To get the most out of your learning, it is helpful to be prepared!*

* The information below was adapted from the absoluteDogs Bare Essentials Resource Guide for Students — to read the full guide click here but please note not all information applies to FIKAdogs group classes and workshops — continue reading for what we recommend.

Most of the recommended gear below can be purchased through our Store.

For your dog

• Well-fitting two-point harness: A well-fitting harness brings with it awesome benefits. Fit is crucial for safety so that your dog cannot get loose unexpectedly, and for comfort so that your dog is happy wearing it. We like to use a two-point harness as it allows the handler to balance their dog more easily and gives a good level of control. We recommend this harness that can be purchased through our store.

  • Puppies can be between sizes, so don’t stress if you can’t find a two-point harness in a puppy size, just make sure you have a well-fitting harness for your puppy.

• Double clip lead or two leads: These allow you increased flexibility for using a harness / headcollar, because you can get multiple points of connection with your dog.

• Headcollars**: We like to recommend head collars for those dogs who need just a little more help to make great choices during class. Gentle Leader is a well-known brand.

  **If your dog is not used to wearing a head collar or harness, please don’t introduce one right before you come to class. There are really fun ways to teach your dog to be happy wearing any piece of equipment, and we will cover these as part of your training sessions.

• Optional: Puppy line or long line. We recommend BioThane lines as they don’t get soak up moisture, are easy to clean and don’t cause rope burns or cuts if they get wrapped around you, your dog, or someone else! They come in a variety of lengths and weights and you can now easily find them on most pet supply websites.

• Food: Make sure you bring plenty of tasty food. We would recommend that you bring a variety of high and low-value food to use during class. That might be your dog’s kibble and some higher value treats (something your dog really loves). Cheese, chicken, hot dog or sausage cut into small pieces are all great options. If you feed your dog a raw diet you can bring fresh meat in a squeezy tube, or you might find freeze-dried raw is easier to work within a class environment. To help your dog settle when they are not training, we would also recommend that you bring some long-lasting chews, frozen kongs or other passive calming activities that will keep your dog engaged and promote calm settled behavior.

• Bring your dog hungry: Please don’t give your dog a meal right before you come to train with us, as they will earn their food during class!

  * A note on food! * We absolutely love to Ditch the Bowl. Rather than putting all our dog’s daily food allowance in a bowl, we prefer to see it as a ‘pot of value’ that we can use for games, training and to reinforce all the good choices that our dogs make throughout the day. See this resource for more on Ditch the Bowl.

• Water and bowl: Although we will guide you on this, you are still responsible for meeting your own dog’s needs. We do not provide bowls on site to guard against the risk of contamination or bacteria. For outdoor classes, you will need to bring your own water.

• Toys: We will be working on your dog’s love of toys so please do bring two or three different options along to class. We love fabric frisbees and chaser tugs for their flexibility, such as those made by Tug-e-Nuff (use code FIKA for 10% off your first order), but bring whatever you have. If your dog isn’t currently toy motivated, don’t worry! We will cover this in class and typically have toys for purchase at class.

• Your dog’s bed, blanket, raised bed and/ or crate with cover: One or all of these options may be useful depending on your dog and the class you are attending. This will help your dog learn that they have a set place in the class to rest away from other students and dogs.

For outdoor classes

• Warm or cool coat: Remember that dog training may be outdoors or inside, but that either can be very warm, cool, wet, snowy etc... and your dog needs to be prepared and comfortable.

• Towels to dry your dog off: Either before coming indoors or to help them be more comfortable in your vehicle.

• Don’t forget your dog! If you own more than one dog, you are welcome to bring multiple dogs with you, but you will only be able to work with one dog at a time, so please make sure any others will be able to remain settled in your vehicle or a crate. If in doubt, you are best to leave additional dogs at home.

For you

Remember that although you are coming to “dog training” classes, the focus is really on your own learning! It is super important that you are comfortable and prepared in order to get the very best out of your time with us. We would suggest the following:

• Treat Pouch: To keep your hands free for handling your dog and taking notes, bring a treat bag, pouch, training vest or skirt suitable for the selection of food you are bringing. We also find silicone bags helpful and frankly, just end up wearing clothes with pockets big enough to put our treats inside these pockets.

