prey Drive 1. It helped me realize what kind of predator my dog is (i.e., which part of the prey sequence is most pronounced/satisfying to her) and what games would satisfy that part of her prey drive. Would highly recommend this class even for dogs that aren't super prey driven -- the games have helped her to make better choices in general, and the concepts and games are useful in other contexts. Once again Jamie showed her dedication to her students, gave prompt and pointed feedback, answered questions, joked around, and I felt like we were all a team. Thanks again, Jamie!