ACE Free Work for Confidence and Connection

What is ACE Free Work?

Free Work is a simple, low impact activity that can be rewarding for the dog, and illuminating for the guardian/care giver; it can be set up in any environment and any size area.

It was developed by Sarah Fisher to help rescue dogs and in particular one of her own dogs who was struggling in different environments.

The aim is to give the dog opportunities to engage with a variety of different items enabling us to highlight items the dog really enjoys, and those he actively avoids.

Free Work provides the ideal opportunity to observe your dog and observations are an important and integral part of Free Work.

As the dog starts to relax and slow down, postural struggles, habits, and worries about handling or other aspects of daily life become more apparent enabling us to modify our own habits and address these small, or more obvious, concerns.

How can Free Work help?

ACE Free Work can help in many ways, including these and many more:

Walking on lead
Recall
Settle
Reactive behaviour
Anxiety and lack of confidence
Car travel
Helping a rescue dog or puppy in their new home

Free Work has many applications, including (but not limited to):

Home and garden

Giving your dog a calming and rewarding experience sniffing and finding treats.
Perfect for dogs on reduced exercise or for dogs who are worried about going out for walks.
It also allows your dog to reset after worrying experiences.

Confidence and Relationship

Builds your dog's confidence by allowing us to introduce new and novel items over a period of time.
Strengthen the relationship with the guardian, leading to a stronger bond.
Ideal for puppies or adult dogs that are new to a family and home.

Foundation for Important Life Skills

Free Work provides the perfect foundation for teaching important life skills such as settle, recall, adapting to new environments, learning to be calm around other animals and people.