I have been intrigued by running contacts for the past seven years and have taken several online training courses, lessons and seminars with others who also teach running contact training. After watching Tara’s video of her youngest dog Jet on Facebook, I was curious enough to sign up for her second running contact class and needless to say I’m extremely happy that I did. I currently have two dogs that I originally trained using different methods and what stood out to me the most about Tara’s method is that from the beginning the criteria never changes. Regardless, if the dog is exiting the contact straight, softly turning, or coming in tightly to turn or flipping away to take a tunnel set near the end of the dogwalk. This may seem like a minute detail but for both of my dogs, this has enabled them to gain a better understanding of running contacts and the criteria to which I now hold them to.
Tara’s teaching style was always encouraging and very insightful and I appreciated how much video she provided of her dogs as they failed, or were working through a new behavior as it helped me work through similar training challenges with my dogs. I cannot wait to start my youngest using Tara’s method and will be looking forward to signing up for a working spot in one of her upcoming courses.
—Kimberly & Blade, Viper, Shine – Minnesota, USA
Tara’s Running Contact Class is awesome! I joined looking to retrain my stopped contacts after my Aussie’s shoulder surgery as I wanted to help relieve the stress on her shoulder. Her method is very clear to the dog and we were able to train with a minimal amount of repetitions. We have started trialing and are already doing great with the contacts. I will definitely sign up again when it’s time for my puppy to do running contacts!
—Dee & Elly – Kansas, USA
I have been incredibly pleased with Tara LaBelle’s online running contact class! I tried another program, and was very frustrated with the time it took for feedback, so after researching other programs, I found Tara’s and couldn’t be happier. She is extremely prompt in reviewing videos and giving feedback, very good at troubleshooting issues and always available to ask questions along the way. I am very pleased with the results this far in our contact training. I feel like my dog understands the criteria as do I. I have enjoyed the program and and feel like we have a great foundation thanks to Tara!
–Kimberly & Pepper – Las Cruces, NM USA
“We really enjoyed hosting Tara LaBelle for a seminar on Vancouver Island. Tara is a fun teacher who identifies areas that need to be worked on and offers solutions that are easy to implement. Tara is a dynamic and entertaining presenter; I came away feeling much more confident in the skills my dog has. She worked to bring out the best in each individual team and is able to adapt what she is teaching to each team.
–Angela Maharajh, Nanaimo BC, Canada.