We are so excited to tell you about our new project—Dog Tricks Spark Team! Each Spark team is a Facebook group that is set up for a 4-week time period with the goal of teaching 15 new dog tricks and earning a Novice Trick Dog title.

Each team has a CTDI as the coach. The coach sets the curriculum and films and posts instructional videos every week for the students.

The CTDI will earn credits as the students earn their titles.

A Spark team is beneficial for all dogs, and especially for dogs which do not thrive in class environments such as shy dogs and reactive dogs.

The Spark format is a great option for CTDIs who aren't in a populated area, or are in an area that is not interested in positive training.

Any CTDI

Yes. Kyra Sundance co-coached the first Spark team as a prototype, and this document was created out of her experience in order to aid you. You may select different tricks, run it for a different time period, do it for the intermediate title, or have a theme to your group (such as a puppy group, senior dog group, clicker group, tricks for musical freestyle group, etc.)

On the online application, there is a new field asking if the applicant is part of a Spark team. That will let us know how to award the credits, and it will also allow us to post special kudos to that person within your Facebook group.

We will list your upcoming team on our website and pulicize it on Facebook. You will reach out to your friendship base and publicize it to your community. The best way to do this is to make a short video with you personally invititng people to this exciting event.

http://www.facebook.com

Give thought to your Facebook profile photo. It's best if it is a picture of your face, so people feel connected to you.

2.
Create a Facebook Group

Here is a sample of our first Spark group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BoxerGirlSparkTeam/

Create a group by going to your Facebook Newsfeed and choosing "Create Group" from the left sidebar.

Once you've created the group, go to "edit group settings" and choose the following:

• Privacy: Public
• Membership Approval: Any member can add members, but an admin must approve them.
• Group Address: BoxerGirlSparkTeam (or something similar for your name)
• Description: Ignite your passion for dog tricks! Join us for 4 weeks as we coach you through learning 15 new dog tricks. You can do it! Your totally excited coaches are BoxerGirl herself: Kelli-ann Reilly (CTDI), and Kyra Sundance: founder of "Do More With Your Dog!" and author of "101 Dog Tricks". ***All the important info is in the post pinned to the top of the page***
• Tags: Dog Tricks, Dog Training, Clicker Training, etc.
• Posting Permissions: Members and admins can post to the group.
• Post Approval: unchecked
  

Add Kyra Sundance as a member. Make her an Admin.

Add this cover image to your group.
http://www.domorewithyourdog.com/images/FB-cover-photo2.jpg

If you'd like to customize your image, we can give you the photoshop layers file. Note that the reason the images are squished in the center is that phones cut off the left, right, and bottom edges of the graphic.

Facebook groups allow you to "pin" one post. This post always remains at the top of the page. This post will have all the important info for the students. You can edit this post, so every week you can add new links to videos here. Note that on mobile devices, there is a button at the top of the page that says "view pinned post." People never realize to click that button, so we have to try really hard at the beginning to make sure everyone knows to read that pinned post. This has been our single biggest challenge.

Click here for the text to put in your pinned post.

Do not give the students all the links to the instrcutional videos at once. Just give them a few at a time.

Adjust the dates in the first line.

info@domorewithyourdog.com

Don't post your full curriculum to the pinned post in the beginning; you want to keep the students coming back every few days to learn the next thing.

Below is the curriculum used for our protoype Spark team. You may use this or change it. We found tricks 1-10 to be very well received, especially Muffin Tin, Roll out the Carpet, and Laundry Basket.

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WEEK 1 - Oct 31:
GOAL: Get students to read the pinned post and print NTD checklist.
#5 STAY
#4 MUFFIN TIN
#3 SIT
#2 TOUCH MY HAND
#1 SPIN CIRCLES

WEEK 2 - Nov 6:
GOAL: Assure students that they are not falling behind, and can still make their goal. Talk about the importance of goals. Review criteria for tricks (lures, leashes, etc.) which can be found in the pinned post.
#6 HIDE AND SEEK (builds on Stay)
#7 PAWS UP
#8 ROLL OUT THE CARPET
#9 PEEKABOO
#10 LAUNDRY BASKET

WEEK 3 - Nov 13:
GOAL: Talk about adding up their points and making a plan to reach their goal. Think about how many tricks they need to do each day/week. Start to get witness signoffs. Quietly set up your next ITD Spark team.
#11 HOOP JUMP
#12 LOGIC TEST
#13 SHELL GAME (builds on muffin tin)
#14 WHICH HAND HOLDS THE TREAT
#15 KENNEL UP

WEEK 4 - Nov 20:
GOAL: Surprise students with news that they'll get a free patch if they submit their application by end of month. Encourage them to submit early.
#16 CRAWL
#17 FIND HIDDEN TREATS
#18 SAY YOUR PRAYERS/BOW HEAD (builds on paws up)

WEEK 5 - Nov 27:
GOAL: Remind students to submit by end of month to get the patch. Announce your ITD group and tell them that this current group will be closing. To get into the ITD group they will need their NTD. They can join already, but will be removed from the ITD grouop out if they don't get their NTD. Publicly congratulate students as they earn their titles.

WEEK 6 - Dec 4:
GOAL: Remind students that this group is closing in 2 weeks... submit their form... join your next group.

Make a short (30-90 second) video to explain what the Spark team is, and get people excited to join.

Sample video:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154768164165175

Suggested content of the video:

— Hi, I’m XXXXXX, and I'm a Certified Trick Dog Instructor.
— I'm starting an interest group for beginner-level dogs and their owners.
— We're going to teach our dogs 15 fun, new tricks... things like Paws Up, Spin Circles, Crawl, and Shake Hands.
— We'll also try new games with our dogs like The Muffin Tin Game, Treat Under the Laundry Basket Game.
— I'm going to walk you through teach each new trick, and then you can post a video of your happy dog when he learns it.
— If you keep up with us for all 4 weeks, your dog will earn his Novice Trick Dog title and certificate! — This group will SPARK your interest in dog training.
— Click the link in the comments below to join the group, and make this the month to “do more with your dog!”

IMPORTANT: type the link to the Facebook group in the comments.

Add a video every few days teaching a new trick. We've found the best method is to post the videos to youtube (make sure they are Public and not Private). Posting them directly to Facebook wasn't as successful, as more people were unable to view those videos on their different devices.

Post the links to your videos in the pinned post.

Post frequent encouragements. Click on this picture to post it to your group.

Read the "Goals" in the sample curriculum above to keep students on track toward their titles.