Developing A Problem Solving Puppy with Ann Braue

Ann Braue needs no introduction for those who are involved in the world of Agility training. However, if you have never competed in Agility and if you have a young dog that you want to establish a foundation of self-confidence, a positive attitude towards training and a dog that’s a problem solver then Ann is one of the best coaches anywhere.

As an instructor, Ann has set the bar with a resume of competing internationally 6 times with dogs she raised and trained from puppies. She has competed as a team member of the AKC FCI Agility World Championship, as well as being the USA representative at Cruffs in England. In addition, Ann has been the coach of the US World Agility team four times.

Ann is certainly not new to us here at Leerburg. Over the past 10 years both Ed Frawley and Cindy Rhodes have attended Ann’s puppy seminar numerous times. Cindy has used Ann’s training system on Rush (her Mondio Ring competition dog), Favor (her female in training for the French Ring Sport), and now Maybe (who we aspire for Competition Obedience). We love Ann Braue as a person and as a dog trainer.

She takes her commitment to training her dogs and her students very seriously. In her own words, “When I bring a puppy home I recognize that my puppy is learning 24/7! I take bringing a puppy into my home extremely seriously. I recognize that the relationship and skills I build are going to impact the entire career of my dog. During the first couple of years I work hard to make certain my pup sees me as the “most fun, most interesting “part of his life. Therefore, I control virtually every minute of every day with my pup. This takes effort and planning on my part. Building a great relationship with your pup does not “Just Happen”.”

Ann is currently a professional dog trainer, an international Agility competitor, and an international Agility coach. Before that, she was a school teacher who understands, more than most, how to break an exercise down and then explain why she did it the way she did, to her students.

Here is what she has to say about how she manages new puppies, “During the first couple of years of my pup’s life, I am very aware of everything I expose him to. I am very conscious of every situation I put my pup in. I do not just turn my pup loose in the yard with my adult dogs and hope all goes well. When I bring my pup home, I restrict the amount of time it will spend with my adult dogs. I use a crate or X-pen whenever I cannot be actively supervising my pup. Within reason, I do all of the care taking of my pup; I do the feeding, pottying, etc. I want my pup to see me as the “biggest, most important” part of its life.”

The video footage in our online course and DVD comes right out of a seminars Leerburg filmed at Ann’s training center in WI. Ann has been holding these puppy seminars for over 10 years. They have gotten better and better as she continues to add more content. The seminars help develop a thoughtful, problem-solving puppy.

What's the difference between this course, the DVD, and the stream?

DVD: 3 hours, 23 minutes (physical copy and immediate streaming access)

Stream: 3 hours, 23 minutes, lifetime access, stream from anywhere

Online Course: 85 videos (315 minutes), additional text content, discussion board, lifetime access, stream from anywhere

DVD Topics

• How she rewards her puppies, using both food rewards vs toy rewards.
• She shows the puppy that work can be play, and play is work. She introduces her rules and expectations in working with puppies.
• Ann teaches students how to train simultaneously with food and a toy. She teaches her puppies to switch between these types of rewards and how to work through issues that come up during this training.
• Ann address the issue of a puppy that doesn’t want to play. She shows how she motivates these puppies to “want to play”. During this training, she demonstrates how to have patience during this process. She has a saying when working with new trainers: “WHO IS TRAINING WHO”. Ann explains what this means and demonstrates what it looks like with her students when they struggle with training issues.
• Ann has a section on “Building Drive and Passion for Training.” She teaches impulse control along with showing the puppy that training can be fun.
• Trainers come in all sizes and abilities. Ann encourages new trainers to accept their abilities. She helps people understand that their dogs are a reflection of their abilities.
• Training a dog is a mechanical skill. It is a learned skill. Ann emphasizes that training and handling are two very different things.
• One of the most important concepts new trainers (and old trainers) need to wrap their mind around is their “RATE OF REINFORCMENT”.
• Ann talks about “expectations of the handler and the dog during training”. She encourages people to focus on the timing of their reward and to think about “EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THEY ARE REWARDING”. The fact is, poor timing can result in a dog thinking it is getting a rewarded for something completely different than what the handler thinks.
• Ann explains that there is a place where trainers need to slow down and think about what they are going to do and what they just did.
• Reward placement is a huge thing in dog training. It is even more important in puppy training. Ann explains and demonstrates when it is better to LURE your puppy with a reward and when it is better to REWARD the puppy for a behavior. These are two different things.
• In the course and DVD, Ann has a section on improving handler’s clicker skills. One way this is accomplished is to us a clicker and reward placement to train a friend to perform a goofy exercise. Everyone loves these games.
• The “Hand Touch” is a useful exercise that every dog should learn. There is no limit to when a “Hand Touch” command can be used: to refocus a dog away from a distraction, to get a dog out of a problem that pops up in training a new behavior.
• Ann shows how she trains the “Hand Touch” and what she does to increase the speed of the puppy to perform the exercise.
• Ann has a unique approach to problem solving crate games. We love the way she combines crate games with impulse control.
• Restrained recalls are an important skill every puppy should learn. In Ann’s training system, she teaches students how to initially use food and toys to lure the puppies to chase and then switches the training to use food/toys to reward the chase. She explains how these are important distinctions.
• Ann has a section on developing quick responses to her verbal cues. Her goal is to teach the puppy to listen when she talks. There are excellent ideas in this section to improve a very important skill set.

One of the areas Ann had added material since she first started teaching this course is to show trainers, who compete in dog sports, how to stretch their dogs before training and competition. If more competitors would take the time to learn how to stretch their dogs, they would have fewer injuries.

And finally, in Ann’s seminars, she sets up stations that the puppies go through to work on environmental skills. We have included each of these stations in the DVD showing various students and puppies working.

The stations are:

• 4 Feet in a Box
• Wobble Board
• The Cone
• The Ladder
• The Hoop
• Travel Plank and Doughnut
• 1 Large 3 Small
• The Plank
• The Table
• Fit Bones and Pods
• Jump
• Back Up

In closing, this is a DVD that every level of dog trainer can learn from. We were so pleased when Ann agreed to do training videos and courses with Leerburg. We know this is some of the best training information out there and our customers will agree when they see Ann’s training system.