• Appropriate footwear: Be mindful of the weather and whether or not your class is indoors or outdoors. Working with cold soggy feet is no fun! Wellies or Muck Boots are great for working outdoors, with a change of footwear for any indoor training.

• Appropriate clothing: Again, be mindful of the weather and of the fact that your training session may be held indoors or outdoors. Even if we are working inside for your whole session, you will still be taking dogs in and out of your vehicle between sessions and for toilet breaks. Think sun cream, sun hat, winter hat, raincoat, scarf – it’s not unknown that you could need most of those in the course of one training session!

• Cool or warm drink: Just as it’s important to keep your dog hydrated, the same goes for you!

• Poo bags: You will be expected to clear up after your dog, so make sure you have a supply of poo bags, just as you would for any other outing with your dog.

• Notebook and pen: This is a really important one! Remember that the focus is on you and your learning. Taking notes throughout class is a really good way to remember what we have covered and to record any points of learning or action points that you want to take away with you and work on at home. Keeping a record of your learning is also a brilliant way of seeing your dog’s progress.

• Cell phone: Bringing a cell phone or similar device is a great way to video your sessions. This can be another great way to track your dog training journey. Please do keep your phone on silent during class though!

How Class will Run

Our classes may run a little differently from what you have experienced before. This is because we recognize the importance of having learning breaks during class is a really important part of consolidating new skills for both you and your canine companion! Class management for safety and to help create a positive environment is also crucial.

• Your dog will not be working for the full session. To keep our training sessions calm and safe and to optimize the learning, both for you as an owner and for your dog, there will be parts of the class where your dog will be required to chill out, either in your vehicle or in a crate or on a bed. We’ve given you some top tips for Vehicle Management below.

• If you are attending a longer workshop, we will normally put you into a group with other students. Within that group, one student’s dog will usually be out working at any one time, while the other people in the group will be observing, learning, record keeping and helping (depending on the exercise and the individual dog being worked). We find that working in groups like this gives you a great opportunity to learn from others as well as having plenty of chance to work with your own dog and practice your own training and handling skills.

• We will set up the class in such a way that every dog has its own area, well away from others who are working. A class environment can be new and a little overwhelming for many dogs, so giving them plenty of space, as well as plenty of downtime, is the best way to make sure coming to train with us is a positive fun experience. We also recommend setting up your space before you bring your dog inside and will go over this our first session without dogs.

• Please arrive no more than 15 minutes before the start of your class time.

• It is worth being mindful that not every dog who comes to training will be comfortable with unfamiliar dogs or people, and so it is really important that these rules are followed to set everyone up for a successful session:

  • Please park with consideration for others attending your session, leaving enough space for dogs to comfortably get in and out of vehicles. If your dog needs space from other dogs or people, try and position your car in such a way that your dog can have plenty of space and a visual barrier when getting in and out of the car.

  • When possible for both indoor classes and outdoor classes, we will have one entrance designated for entering the room/space and one designated for exiting. This helps avoid any unsettling interactions at doorways, which can commonly be high-arousal points for dogs. If there is only one door or entryway, watch for a helper managing this area during high traffic periods of class.

  • Please make sure your dog is leashed upon exiting your vehicle and at all times unless given explicit permission to remove a leash or long-line. Remember, even if your dog is happy greeting others, not every dog will enjoy that experience.

• Please note we do not recommend bringing children under 10 to dog training classes. Not that there aren’t extremely well-behaved 9 year-olds out there, but we have found it to be more distracting to you, the dog and other classmates, and we want all our students to get the most out of our class time together. If you must bring a young child, please also bring another adult designated to attend to your child’s needs and be sure to prepare them for the fact that they will be expected to be calm and quiet while in the classroom space.

• A note for puppy class participants: we do not allow “free-play” and encourage owners to keep their puppies and dogs from dog-dog play in class. We like to say 1 bad experience outweighs 100 good experiences, so best to keep our time focused on training and not “dog socialization.”

How to Prepare for your First Class

There are some great ways you can prepare yourself and your dog for training with us. Whether you have trained with us before, have trained somewhere else, or are a brand new puppy owner with no past training experience, there are some great ways you can prepare yourself and your dog for training with us. We’re going to introduce you to some of the core concepts we think are foundational to growing an awesome companion and getting the very best out of your dog, which we will use throughout our training.

