What people are saying about Sandy's Method, Seminars and her Training Camps
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Sandy,
I just wanted to tell you how great the camp was. Even though it took me lots of courage to get out there on the mat. The run
through was incredible and I learned a lot. Your camps are great not only for all your great insight and teaching but the
camaraderie that is very evident among the participants. We all come from different areas but there is not the clique feeling
and that is great. Your camp is so uplifting. Your students are truly your legacy.
It really troubles me that you sometimes you are scrutinized and criticized when you are by far the most honest and genuine
person in this business. You truly understand the dog and are so willing to help the rest of us succeed and to understand.
I am so appreciative of who you are. Thank you, Jolene Crawford ( Summer Camp 2011)
"Thanks so much for an outstanding seminar. It was just so much fun and so full of fantastic ideas. You were funny and fun,
didn't back away from addressing difficult issues, and easy to follow. Everything one would want in a seminar. I'm sorry you
live so far away. You would definitely keep me inspired. Even though Jolt managed an OTCH, I probably would have gotten
a lot more out of this soft BC had you been around me to prod him into giving me more...........Helen" (Arvada, CO.)
"I learned so much!! Can't thank you enough. I'll be back for more"......Barb
"You are a total professional Sandy! Thank You".....Jeanne
"Thank You Sandy!!" You always inspire, teach and motivate me! Thanks...... Love Marcia
"Thank you for all you teach me! Keep staying awake nights..........Love Gael
"You're the best"!!!! Thanks............Moe
"Thanks so much for all of the great ideas!" Holly and Dachs...Jenny
"Sandy, Thanks again for everything! Please come back to this area again soon"......Theresa
"Always awesome".....Ann
"Great Job........You helped me immensely. And glad you liked my hair!!!!"...........Barb
"Sandy, You're the best"...Brenda
"Thank you for the wonderful seminar!"......Carol
"I'm so glad I was able to start my Novice A dog with your methods".......Sharri
Hi Sandy, Once again a Super Camp!! Friday was just so excellent. So many good ideas. Best yet! I've been
attending for 10 years and they just get better. "Thanks" Jan, Flip & Tristen........
I haven't had a chance to tell you how much I enjoyed the camp. I always leave revitalized, focused and more energetic with
training. This year was superb and I plan to attend the summer one also. Again thank you and you ARE the best!!!!!!!!
Jolene (Spring Camp 2011)
On the weekend of October 1 and 2, the West L.A. Obedience TrainingClub hosted a seminar at Canoga Park Lutheran
Church with Sandra Ladwig, an Obedience trainer who in more than two decades in the ring has won 236 High In Trials,
earned over 5,000 OTCH points and finished eight Obedience Trial Champions. Organized by Diana Kerew-Shaw, Tawn
Sinclair and Gabrielle Beaubrun, the seminar earned spectacular reviews from participants. I asked some of them to write up
their impressions for the newsletter. You can find out more about Sandra Ladwig at her web site,
www.straighttalkintraining.com. —Judith Lewis, Editor
Diana Kerew-Shaw (Papillons, Rennie and Cutter): Going to seminars is always a bit of an overwhelming experience. The
presenter arrives with a complete philosophy built over many years of working and trialing. It’s impossible to stuff all of this
into two days, so the observer often feels overwhelmed. The trick is to listen hard for things that might actually be useful to
you, and to tuck those into your training tool kit. In the case of Sandy Ladwig, even if we didn’t agree on everything, her
approach to training was mind-expanding. She is an independent thinker, has her own ideas for how things work and what
goes on in the mind of a dog, and many of her techniques seem counter-intuitive and yet were demonstrated, in one-on-one
problem-solving sessions, to work! I especially appreciated her sense of fairness and respect with her dog, and her avoidance
of fancy props (which cannot be taken into the ring). Circles as a foundation for heeling? “Wait games” to stop mistakes?
Asking the dog to figure out his own problems? All excellent food for thought.
