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| Dean Calderon Seminar May 10 & 11, 2003 |
| Dean Calderon Seminar May 10 & 11, 2003 |
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| After lecturing on some of the mechanics of training and giving trial handler tips, he demonstrated with his dog Rex, how to increase drive with the whip, resulting in a very enthusiastic recall. |
| Increasing general drive, as well as, increasing drive to be chanelled into an enthusiastic retrieve (not shown) is done with a rolled tug. Pictured, with Dean, is Joshua Bass with his Doberman Samson. |
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| As the mornings progressed, Dean lectured on tracking, followed by demonstrations of the mechanics of training a young and/or inexperienced dog. He then demonstrated the use of double handling to correct tracking transgressions of the more experienced dogs. After he answered questions, we stepped up, one by one, to get Dean's expert advise on our particular tracking challenges. Pictured below, Dean is helping Kevin Myers teach his new puppy, Rumsfeld, some tracking fundamentals (below left), and Dean with Shawnn Wakefield (right), watching Amos's tracking skills. |
| Dean offered some mechanical tips to fine tune these experienced dogs, resulting in a better performance at trial time. Pictured is Bill Seely, with his dog Zondo (left) and Sue Borgan and her Rottweiler Kodiak with Dean (below). |
| Dean demonstrated different methods to correct Shawnn Wakefield's Amos from pushing off the jump instead of completely clearing it (left & below). |
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| Dean demonstrated the correct, gentle way to teach a puppy's first platz. Pictured in foreground is Kevin Myers and his new dog Rumsfeld with Dean. |
| Some mechanics were demonstrated here to achieve a straight recall/ retrieve, from Lori Stephens' dog Cruiser. |
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| Dean demonstrated how to build drive and focus the dog with the ball (left) and rolled jute (below), as well as, how to harnass that drive with double line corrections (below). Pictured is Dean with Fletcher Brokaw and his Rottweiler Milos. |
| The Dean Calderon Tracking and Obedience Seminar got off to a rumbling start on Saturday morning, with thunderstorms and tornado sirens competing with Dean's introductory lecture on tracking. The seminar proceded each day with tracking in the morning and obedience in the afternoon, with a bountiful potluck lunch each midday. The seminar was attended by members of neighboring schutzhund clubs and non-schutzhund dog training advocates, as well as our own club members. The wet weather did not stop Dean's enthusiasm, as we settled into a very informative and inspiring seminar, taught with a great deal of passion for the dogs and the sport. |
| Before individual obedience instruction, Dean lectured on forming a good obedience foundation by instilling in our dogs the cornerstones of correct compulsive behavior on which to build. He also impressed upon us how important it is to motivate our dogs by building their drive, and to stretch that motivation with the use of cues. |
| Promising younger dogs are motivated with a rolled tug and a ball on string to build their drives. Pictured, with Dean, are John Childress and his dog Olay (left) and Brian McCauley with his dog Asia (below). |
| Above are just some of the highlights of our two day seminar. The hours of lecturing, answering questions, demonstrating and individual instruction went by extremely fast, leaving every handler/dog team with new information to improve their performance and accomplish their sought after goals. Dean's ability to read the handler, as well as the dog, and then come up with a remedy/improvement so very quickly, amazed both the handlers and the obervers. And Dean's respect for the integrity of our dogs impressed upon us how lucky we are to be in a position to train these animals, even though we are just scratching the surface of what they are capable of. |
| Many thanks go to John Roeslein, who planned and implemented the seminar for the benefit of our club members and their dogs. What a gift John is to our club. Thanks go to Jan St. John who provided us with Stargate Kennel to be used as a meeting place, and the Fenton Koury League for letting us use their field for the tracking portion of the seminar. Thanks to Kelly Hope of the USA office & John Childress for video taping parts of the event. Thanks also to all the people who brought food or items for the benefit of the participants, and/or volunteered their time to make this event a success. And, of course, thank you Dean Calderon for giving us not only knowledge, but also inspiration. |
| Photographs provided by Sharon Wehlermann. |
| St. Louis Schutzhund Association |