George Alston Seminars?

[amjrchamberlain]

I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about attending one and she told me I need to be sure I have thick skin. LOL I'm scared. LMAO! I was planning to observe, not work a dog...if that makes any difference.

So, has anyone here went to one? Did you feel that you learned alot from it?

[agilegsds]

Hi Angela,

I haven't been to one of his seminars yet, but he is on my list. My Gordon Setter's breeder recommended his seminars since I plan on showing her (and he's also handled some of my girl's relatives). But my breeder did say "he can be abrupt and short on patience with those not paying attention". That doesn't concern me though, because at seminars I tend to hang on every word from the presenter. I read one of his books - The Winning Edge - which, although very basic, was interesting because he was clearly ahead of his time by incorporating positive training techniques into the breed ring long before there were many positive methods out there.

[DianaM]

Sandy, not to threadjack but I think we're waaaay overdue on "Flirt Fotos."

[Andaka]

I haven't been to one, but I sent my Junior Handler to one a couple of years ago. They are very informative, but I prefer to participate, not just observe. I'm sure you will learn a lot.

To be a good handler you need to know structure so that you know what parts of your dog to accent and what parts to hide. You need to understand drives so that you know what makes your dog do well and what can cause him to shut down. And you need to understand that just because your dog doesn't win under a particular judge does not mean that you have a bad dog. Try again another day.