Dona Tanaka (Weimaraner, Buzz): It is hard to believe, but in my 12-plus years of obedience training and competing, I had
never before attended an obedience seminar until the Sandra Ladwig seminar. It was well worth the wait, because in
addition to helping me with specific training problems, I came away with a greater understanding of what obedience
training should be. The real eyeopener for me was her philosophy of the link between canine biomechanics and obedience
movements. Sandy’s foundation for obedience training is to develop the dog’s awareness of its entire body (from back to
front). Getting that awareness is not just physical but also mental as the dog learns to focus on the relationship between its
body alignment and the handler’s body cues. This awareness is key to developing correct position for fronts, finishes and
heeling. The basic exercise to achieve this is teaching the dog to circle both left and right. Very much like equine dressage,
this exercise develops suppleness and engagement of the hindquarters. Sandy demonstrated the end result of this training by
heeling her Golden Retriever, Spud. She could change her pace and direction and Spud would keep perfect (and I mean
perfect) heeling position by collecting or lengthening his stride while keeping the same rhythm. Again, for those of you who
have ridden dressage, it’s the difference between a trot, extended trot, passage and piaffe. It was amazing to watch as it
exemplified the true essence of heeling teamwork.
“Straight Talkin’ Training” pretty much sums it up as far as her training techniques. She uses no gimmicks, contraptions or
devices (e.g., prong or choke collars, heeling helpers, boxes, guides, targets, etc). Treats are used — but not so much once a
dog has been trained — “Train like you show and show like you train.” “Games” are incorporated not only to motivate but
to increase focus. She warned us about falling into traps in which we enable failure by excusing a dog’s behavior or sloppy
work — successful obedience requires that handlers always reinforce the need for dogs to take responsibility for their actions.
With the advanced dogs, her corrections were firm but fair. I had the opportunity to get individual time with her to work on
signals. Despite being in front of an audience and having no warm-up or treats (yikes!), her advice resulted in some nice
heeling, successful signals and most important, an attentive, happy working dog as opposed to a spacey, stressed, shut-down
lump. That’s not to say that Buzz and I will now be going into the ring and getting 200s, but I came away with some tools to
work through problems and a better understanding of how to train in order to become a better handler.
Denise Mixon (Golden Retriever, Augie): Augie’s problem in Obedience has been with the group exercises (long sits and
downs); he wants to come to me and not stay in the line of dogs. This has been the bane of our Obedience existence for the
past four years. Sandy suggested that before Augie breaks I should release him by calling him to me, then put him right back
in the line. I did this in time increments to relieve the pressure. That teaches him that he can deal with being away from me
for small amounts of time. She also said to wave the leash in his face when he gets to me so coming to me in that context isn’
t pleasant. Also, when calling him, she had me bend my knees so I’d be in a different body position than what handlers
normally are in groups. To teach the group exercise, Sandy doesn’t put the dog in a line with other dogs. She starts instead
with the dog lining up between two chairs, or between two other objects. This teaches the dog about having his space
invaded. Once the dog is comfortable with being in a line of things then you can introduce other dogs. I learned from Sandy
that as trainers we tend to be on the wimpy side and need to toughen up; our dogs really can handle it. You don’t need to use
gimmicks or props in training; just be open to new ideas even if they seem counterintuitive. For me personally, I was beyond
pleased as Augie had a breakthrough moment: The techniques worked. Augie managed to do groups on the basketball court
at the seminar. It’s too early to tell if it will stick, but I was elated to the point of getting teary while standing at half court.
Sarah Sykes (Golden Retriver, Brio): I always enjoy going to seminars and Sandy’s seminar was fun and informative. She
explained things well and was happy to answer all of our questions — and there were lots of questions! She was a big help
with my heeling — just my heeling — Brio wasn’t even there! I heeled around in the ring with my imaginary dog, with her
calling commands, as she helped me with smoother turns, getting a good pace and, most importantly, halts. I think I have
finally found the perfect halt footwork that I’ll be able to be consistent with and maintain in the ring. The other important
thing for me was learning to be more in tune with what my body is communicating to him while we’re heeling or, to quote
Sandy, “going left to go right and right to go left.” It didn’t make sense in the beginning, but when I went home to try it with
Brio after the first day, it certainly did. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to put this great seminar together.....
(Oct. 2011)
Obedience News: From California................. Talk Straight and Move Smooth:
A Weekend with Sandra Ladwig
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