We did another thing at FDSA!
If you are a goal-oriented sort of person, and if you take classes at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, you may want to check out our new certificate program which combines the formal education provided by FDSA with an applied skills component via the TEAM titling program. It’s a very challenging program, as it should be! You’ll need to demonstrate mastery of both “classroom learning” with the TEAM test to ensure that you not only understand the theory but demonstrate that you can apply it as well.
You can find more information about our certificate programs on the FDSA website here
Speaking of TEAM….
Two years ago we announced the Fenzi TEAM titling program. We described it as follows:
TEAM is an acronym for “Training Excellence Assessment Modules,” which perfectly describes our goal: a progression-oriented titling program that emphasizes excellence in training over training for any particular sport. Each TEAM level adds complexity for the dog-handler team in four areas: the difficulty of the skills being assessed, the potential challenges in the form of food and toy distractions, the challenge of the actual testing location, and finally the quantity of reinforcement allowed during the test.
And as we had hoped, the program has had the desired impact… people are playing! Hundreds of submissions to the titling program! Training their dogs! Having a wonderful time and developing their skills for both life and competition in one fell swoop!
If you’d like to join a highly supportive community of TEAM players who value excellence in training and appreciate the improvement in their other dog sports, take a look! Indeed, you may want to start on the rules page, where you’ll find a handy chart at the bottom to help you see the relationship between your current dog sports and TEAM.
We welcome new students to FDSA and new players to TEAM, so check out all of your options and feel free to hop in!
Oh, and while you are on the TEAM website, check out the newsletters and linked articles. You’ll get lots of free training advice there.
Not sure about one thing. Why wouldn’t people participate in these sports and title their dogs in these sports to prove they know and understand the training? How is this academy training different than accomplishing that? I have always thought that actually participating and titling was the best way to prove you understand the sport and requirements.
I may not understand the question; it’s fairly common for people who participate in TEAM to also participate in a range of dog sports. Indeed, my guess is that a majority of the dogs that have received TEAM titles also have titles from other organizations. What TEAM does incredibly well is preparing people for other organizations, should they choose to go in that direction, because it exposes the holes in their training.
As far as participating in in-person competitions… there are many reasons why people choose not to do that, not the least of which is that many dogs really should not compete in live organizations – either they find it too stressful, at which point it is simply unkind to put the dog through it, or they are not safe to be in crowded environments with other dogs and people. Or maybe it’s just inconvenient or not even attractive for a given handler to attend an in-person competition.
From my point of view, options are good and the more options that are out there, the better. I like to see people training their dogs. I like to see people having a good time with their dogs. I have no particular opinion about what goals they set for themselves, if any!