Dog Dance

21/03/2019

This clip is from the "Copy Me" workshop in Oberammergau. We had a lot of fun. The nexty workshop is 6-11th May 2019. We will add some cognitive work "Match the Sample" and "Count" for advanced dogs.

21/03/2019

The Travelling Coach - Shanghai

The last stop of my workshop tour was Shanghai. Shanghai is the commercial centre of China and the Shanghai bay looks like Canary Warf… many sky scrapers, including the second tallest tower in Asia, the Shanghai tower, at 2,073 feet of height.
In Shanghai, the workshop was held at an old farm in the suburb of the city, which has been converted into an agritourism farm. There was a huge lake for hitting golf balls, where the balls were falling into the water and then fished out.

This venue was fantastic, as the conference room was a converted barn.
During the event, it was very easy to get the dogs out if they needed the toilet, and we needed to get them out frequently! We had 3 Shiba Inu puppies from a local breeder participating. They were fantastic. They were motivated by food, but by toys as well. One of them was especially keen to work. They were my favourite demonstration dogs when I was showing the exercises. I was a bit surprised, since in the UK, the Shiba Inu puppies coming to my puppy classes are usually not very easy to motivate, and would get easily distracted.

I enjoyed the workshops very much. The participants also asked me to do a short demonstration, so I improvised a short sequence with Raven’s Airedale Terrier. I had to use food and a lot of lure as Ken never did K9Freestyle before. He was a calm dog, extremely well trained to live and walk in the big city, but not so much for dog sports. I hope that you enjoy the photos and the short demonstration. Next time I am going to write about the Copy workshop that I conducted in Oberammergau, Germany.

21/03/2019

Shanghai

15/03/2019

Following the workshop in Taiwan we flew from Taipei to Beijing in China. Here, thanks to the generosity of my hosts, I had 2 days of sightseeing. On the first day, Nathan took me to see the “Great Wall of China”. Citing a well-known quote by Chairman Mao Tse-tung, the founder of modern China:
"不去长城 非好汉" (Bù qù chángchéng fēi hǎohàn) - "He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true man"!
It is the most impressive human built wonder of the world that I have seen. It is unimaginable how they built this 1,600-mile-long structure on the top of the mountains. I guess the pictures speak better than I can express my impression in words.
The following day I started the 2-day Dog Dance workshop at the hotel where we were staying. Again, the participants, as in Taichung, were dog training instructors who travelled from different areas and that did different sports, such as Frisbee freestyle. As well same as before, some of the participants partook with dogs that they borrowed from their local friends or clients. The programme was the same as in Taichung; Warm Up, BTB-training technique, teaching heelwork and freestyle exercises, choreography principles and practice. They were also keen to learn about the competition rules. It was nice to see they were keen to learn as well as their dogs.
Following the workshop, we had another day sightseeing. This time the programme started with eating the famous Pekingese duck at the D**g restaurant and then seeing Tianna Square and the “Emperor’s palace”. What surprised me was the security measures in place and we were not allowed on Tianna square as it was cordoned off. We could see the square and the government buildings from the other side of the street. Anyone entering the underground stations, or any public building, with even the smallest luggage, had to go through a security scan, just like at an airport. Then we went to see the Emperor’s place. This exceeded all my expectations based on Chinese martial art films. It’s a complex of beautiful buildings and each had a different function. In the past, the emperor and the ministers would be moving around during the day depending what they were doing and discussing.
Following the sightseeing we had a nervous journey on our way back to the airport as we encountered a huge traffic jam. Luckily, we managed to catch our flight to Shanghai. I will report about Shanghai next week.

15/03/2019

08/03/2019

Our website is currently down with some technical problems so please contacts us through this page

31/01/2019

Teaching "Front Paws" targeting

31/01/2019

The Travelling coach - Taiwan

I met Penny Tai or Vet Penny at the Clicker Expo in the USA in 2006 where I gave a Canine Freestyle lecture and workshop. We had a nice chat about dog training and agreed that I would give a seminar in Taiwan and China. We planned it a few times, but for one reason or other, I could not travel. Finally, in 2018 we managed to find a date which suited all of us; Penny who planned the workshops and his friends Nathan and Raven who organised them.
I landed at the Taiwan airport and I was lucky that Penny recognised me as I entered the arrival lounge as I could not recognise him, even if he looked exactly as 10+ years ago. Perhaps that was the problem, he looked much, much younger than I expected.
The organisation was fantastic and very kind at each place, Taichung, Beijing and Shanghai Penny’s team planned a few days sightseeing. In Taiwan the day after my arrival, they planned to visit the ancient Cypress forest in the Yushan national park. In the morning on the day trip I had breakfast at the hotel, however Penny insisted to try some local pancakes at his favourite street seller as we left Taichung. I definitely did not regret it as it was delicious. The pastry is similar to the Hungarian “Langos”, however it has different herbs mixed into the pastry.
It took about 3 hours through steep mountain roads to reach the tourist centre. We took a 5 minute local train journey to reach the part of the forest where the old Cypress trees were located. I have never seen such impressive trees before; 800-1200 year old cypresses with 6-8 m trunk diameter. And the oxygen rich air re-energised me after the long trip and the jet leg disappeared at least for a few hours.
The next 2 days I held a dog dance workshop. The participants of the workshop were dog trainers, who planned to teach and spread the canine freestyle in Taiwan. They were very enthusiastic to learn. During the first part of the workshop I covered how to warm up and develop coordination for handlers and dogs. Then we progressed teaching the heelwork and freestyle exercises and finally the basic principles of choreographing and performing routines and of course the workshop included a lot of practice.