Ditch the Bowl

Our dogs wake up every morning with a big pot of value for that day (their food). You can decide where and how that pot of value is divided and spent. By playing games you pour all that value into the relationship with your dog, instead of into a bowl. The benefits are HUGE.

• Why do we love Ditch the Bowl?

  • It’s a fantastic way of boosting your relationship with your dog because you become the center of everything fun.

  • Ditching the Bowl means you have loads of value (food) you can use for training without having to worry about over-feeding or becoming too reliant on treats.

  • Believe it or not, dogs actually love to work for their food. This is a principle called contra freeloading. This isn’t as strange as it might seem when you consider that historically dogs would have had to forage for food. It is instinctive. Searching and working for food can be more enriching than actually eating it. This explains why puzzle toys and activities can be so enjoyable for dogs – but much more importantly when it comes to training our dogs, it gives us an amazing opportunity to be part of that reward experience, if we are the ones delivering that food.

  • If you have a dog who isn’t much of a ‘foodie’ and you’re worried they won’t readily work for food, Ditching the Bowl can actually be hugely beneficial. Suddenly, it’s much less about the food and much more about the experience you are creating with that food. You’ll be amazed at the difference that can make! Many, many owners have found their previously non-food-motivated dogs start enjoying working for food once they are playing games. Ditching the Bowl doesn’t mean you have to feed every single piece of your dog’s food to them via games and in ‘training sessions’. There is also a huge advantage in providing our dogs with enrichment activities like food puzzles, kongs and long-lasting chews, which are also brilliant for promoting calmness – another of our core concepts!

  • Don’t worry, even if you “Ditch the Bowl” for just a portion of your dog’s daily food allowance (feed via games or experience) that’s better than nothing!

  • Check out the absoluteDogs Ditch the Bowl resource

  • Ditch the Bowl Raw Edition

Ditch the Routine

For animals that don’t wear a watch, dogs seem to have an uncanny ability to be able to tell the time. Dogs are masters of a schedule! They are born predicting, starting with where to find the milk bar, all the way through to when it’s time for their walk, when you are going to leave for work and when you’re coming home. When we get a dog we are often encouraged to give them a predictable routine, but there are actually many benefits to your dog in living a routine-free life. But did you know that having a set routine can really stress your dog out?

Dogs are smart cookies and will very quickly start to predict excitement or stress at certain times of the day or as a result of particular things you do. In fact, they are experts at it! Imagine being surrounded by constant reminders of what you have to do next, or reminders that tell you something scary is about to happen, or that something really awesomely exciting is about to arrive. That continuous state of high alert, of expectation and anticipation, is exhausting. It has you on edge! In our dogs, this anticipation can lead to pacing, barking, whining and reactivity. All that arousal and anxiety can easily spill over and cause undesirable behaviors. Ditching the Routine allows you to take away the stress of anticipation from your dog because it means nothing is predictable.

Understanding calmness and your dog’s bucket

A class environment can be very overwhelming for many dogs, either because they find being somewhere new with other dogs and people exciting, or because they find it worrying. It is worth being aware that a class environment is not right for every dog. That is totally OK! Some dogs will get on much better with private training sessions. If you have any concerns about your dog’s suitability for group training sessions, please do chat with us before you bring your dog to class so we can work out the best plan for you. Even if you think your dog is going to cope well with a class training environment, being aware of their stress bucket is really important. We’ll talk more about your dog’s bucket in our first session, but one of the best ways to make sure your dog’s bucket stays as empty as possible is to make sure your dog is spending a good portion of every day being calm. For more on Calm, please see this absoluteDogs resource.

Boundary Games, Crate Games

You may already be familiar with Boundary Games, or have a dog who is perfectly happy to settle in a travel crate. If so, brilliant! If not, we cover boundary games in every session, so you’re in the right place to learn!

Whatever age your dog (from puppy to senior), they are never too young or too old to start learning Boundary Games.

What are boundaries?

