Terry Ryan - Gamify Your Dog Training: Training Games for Group Instruction

Gamify Your Dog Training

Training Games for Group Instruction

Terry Ryan

Dogwise Publishing

A Division of Direct Book Service, Inc.

403 South Mission Street, Wenatchee, Washington 98801

1-509-663-9115, 1-800-776-2665

2017 Terry Ryan

Illustrations by Jackie McCowen-Rose

Additional art on page iii and 19 by Carol Byrnes

Dedication page art by Nicolas Bishop

Graphic Design: Lindsay Peternell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Limits of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:

The author and publisher shall not be liable in the event of incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of the instructions and suggestions contained in this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
available upon request

ISBN: 978-1-61781-204-0

Printed in the U.S.A.

More praise for Gamify Your Dog Training

When I think of Dogs and Games and making training fun for the dogs, owners and onlookers, I always think of Terry Ryan. Playing games with your dog is the best way to engage your dogs attention and as such, the quickest and certainly, the most enjoyable way to train. Dogs quickly learn that training is fun and that fun has rules. My favorites of Terrys games have always been Dogzilla for sheer exuberance, Dueling Dogs for lightning fast control and Musical Chairs for rock-solid down stays. Read Terry Ryans Gamify Your Dog Training and your dog will be forever grateful. Game on!

Dr. Ian Dunbar, Founder, Association of Professional Dog Trainers

Dedication

For Brody, the dog who made us laugh.

Table of Contents

Ive remained active in the evolving field of dog training continuously since the 1960s. Much of that time has been spent in the role of classroom instructor. I sometimes wonder why Ive stayed with it for so many years. Part of the answer is that Ive been having fun. Im interested in trying new ideas in curriculum development, then checking with the experts, the dogs themselves, on how its working. Ive been influenced by emerging research and also by the success of practitioners I respect. My path has been guided by my own experience working with dogs and their people around the world.

This book is about relationship, communication and having fun while successfully and efficiently training dogs. My emphasis in this book is on playing games in groups. Others have done a fine job of presenting games and exercises for home-alone dogs, one-on-one interactions and games for a more focused, specialty goal. I have additional games with slightly different goals published in my book, Coaching People to Train Their Dogs.

Games People PlayTo Train Their Dogs was a booklet I wrote in 1996 based on some of the exercises I was using in my pet dog manners classes. Its been out of print for quite some time. It was quickly followed by a sequel, Life Beyond Block Heeling. This book, Gamify Your Dog Training, contains some of the exercises from those early booklets. More than 60 percent of this book consists of games and activities I have not previously published. Some of the originally published games have been dropped as I have developed better games to replace them. I have personally played or conducted each exercise listed in this book in our local classes and in seminars and workshops throughout the world in such far-flung places as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and more. It seems to me that playing with dogs can be the common denominator to help people understand that were not all that different from one another.

How this book is organized

Im not sure I properly met the challenge of categorizing the games in this book. The games are meant to provide an opportunity to enhance behavioral skills such as self-confidence in everyday environments. Some of the situations will prove novel, but non-threatening, to the participants. The games are not meant to deal with issues such as reactivity. Rather, the games are meant to increase the fluency of behavior and training skills already in place at a beginners level. The dogs should have at least some expertise at cued behaviors such as attention, sit, down, come and walking nicely on leash. Most of the games can be cross-referenced many different ways. A glance at the description section for each game will give you a quick hint of what the game is about.

The first section of the book, entitled Setting the Stage for Success, is, in my opinion, the keystone for all that follows. Please read through it thoroughly and you will better understand what the games are meant to accomplish and how to efficiently lead them. Next, look at the headings under each game to determine if it will be appropriate for your particular players. The headings for each game may vary, but will include some or all of the following:

Prerequisites and benefits. This provides a reminder that some behavior and training expertise is recommended. How the game will provide practice for the benefit of the dogs and people is explained.

Set-up. Pre-event planning issues and equipment needed to implement the game are presented. If needed, an explanation of how to organize the playing area (placement of start and finish lines, for example) is mentioned here.

Description. An overview of how the game is played is presented here. You might find this section the most helpful when deciding if the game is appropriate for your use.

Game variations. In some instances, comments on how to vary the game, particularly how to change the game to make it more or less challenging, appear here.

A coachable moment. Value addedthis section suggests opportunities for supplemental comments or a quick auxiliary lesson beneficial to the learning experience.

Both humans and dogs are social animals. We enjoy each others company. Games can be a natural extension of the good times dogs and people can have together in a group setting. Training classes, neighborhood barbecues, holiday parties and doggy play-dates are all good excuses for people and dogs to play games. Games provide the often underserved aspect of mental and physical exercise for people and dogs.

Gamify or Gamification