09/03/2018

I'm running a workshop in Oberammergau on DogDance and Heelwork to music. You can see the topics on the link below. Places still available if interested. Thank you!

Dogdance & Heelwork to music mit Dr. Attila Szkukalek & Lynn Hesel von 07.04.2018 bis 13.04.2018 im Hundesporthotel Wolf im Oberammergau in Bayern.

09/02/2018

In this exciting follow up to the highly successful 'Rhythmic Paws' video, Attila Szkukalek Ph.D. an Animal Behaviorist, Trainer, Canine Freestyle Champion and International Judge and Tutor extends his training to distance and advanced moves. Now with Rhythmic Paws 2, you can learn how to teach your dog: * To move away from you in different directions and positions * To perform different moves at a distance… [ 38 more words ]

http://dogdance.net/index.php/product/rhythmic-paws-2/

Follow up on the Rhythmic Paws DVD and teach your dog To move away from you in different directions and positions, to perform different moves at a distance, advanced and innovative moves seen in the Gladiator routine, and ultimately perform in a choreographed routine with music

02/02/2018

¡Un verdadero placer para ti y tu perro! ¿Te gustaría: aprender a enseñarle a tu perro 45 movimientos? aprender técnicas de adiestramiento diferentes? desarrollar un vínculo excepcional con tu perro a la vez que enriqueces su repertorio de trucos? crear y presentar una rutina de estilo libre canino? Si respondes afirmativamente a cualquiera de estas preguntas, este es tu DVD. Los dos disfrutaréis mientras aprendéis y practicáis los ejercicios y secuencias que se muestran en este DVD. [ 141 more words ]

http://dogdance.net/index.php/product/patasritmicas/

Spanish version or Rhythmic Paws for you to learn

09/06/2017

Fully refurbished website www.dogdance.net
Have a look now! 😀

29/12/2016

The Traveling Coach - Oberammergau

From Stuttgart I travelled to Oberammergau. I have been running 2-4 workshops a year at the Dog Sport Wolf Hotel since 2004. It is a fantastic place to visit if you have a dog. It is placed in the heart of the Bavarian Alps and equipped with leisure facilities for dogs and people. The latest addition is a dog swimming pool.
I ran a 5-day “Copy me” workshop this time, where the dogs learned new exercises by copying their masters. Of course they first had to learn to copy the demonstrating person. And this is the most difficult to learn. However, all participants learned to copy the modelling person and some dogs were able to copy even different sequences. I hope you like some of the picture below.
I wish you a Happy and Successful New Year and I look forward to seeing you and reporting my adventures to you in 2017.

Best Regards,
Attila Szkukalek

01/11/2016

Bridge-Target-Barrier Training (BTB-T)

Attila has developed the BTB-Training training system that combines the components of different training techniques; capturing, shaping (clicker training), luring, target and barrier training.
The BTB-Training ensures that dogs learn exercises in a fast efficient way and enjoy the learning process as they do not get frustrated.
The goal of this workshop is to teach you how to use BTB-T in teaching dogs different disciplines and why it is beneficial to use this technique.
Objectives; to give the Participants a thorough understanding and to sharpen their general and BTB-T training skills.
1. Understanding Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Reinforcements; how to condition “Keep Going” or “Continue” signals and when to use them. Efficacy of “Continue” signals versus Shaping.
a) Using Reinforcers to reinforce movement and position; when to click and when and where to deliver the reward.
2. Exercises to practice and sharpen the Trainer’s Reinforcing Skills; using Primary and Secondary Reinforcers.
3. Targets and Barriers; what they are and how to use them to achieve fast and precise learning in different dog disciplines.
a) Teaching multiple criteria with accuracy and speed. E.g. teaching heelwork with 4 criteria at the same time using bridges targets and barriers.
b) Using BTB-T to avoid frustration and displacement behaviours, e.g. barking.
4. Conditioning Cues as Discriminative Stimuli (Commands) and Cues as Continue Signals, Tertiary Reinforcers.
Prerequisites: familiarity with clicker training, and physical and mental ability to concentrate and work during the duration of the workshop for 2 days.
Attila have presented and used the BTB-T technique for the purpose of training family and competition dogs for various disciplines as well as for the rehabilitation of problem dogs and the seminar has been a huge success. Join us to have fun and improve your training skills.

11/10/2016

Happy Pets is doing a Photo Competition for this Halloween, so lets take photos and send them over! www.happy-pets.co.uk