Relationship Centered Training

Wish you knew why your dog knocks bars, or spins right but resists circling left? Want to figure out how to help the dog who breaks the sit stay or stands on the start line? Well, the answer might be right in front of you, if you know how to see what the dog can tell you.

This presentation focuses on a topic near & dear to Suzanne Clothier’s heart: the physical dog. She first published her award winning video, Your Athletic Dog: A Functional Approach, way back in 1995, before sports medicine was common place. Her work as a trainer incorporates her knowledge of conformation, movement, functional assessment, and how all of these physical factors work together with behavior and performance.

Trainers will develop a new understanding of what each dog can reveal about their physical being and functional athletic ability. This presentation will provide practical information on:

• Effects of structure & function on behavior, training & performance
• Observing functional movement
• Common behavior, training & performance problems & their physical roots

Our dogs cannot speak to us with words to tell us they are sore, uncomfortable, out of balance, unsure or just feeling “off.” But their bodies can and do tell us immense amounts. Learning to read the physical dog gives the concerned, humane handler a way to be sure that they can answer two of Suzanne’s Elemental Questions: “How is this for you?” and “Can you?”