I am excited to share with you that I received my Fenzi TEAM 1 Obedience title! This accomplishment is very special for my mom. She and Buffy had tried over the years to put all of the pieces together. But it never quite happened. 

Much to my mom’s delight, she and I were able to do it. And have dreams to go further in the program. Which I’m sure will happen. Because, as you know, I love working and learning new things!

Fenzi TEAM is an online titling program. TEAM stands for Training Excellence Assessment Modules. There are three categories within TEAM – Obedience, Nosework, and Cooperative Care. My mom has only worked on the Obedience portion with me. But we might try the others in the future.

For the obedience TEAM each level builds upon the previous one. And adds complexity as you move through each level. The goal is to build a solid foundation which prepares the dog and handler for future competitions in their sport of choice. 

My certificate!

There are online classes offered through the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Which is where my mom and I do our training. And where she and Buffy took classes.

At FDSA classes run for six weeks. And every other month a new session begins. My mom and I have taken a couple of classes every session since we’ve been home. They also offer webinars and workshops. 

Some of the classes we’ve taken have been to work on foundation skills and new concepts. While others have had a specific focus like tricks and Rally. And this session we are taking a class that will help us be better prepared to show in some in-person obedience trials.

My mom and I arrived home on October 1st, our graduation day. And began taking classes that very same day. Although we were a little slow with fully engaging in the classes.

Those first few days we were getting settled in. But I was ready and willing to start learning new things! Every day we practiced my service dog skills. And a little bit from our class homework. 

For the January session, we took the TEAM 1 class. This is where we would learn each of the exercises we would later need for our test. As we worked through the class, my mom would show me a new skill. And we would work on the individual pieces. And eventually, we started putting those pieces together.

TEAM 1 exercises!

As we finished up that session, I knew a fair amount for TEAM 1. But not quite enough to put it all together yet. So amongst our regular practice for my service dog skills and lessons from new classes, we continued practicing our TEAM exercises.

Over time, I was getting more solid and consistent with performing these skills. So one day my mom set up the video camera and filmed our session. For the most part, it looked good. But we were not quite there yet. 

We practiced a little bit more. Tweaked some of my mom’s handling. And videoed the group of exercises again. And you know what? It all looked good! So my mom submitted it and we passed. Which gave us our TEAM 1 title!

We have been working on the exercises for TEAM 2. And should be ready fairly soon to try putting them all together. So we can video it and submit it for our next title!

TEAM 2 exercises!

My mom loves training and learning new things. Just like me! In the morning I can’t wait for my mom to finish her coffee. Because as soon as she is done she brushes my teeth. And then we do some training!

In fact, I am so eager to do training with my mom I’ve started pestering her to get going while she is still drinking her coffee! Sometimes that works. But other times she has me wait until she is done! 

Here is our TEAM 1 video!