Creating a Warm-Up that Works!

It certainly seems that after you teach your dog to perform the obedience exercises, you should be able to enter an obedience trial and earn your title. 

However, simply learning the exercises may not be enough.

In the article, The 70/30 split*, I state that becoming fully prepared involves:

Skill Preparation (70%) + Warm-Up (10%) + Choreography (20%) = 100% Prepared!  

In other words, after you teach your dog the skills, preparing to enter the ring and then choreographing your performance, will play a large part in your success.

On the day of the show, you are the coach, and your dog is the player. How you warm-up your competitor is important.

The above video is an excerpt of a webinar that I gave to Obedience Road members talking about possible warm-up techniques. 

The goal of your warm-up is to enter the ring with a dog that is attentive, engaged, and ready to perform. However, you must continue to coach your player throughout the performance.

Your final task is to choreograph how you and your dog will move around the ring, maintaining a high level of engagement and focus on the job at hand. Next week, check back for information about Choreographing Your Performance!

For more information on this subject, check out:
The 70/30 Split
Warming Up Using Your Reward Marker