Tesla's Sport Courses

I am so beyond excited to sign up for my next set of dog sport classes through the Fenzi Dog Sport Academy! I enrolled Tesla in her first Fenzi class about seven weeks ago which I believe was titled Intro to Obedience Games or something similar. Even though I have been working as a dog trainer for the last four years I still don't love teaching obedience to my own dogs. I teach them everything they need to know obedience wise as it is obviously an important part of having a well behaved dog but I don't love it the way I love teaching dog sports. I am a sport trainer, it is what I do and it is what I am most passionate about. Sports are fun, high energy activities that make me incredibly happy but I could never say the same about basic Obedience training. When I found the OB games class I was so excited because it went so far beyond the classic OB games that you are taught in a class environment. Most of the games played in these classes rely on having other dogs participate and if other dogs aren't around it generally turns back into the boring basic OB. The course I took however was 100% one on one games that are great for crazy high energy dogs and for owners who want to have fun. The course was not only basic OB but also taught the foundations (plus some) of the various OB sports that are out there. So not only do your dogs learn the basics they also learn complex skills and not once thorough the entire course did it feel like anything other than playing and engaging with my dog. The course was six weeks long and rather than one class a week it had new exercises and games added daily. It has been just over a week since the course ended and I have been chomping at the bit to get into the next set of classes. I perused their entire class list and found TONS of classes that I am interested in taking but I narrowed it down to three. I honestly wanted to sign up for so many more but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up if I overloaded myself so I tried to restrain myself. Before looking through the course list I was really just interested in continuing the OB games class but it wasn't available this semester so I broadened my horizons and went for completely different courses. The course I signed up for out of necessity more than it just being a fun class is titled "Dealing with the Bogeyman - helping fearful reactive and stressed dogs" it is a course specifically for reactive sporting dogs and something I really need for Tesla. Tesla was extremely reactive when we got her two months ago and while she is showing great improvement there is no way she could ever compete in any sport at this point. She is a stellar performer at home but being in my training facility she is a completely different dog, she can't calm down, barks her head off and at times even her absolute favourite thing in the world (her discs) can't get her focused. I bought Tesla to be a sporting dog and I am not going to let her reactivity get in the way of what an absolutely amazing athlete she can be. The other two courses I am signing up for are "Relationship Building Through Play" and "Flying Disc - Foundation to Flips". The play course is more for me than it is for Tesla. Tesla is the first playful dog I have ever had and I want to make sure that I am playing in a way that can build a strong bond between us as well as getting her more excited about playing so it is a distraction when she can't get focused. The disc class is 100% for Tesla, she LOVES to play disc. She didn't have any disc experience when I got her and she already performs like a pro. The intro to flips side of it means not only is she getting what she loves with the disc but also learning new fancy tricks, something else she excels at. I am seriously so psyched to sign up for her classes tomorrow. The only problem is I have to try to be patient and wait until April for the classes to actually start running. SQUEEEEE I am so so so so excited to get started on this new chapter of our adventure together.