How do you encourage and maintain engagement when you don't have food/toys?

It's all about teaching the verbal cues for engagement (or any other behavior), and then changing your reward schedule and fading them so you can get out there and compete. Have you competed in any dog sport before?

I also see that you have purchased the Finishing Work DVD last October. That covers how to randomize your rewards, etc.

If you are interested in AKC competition obedience, you may want to take a look at the Janice Gunn videos. The methods Janice uses mesh nicely with the way we train and she's one of the top obedience competitors in North America. I'm actually going to a work shop in Los Angeles to train with her next week!

Engagement will help a LOT; it gives you a way to stay mentally connected. Janice has some great little tricks for keeping her dogs "with her" in the ring and between exercises. It's all about building motivation which in turn helps with engagement.

The Michael Ellis videos on using food and advanced concepts of motivation are excellent too. The Ellis food video kind of picks up where the Engagement video ends.

Keep me posted on your progress, happy training. :)