Post a picture of your dog (you are also welcome to be included!) wearing or holding something red, white, or blue, or any combination thereof. I'll make a compilation picture for a cute social media picture we can share. Deadline is July 10th. :)

Many of us are in the US, so Happy Independence Day on July 4th to those who celebrate! For a fun little game, please participate in our COLOR CHALLENGE during the next week! Just post a picture of your dog (you are also welcome to be included!) wearing or holding something red, white, or blue, or any combination thereof. I'll make a compilation picture for a cute social media picture we can share. I will have a thread in the community for you to put your pictures. I don't know about where you are, but in my neck of the woods, there are a lot of fireworks that go off close by on holidays like these. If your dog hates the noises and you need sedatives or something similar, today is your last day to get that stuff ready. My dogs are pretty okay with fireworks, and one of them actually loves the loud bangs, but I have a 9-month-old puppy who has never done a holiday with us, so we'll see how that goes. I predict there will be lots of snacks at my house tomorrow night. Keep your dog secure during the holiday chaos and make sure they are easily identified in case they try to escape from the noise. Such a scary thought! It's also crazy hot in my neck of the woods. Florida has been an absolute oven for most of June. Remember that dogs overheat faster than humans. Watch for signs like - Heavy panting - Excessive drooling or thick saliva - Weakness or lethargy - Vomiting or diarrhea - Bright red gums or tongue - Uncoordinated movements If you see signs of overheating, start cooling the dog first, and then transport them to a veterinarian. Pour cool water over the dog or submerge them in cool water (don't dunk their heads since they will already be struggling to breathe). Speak to your veterinarian about how to safely cool your dog in the event of overheating. Prevent overheating by erring on the side of caution, especially in humid environments where it is easier to overheat. Train and exercise outside for shorter periods of time and during cooler parts of the day. Make sure that water is available at all times, and that there is good ventilation where your dog spends most of their time. And, although it seems obvious, in most places, this is not the time of year to leave your dog in the car, even during short errands with the windows partway down.

Are you training or trialing this weekend? I'm doing a lot of work, but my dogs get to participate in some of it! I'm working on a product video for a new thing -- a case for the Ready Treat, a remote treat dispenser. So two of my dogs got to spend time eating snacks while I recorded them. :) Here's one of my 5,000 takes. LOL! What are you all up to?

I've finally sorted out how to offer private lessons in a format that's similar to what is available in my popular training group, Backyard Training Matters, which runs twice a year in the Clean Run Learning Center! I have it set up on Buy Me a Coffee. There are two options: Personalized Small-Space Course Design - Receive one course layout with 8 courses to run without resetting the course! Upon purchase, I will reach out to you so that you can provide information on your training space (length, width, and overall shape, equipment you want to use and the sizes of equipment you have like length of tunnel and width of jumps). In addition, we will communicate via email about what you want to work on and the level of difficulty you prefer. We can focus on specific skills, like crosses or distance work, or general behaviors and attitudes like motivation and drive. Personalized Small-Space Course Design And Feedback - All of the above plus you may submit up to 4 minutes of video showing you and your dog or dogs training on the provided courses. Detailed analysis and instruction will be provided via text and video responses. Submissions can be made through YouTube or Google Drive. Responses will be provided via email with a link to any video analysis. If you are interested, please click the links and read carefully for all the info. You're going to hear more about this in an email in a few days :) Skool doesn't allow frequent emails and I wanted to share it with you all ASAP because I'm excited, plus I think I can only do a limited number at a time, and I wanted my regular students and Skool members to be the first to hear about it. If you have requests for other types of training options or any questions, please contact me at brenna@brennafender.com or paste the ideas or questions in the comments below. I'd like to know what else might interest you in terms of private lessons!

Hi Everyone! After some consideration, I'm going to keep this group open and free for the foreseeable future. However, I am planning on offering private online agility lessons tailored to your personal needs and designed to fit in your backyard or training space. I will have more details ready soon. If you've taken classes with me, you know my style of designing courses and offering reviews, analysis, suggestions, and support. But for everyone else, I'll work on getting more info set up soon. If you're interested and you'd like to be one of the first involved, please email me (brennafender@gmail.com) or message me here. I'm looking forward to this! In other news, next week, I'm going to set up a "Red, White, & Blue" challenge that will wrap up on July 5th. It should be fun and easy. I hope you'll join us! I'd like to get more conversation going in this Skool. Do you have a topic you'd like to talk about? Start a discussion or just reply here, and I'll do it for you. Did you train or trial this weekend? Brags, boasts, and tales of woe are all welcome! Thanks for being here! Brenna