Boundary Games teach our dogs the concept of staying calmly in an area (on a bed, in a crate or even on a mat or towel) until released. Here are just some of the benefits of teaching your dog to love a boundary:

• It grows and promotes calmness

• It prevents behavior struggles such as counter surfing

• It encourages appropriate greetings when you have visitors

• It helps your dog settle, both at home and when out and about

• It aids in relaxing mealtimes where your dog isn’t begging under the table!

• It helps teach foundational sports behaviors such as start line waits

In a class environment, we will be using crates and boundaries to give dogs somewhere to relax between games or practical exercises. This is a really important way of making sure that every dog is safe and comfortable, has its own space, and means our training sessions will be as calm as possible.

In preparation for your class, learning the very basics of Boundary Games will give you and your dog a great option for settling comfortably in a new and unfamiliar environment. Doing something already familiar can be an amazing way of helping your dog settle somewhere new because they already understand their ‘job’. We will talk more about this in class.

We love to use raised beds when we are starting with Boundary Games, but you can use anything that your dog will be happy settling on and that is portable (so you can bring it to class!). Mats and towels are a great option and are very easy to roll up and take with you, but you may find it easier to start with something that has more defined sides and edges or is raised off the floor so that your dog has a very clear understanding of where their ‘boundary’ starts and finishes.

If you’d like to read more about Boundary Games and start before your first class, check out this absoluteDogs resource on Boundary Games.

Vehicle Management

This applies more to longer workshops or outdoor classes, but please be aware that during your class your dog may need to spend a little time in your vehicle, so we’ve put together our golden tips for making it a comfortable, happy space. Ensuring your dog is secure, safe and comfortable in your vehicle is really important. This applies to any journey you might take with your dog. Making sure your dog is comfortable in your vehicle will also mean they are able to settle if there are parts of the session where we work without dogs. Please be assured that this will always be done appropriately and with your dog’s safety as paramount.

• Crate: A secure, comfortable vehicle crate is always our number one choice as it gives a huge amount of flexibility, as well as being the safest way for your dog to travel.

• Guard/tailgate: A dog guard/tailgate system also works really well and as with a crate you can often still open some windows or provide cover, depending on what is needed.

• Silver screen/windscreen shades: These are perfect to provide instant, portable shade for your dog on sunny days. You can also get insulated windscreen covers which are multiuse for summer or wintertime.

• Ventlock: These work well with a crate or tailgate to allow you to lock your tailgate or door of a hatchback but leave a gap so that it is “open”. There are varying lengths depending on the security level you need.

• Blankets: Blankets are such a simple but useful item. You can use them to cover your vehicle, screen windows, cover crates or even tuck your dog in on really cold days.

• Fans: There are a number of options including USB or battery powered. Some owners choose to have a vent or fan installed and linked to their vehicle battery or an additional battery. Small portable air conditioning units are also available.

• Please let us know beforehand if you are not going to have a vehicle on-site during your lesson, so we can discuss alternative arrangements for keeping your dog safe and relaxed during the parts of the class where we are working without dogs present.

Top tips for creating a calm settled dog in your vehicle:

• Be sure that your dog has had adequate opportunities to go to the toilet before you arrive. There will be opportunities for toileting your dog during your training session, but arriving with a dog who has had a chance to relieve themselves will make a big difference to how well they settle!

• You may find your dog settles better if you leave some music or radio playing to mask some of the unfamiliar noises that may be happening on site. Portable radios are great for this so you don’t end up with a dead car battery!

• Passive calming activities are a great option! Although your dog will be working for their dinner, many dogs will settle better if left with an appropriate long-lasting chew, filled Kong with something yummy.

• If your dog does bark or whine, don’t panic! It happens to all of us. We don’t allow dogs to continue barking – this isn’t good for their stress bucket, or the stress buckets of other dogs (or owners) on-site – and it is not something that you want your dog to rehearse. You will be asked to check on your dog, meet any of their needs (toileting, water etc.) and if necessary stand by your vehicle until they have settled again. Don’t stress about missing out on any learning if this happens. We will make sure another student catches you up on anything you missed – that’s a great way for them to consolidate their own learning too!

Wow! We appreciate that is a lot of information to digest, but we know how important preparation is.

* The above information was adapted from the absoluteDogs Bare Essentials Resource Guide for Students — to read the full guide click here (please note, not all of which applies to our classes)

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