fun ideas for obedience class
Since I have a memory like a proverbial sieve, I promised myself I'd write them down after, so may as well do so here where I can share at the same time: Simon Says "heeling". We all lined up against the short wall in heel position and instructor would say "Simon says, Forward". "Simon Says, About Turn!" Predictably, if she didn't say Simon Says, and you were caught doing what she said anyway, you were out. It was pretty funny. Recall Relay. There were six of us, so we split into two teams at opposite sides of the (very big) ring. We'd leave the dog in a sit stay (normal recall procedure) RUN out to where we were supposed to call them, call, finish, next dog! It ended with Sybil and I in a dead heat with our instructor and her springer. Jan (with her rescue, Sadie) is also in the class (and happened to be on the other team), and she commented that the springer's recall was much more decorious than Sybil's, who came barrelling in. But this time she sat very quickly and nicely in front position as opposed to her new trick last week, which was to come flying in and bury her snout in my, hm, crotch, which will get me points off in addition to much embarrassment in the ring, so I was pleased nonetheless 
Musical chairs. We didn't have music so instructor rattled off the latin names of various plants - long story that relates to her job in real life - and we'd weave in between chairs and other dogs and when she stopped we were all supposed to scamble for a chair. Syb and I made it through round 1, but got knocked out the very next round when she stopped yacking and I never noticed (well, that and I couldn't hear her over the Airedale barking at the portie ) Still, we got high praise as the only team to work offlead. Sybil's heeling was fantastic. When I plopped in a chair I called her to front. We'll probably try this game again, but next time with music.
I think those were the three main games. We mixed up the stays a bit and did some food distraction work which Sybil fell for every time  So hopefully we'll do a lot more of that.
It's just a nice change of pace. Maybe some ideas we can use at some picnic or something some day if we have enough dog around who are at least semi-trained. Kristine |
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| Sounds like lots of fun!!!!
The Victorian OES Club played games at our Christmas party. Egg and spoon, if your dog wont heel on lead then they get to eat egg.
And tunnel ball. Stand your team members one behind the other, with their dogs in a sit. They each roll a ball between their ankles to the person behind them, who passes it on. The last person grabs the ball and runs with their dog to the front of the queue and starts the process again, till everyone has had a run. If your dog gets out of a sit you have to put them back in a sit and try to keep the ball going if it comes to you. Ball chasers had major difficulty. First team to finish gets to stand and laugh at the other team. |
Sounds fun 
A couple calmer games we do are: serpentine heeling - the class lines up in single file, with about 8 feet between each dog/handler team. Starting with the back team, they heel serpentine style, winding through the class until they are in front - and become the new front of the line. You weave like in agility or rally - starting with the 1st team you pass on your dog's left shoulder. That way, when you are stationary, each team is alternating which side they pass you on. We do this lined up on the perimeter of our ring area - the class makes it way around the ring like an inchworm! This is a very good drill to get the newer, less experienced dogs used to a bunch of dogs passing them, coming from the rear. Also, it is great for distraction proofing when you are the one heeling through the group as well. gauntlet recall - Make 2 lines of the students and dogs, about 8 feet apart facing each other. Last night we had 9 handler teams, so they spread themselves out on each side to make their side be about 15 feet long. Then, each dog/handler team takes a turn doing a recall through the middle of the chute made by their classmates. The teams on the sides need to have a good sit/stay command - their dog is NOT allowed to lunge at the dog doing the recall! And the dog doing the recall can't stop and visit the other teams on the way to their handler! Very fun, we had a great time last night with this one...LOL Oh, and each person doing the recall gets to pick who goes next, and takes their spot in the lines. So, you don't dare laugh too much - you will get picked next! |
we used to play most of these (now in a much stricter school  ) Another one was a version of musical chairs wher ethe dogs had ot sit. the last dog to sit was out. Morgan always made it to the end and then was beat out by some little dog who's synapses fired a lot quicker. |
Mim wrote: Sounds like lots of fun!!!!
