Product Description

This DVD set includes 2 DVDs that feature Mark Keating as the main instructor with a focus on relationship building with fun games.

This training title shows you eight games that develop and strengthen your relationship with your dog. Each incorporates the principles and techniques of reward-based training. We think you’ll find that these games are fun for both you and your dog.

Whether you own a dog as a house pet or you are training in high-level competition, establishing a working relationship with your dog is one of the most important prerequisites for any training regimen. Regardless of how you apply your training or the methods, you plan to use, building a relationship with your dog must come first. This DVD will help you build that relationship through 8 different games, with training being the main idea behind each game while also making it fun for you and your dog at the same time. Everyone can benefit from these games. We have presented them in a way that someone with no experience training dogs can understand the "what" and the "why" of the game.

We have incorporated a plethora of information into each game, so an experienced dog trainer can learn new tricks to incorporate into their groundwork. Each of these games will also help establish the groundwork for many of your more advanced obedience behaviors.

Each game also has many real-world applications. For example, the "food on the floor" game will help your dog learn impulse control, and at the same time, your dog will learn not to eat food that you drop or leave out. We turn the restrained recall, which is the foundation of a formal recall, into a fun game for the entire family. These games are meant to be fun for you and your dog, while at the same time offering huge training benefits.

The DVD is laid out in 9 chapters. The first chapter will be a basic overview of how to use markers in your training. After that, each chapter will explain the practical application for the game, a detailed explanation of how to play the game, and an overview of the training steps involved in that game. Training should be fun for you and your dog. These games are going to help you enjoy training more and help the non-dog training members of your family understand how your dog learns and hopefully get them involved in the training process.

Relationship Games 2 is a continuation of our first Relationship Games DVD with Mark Keating. The second installment of this DVD will introduce new games as well as advancing several of the games from the original DVD. The first half of the DVD dives into some more advanced training concepts. The focus is to expand your understanding of marker training, communication, and behavior creation. The second half of the DVD will take you through a series of fun games that will enhance your relationship with your dog as well as your skills as a trainer. The games taught in this DVD are simple fun training exercises. At first glance, new trainers may not see the significance of these simple behaviors and games. However, by the end of this DVD, you will learn how to advance several of the original games from the first Relationship Games DVD.

You will also learn how to begin chaining behaviors together. For example; in the first DVD, we taught a focus game called "looky here". In the second DVD, we will teach a flip-to-heel game. We will then teach you how to combine these games together to create the beginning foundation for focused heeling.

The concept being a "wax on, wax off" methodology. You will learn advanced training concepts without necessarily realizing the potential until these games come together to form behaviors. Regardless of your ultimate training goals, the games taught in this DVD are going to have huge benefits on your formal training. You may simply be looking to develop a good relationship with the family pet, or you may be planning to train a young dog for high-level sport work.

Mark Keating is an outstanding instructor with a knack for breaking complicated training concepts down to the simplest digestible form.