Trial Preparation Program
Your dog performs in training but not on the field. We are world champions at building helps into our training – and bad at taking them out again. This program is about removing them, so your dog performs on trial day exactly like he does at home.
Included in the membership – together with all other programs.
This is why you fail on trials.
It’s not the dog. Over months of training we build in helps everywhere: a ball under the arm, food in the pocket, a position stick, a clicker, a known field, a known helper. On trial day none of that is there – only you and your dog. And suddenly the exercise falls apart.
Trial preparation is a phase of its own, not the last week before the trial. You watch our dogs being taken from a fully supported training picture to a clean trial picture – step by step, with every help removed one at a time, filmed in real sessions. Where it went wrong, we left it in, because that is exactly where you learn most.
The program is built on three pillars: removing helps and fading out rewards, our Conflict Management System for the pressure of a big trial, and stimulus control – a dog that performs anytime, anywhere, regardless of motivation or distraction.
Three pillars, applied to all three phases
Every pillar is worked through for tracking, obedience and protection separately – because a help in heeling is removed differently from a help on the track.
Remove helps & fade rewards
- Identifying every help your dog relies on
- Fading food, ball and toy rewards systematically
- Removing position sticks, targets and clicker
- Replacing the help, not just dropping it
- Rewards in obedience – when, how much, how often
Conflict Management System
- Reading conflict and stress before it costs points
- Dealing with crowds, noise and unknown fields
- The unknown helper and the trial picture in protection
- Tracking under pressure – cross tracks, articles, judges
- Recovering from a mistake mid-routine
Stimulus control
- Performing without visible motivation
- Any field, any weather, any time of day
- Generalising exercises to new places
- Reliable behaviour under distraction
- Protection work example – from training to trial routine
How we prepare dogs for trials
One help at a time
Every help is removed in its own step, so you always know what changed – and what to go back to when something breaks.
Real dogs, real trial pressure
We take our own dogs through the process in front of the camera, including the sessions where the picture fell apart.
All three phases
Tracking, obedience and protection each get their own path through the three pillars. Nothing is left to ‘it’ll be fine on the day’.
Conflict, not just distraction
Big trials create conflict for the dog, not just distraction. The CMS gives you tools to prepare for it instead of hoping.
Trial routines, start to finish
You see complete routines being rehearsed as they will be judged – not isolated exercises in a comfortable setting.
Take what you like
Already trialling? Pick the pillar where your dog loses points. Preparing for your first trial? Follow the whole path.
More than videos
Every program comes with the three things that make the difference between watching and actually getting better.
Our own forum
No more doom-scrolling through Facebook groups where you never find what you’re looking for. Our forum is sorted by tracking, obedience and protection – ask your question where it belongs, and find the answers that are already there.
Our own app
The whole online school in your pocket. Every program, every video, the forum – on your phone, at the training field, whenever you need it.
Live calls for members
Every month a different topic around the IGP sport – live with the trainers. Bring your questions, hear how others solve the same problems.
Ready to train with us?
One membership gives you the Trial Preparation Program and every other program, the forum, the app and the monthly live calls. 49,95 € per month – pause or cancel anytime.
Become a member Access starts immediately after sign-up – on the website and in the app.Back to all programs