The Victorian OES Club played games at our Christmas party. Egg and spoon, if your dog wont heel on lead then they get to eat egg. So if your dog DOESN'T heel, they get rewarded with eggs raining from the sky? Sounds like Sybil's kind of game!!!  And tunnel ball. Stand your team members one behind the other, with their dogs in a sit. They each roll a ball between their ankles to the person behind them, who passes it on. The last person grabs the ball and runs with their dog to the front of the queue and starts the process again, till everyone has had a run. If your dog gets out of a sit you have to put them back in a sit and try to keep the ball going if it comes to you. Ball chasers had major difficulty. First team to finish gets to stand and laugh at the other team.See, now this is a game I envision would only be enhanced by, say, EGG NOG. Which would stay in theme too... 
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: Mim wrote: Sounds like lots of fun!!!! The Victorian OES Club played games at our Christmas party. Egg and spoon, if your dog wont heel on lead then they get to eat egg. So if your dog DOESN'T heel, they get rewarded with eggs raining from the sky? Sounds like Sybil's kind of game!!! And tunnel ball. Stand your team members one behind the other, with their dogs in a sit. They each roll a ball between their ankles to the person behind them, who passes it on. The last person grabs the ball and runs with their dog to the front of the queue and starts the process again, till everyone has had a run. If your dog gets out of a sit you have to put them back in a sit and try to keep the ball going if it comes to you. Ball chasers had major difficulty. First team to finish gets to stand and laugh at the other team.See, now this is a game I envision would only be enhanced by, say, EGG NOG. Which would stay in theme too... Kristine We could LET Lisa bring her bubbley. Such a generous gesture!! |
| This topic was perfect timing. I went in to The Paw today, and they were wanting input for doing a kids camp (kids and their dogs) this summer. Some of these games would be really fun.....minus the eggnog. |
I dont know, the egg nog could work. 
Or maybe they'd prefer the bubbley.  |
Mim wrote: I dont know, the egg nog could work.
Or maybe they'd prefer the bubbley. Might make for a quieter camp.... |
| Just an update -
I have tried out some of the games on my intermediate/advanced students...... 3 weeks ago we did the Simon says heeling - quite the entertainment. What a workout for me too - trying to give commands in ways to trip them up.
Last week we did the 1st of the Aussie games - the egg and spoon. Had to modify it a bit. I used large plastic serving spoons with tennis balls in them. The class is mixed levels - so we had a couple different versions (handicaps) to make it fair. The ones most recently moved up from beginners got to have their lead in one hand and the spoon/ball in the other. The more advanced students had to hold the spoon and ball in the same hand as their lead. 
They actually lasted longer than I expected.
I had given them a hint the week before - "practice your heeling". Last night was the tunnel ball. We had a little class (nice weather had some skipping....), so we were 3 people to a team. Chewie and I had to do it too - kind of fun! The balls I got were large playground balls, and the weather was nice so we were out on the turf. Lucky too, as we were racing around like fools! I'm sure people driving by thought we were nuts....
Our team won the 1st 2 rounds, so the other team decided it was their ball's fault , so we did 2 more rounds with the balls switched, and we each won a round. So, our team won 3 of the 4!
I am thinking it will be recall relays next........ Oh, and one of the students even tried looking up "Australian heeling games" online - all she got was sites with herbal healing stuff..... |
| Ha ha ha aussie herbal stuff not quite in the ball(dog)park was it.
I know just what you mean about everyone running around like idiots, such fun. 
But its a good distraction technique, the dogs found it harder and harder to stay sitting while the ball went past as the humans got more and more competitive and shouted and ran. Mmmmm, focusing classes for handlers. |
| I'm recycling the games for our summer mini session classes.
Any more fun games out there we can try? |
| Ummm racking my brains, will ask my obedience instructor tomorrow to remind me of her games.
Do you play canine soccer?? We use the same balls as used for tunnel ball and you kick the ball along ahead of you while your dog heels. If you are uncoordinated like me the dog has to change direction a lot. I cant keep in a straight line to save my life.
If your dog comes out of the heel position they get in the way. 
If, like Tiggy, your dog likes to pounce on cats, small dogs and balls it gets very interesting. 
We play it in teams like a kind of relay but you pass the ball to a handler and dog who are facing you and they run back in the other direction to pass it to the next pair. So the dogs have to not move across the handlers to say hello to each other or they get tangled with the ball. And you dont need heaps of space because you all just run back and forward between to fixed points. Beware - is inclined to elicit lots of swearing and laughing. |
| LOL - this one sounds like fun!
We will be trying it on Monday!! |
| Let me know how it goes.
Better still take a video camera!!! |
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