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October 04, 2024

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Introducing Michael Ellis's New Course

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Over the past 16 years, we have produced a number of excellent training videos with our friend Michael Ellis. Up to now we have never released a comprehensive course on protection dog training.

Some years ago, I went to The Michael Ellis School for Dog Training and filmed his 2-week protection class. I came back with 50 hours of excellent video. We are releasing this class in a 2-part series. This first part is @ 18 hours of material, that has been edited and organized into over 300 shorter videos.

In 2023, Michael retired from running his school for dog trainers in California. While he continues to do occasional seminars, he no longer runs his immersion program, his intern program or his school. This course allows trainers to take advantage of what used to be offered at the school.

This comprehensive course is designed for dog trainers, handlers, decoys, and enthusiasts interested in the specialized field of protection work. Students will explore the fundamental principles, techniques, and equipment used in various protection scenarios, from personal protection to sport training.

This course is ideal for dog owners who wish to compete in the various biting dog sports, professional dog trainers, new law enforcement personnel, and dedicated dog owners looking to enhance their knowledge and skills in protection work.

View Michael's New Course

Today's Q&A

We rescued a Malinois who has amazing food drive indoors but none outdoors. How can I build more confidence in him?

My Mal was rescued and wasn’t crazy socialized. He is fairly nervy outside, but getting better at least walking. Amazing food drive indoors but will not even try to open his mouth for food outdoors. My hope was IGP for this dog but I don’t think that can happen. I do want to be able to work flashy obedience with the dog. However, I don’t know how to do so outdoors if the dog won’t work for food.

Arlo is 1.5 and I’ve had him around a month at this point. I know it can take a dog up to 3 months to be comfortable in a new place, and I’m more than happy to give it time. I just want to know how I could provide the dog more confidence building besides just continued exposure outside. I don’t know if he will ever be a dog that can be comfortable in any environment.

Cindy's Answer

I would work him in a distraction free environment while you build a relationship and communication system. I like to teach all my puppies and dogs to engage with me on cue, this is especially comforting for dogs that are nervous or have confidence issues. It gives them comfort because if you do enough of this to build an automatic response, they feel good because they know what comes next. (if that makes sense)

I'd suggest watching The Power of Training Dogs with Food, it's the foundation for everything I do with my dogs. Don't get in a hurry to take him out into new environments, work on getting and keeping engagement in a no distraction setting for a good long while. Remember that movement is motivating but resist the temptation to 'test' him outside for now.

I adopted a 9 year old dog that had no training and successfully created a dog that loved to work thru the use of food and the techniques shown. For now you just should focus on effort, engagement and relationship building and later this will make training obedience behaviors easy as long as you are using the right motivator for the dog and keeping sessions short at first. I'd rather do 10 two minute long sessions a day than a few long sessions. I hope this helps.

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