IGP Planning Workbook for New Handlers

IGP Planning Workbook for New Handlers

If you are starting your IGP journey, the right plan changes everything. An IGP planning workbook gives you structure, clarity, and a step by step path from your first session to trial day. At Smart Dog Training, we build every page around the Smart Method so you get real results in real life. You can also work through the workbook with a Smart Master Dog Trainer for faster, more reliable progress.

New handlers often feel overwhelmed. There is tracking, obedience, and protection, each with its own skills and standards. Without a clear system, many teams stall. The IGP planning workbook removes guesswork. It sets outcome based goals, maps weekly sessions, and records meaningful metrics so you know exactly what to do and why it matters.

What Is an IGP Planning Workbook

An IGP planning workbook is a structured training log and guide designed for new handlers who want reliable, measurable progress. It breaks your season into clear phases. It defines the skills for tracking, obedience, and protection. It gives you daily session templates, review pages, and trial checklists. Most of all, it keeps you accountable to proven steps from the Smart Method.

Inside the Smart Dog Training system, the IGP planning workbook is more than a notebook. It is a complete roadmap. Every template and checklist follows the same pillars used by our team of Smart Master Dog Trainers across the UK.

The Smart Method Framework Inside the Workbook

Your IGP planning workbook is built on the Smart Method. The method has five pillars that guide how you plan, train, and test each behaviour.

• Clarity. Use precise marker words and consistent patterns so your dog always understands the task.
• Pressure and Release. Apply fair guidance, remove pressure at the right moment, and reward. This builds accountability without conflict.
• Motivation. Use food, toys, and praise to keep engagement high. A motivated dog learns faster and holds behaviour under stress.
• Progression. Add distraction, duration, and difficulty in planned layers. The workbook tells you when to increase the challenge.
• Trust. Training should strengthen the bond. Your plan keeps sessions calm, predictable, and rewarding.

Every section of the IGP planning workbook follows these pillars. New handlers can follow the same structure our SMDTs use every day.

Why New Handlers Need Structure

IGP requires precise performance under pressure. Guessing your way through the week is not enough. The IGP planning workbook gives you structure that protects progress. It shows you how to balance foundation work with power and expression. It reveals the right order to teach skills. It stops you from jumping ahead too fast. You get a step by step approach that scales from beginner to trial ready.

Setting Outcome Based Goals

Strong goals direct training choices. Your IGP planning workbook starts with a goal map. It defines outcomes for three time frames.

• Season goals. What title are you aiming for and when.
• Block goals. Eight to twelve weeks focused on specific skill groups.
• Weekly goals. Three to five measurable actions and results for the week ahead.

We write goals in plain, testable language. For example, Get a clean track start with three articles at 50 paces, no re casting. Or, Maintain focused heel for fifteen metres with judge pressure and two decoys present. When your goals read like this, your daily plan becomes simple and honest.

Building Your Twelve Week IGP Plan

The workbook guides you through a twelve week training block. This is long enough to build robust skills and short enough to review and reset without losing momentum. Each week has four parts.

• Focus. The single priority for the week.
• Sessions. Planned work for tracking, obedience, and protection.
• Metrics. The numbers and notes you will collect.
• Review. What to keep, what to change, and what to stop.

New handlers often try to fix everything at once. The IGP planning workbook keeps you focused on a few high value improvements. You build strength one layer at a time.

Weekly Training Schedule Template

Consistency wins in IGP. Your schedule inside the IGP planning workbook balances frequency and recovery.

• Tracking. Two to four sessions per week, with one longer track and one technical session focused on corners and articles.
• Obedience. Three to five short, intense sessions per week, plus one proofing session with distraction.
• Protection. One to two sessions per week, spaced to allow recovery, with controlled drive building and clear outs.

Each entry records location, weather, field conditions, and helper availability. Over time, patterns emerge. You will see how wind, cover, and moisture affect scent work. You will learn which obedience drills sharpen focus before protection days. This is the power of a proper IGP planning workbook.

Daily Session Flow

Every daily page in the IGP planning workbook uses the same flow. You warm up, you work, you cool down, and you review.

• Warm up. Engagement games, simple focus, and a short pattern that cues work mode.
• Main work. One new layer or a focused proofing challenge. Keep it short and crisp.
• Cool down. Calm behaviour, transport routine, and a return to neutral. End with success.
• Quick review. One win, one lesson, one change for next time.

This rhythm helps new handlers train with intent. It protects the dog from confusion and stress, and it keeps motivation high.

Tracking Module

Tracking is a skill that rewards patience. The IGP planning workbook breaks tracking into clear steps.

• Footstep food placement and line handling.
• Track starts with neutral posture.
• Corner control and speed management.
• Article indication that is still and confident.
• Length, cross tracks, and variable surfaces.

Each session page asks for track length, number of corners, article count, wind, cover, and recovery score. You also record head position, pace, and re casts. A Smart Master Dog Trainer can review these notes with you and adjust the plan using the Smart Method principles of clarity, pressure and release, and motivation.

Obedience Module

Obedience in IGP blends precision and expression. The IGP planning workbook shows you how to build both. Start with a strong engagement routine and a clear marker system. Layer in position changes, heeling, recalls, retrieves, and the send away. The workbook keeps your reps tight and purposeful. It guides your use of rewards so the dog learns when it will earn reinforcement and when it must hold criteria under light pressure.

We record latency, rate of reinforcement, and error types. We also track environmental stress. This gives you an honest picture of reliability in real life. Smart Dog Training uses this data to decide when to add distraction, when to raise accountability, and when to step back and rebuild clarity.

Protection Module

Protection requires control, confidence, and clean outs. The IGP planning workbook makes this complex picture simple. You plan the helper picture, the drive state you want, and the key skills for the day. You record barking quality, grip quality, guarding stillness, and the speed and commitment of the out. You also note handler neutrality and the effect of your body language on the dog.

We follow pressure and release throughout protection. Fair pressure builds responsibility. Clean release with timely reward builds trust and motivation. The workbook shows new handlers how to get this balance right in a safe, progressive way.

Metrics That Matter

Good decisions need good data. The IGP planning workbook focuses on metrics that link to outcomes.

• Tracking. Track length, corner success rate, article indication duration, and re cast count.
• Obedience. Heel focus duration, sit and down latency, retrieve return speed, and recall commitment.
• Protection. Bark rate, grip depth, out latency, and guarding posture.

We also record markers used, reward type, and pressure level. Over each twelve week block, you will see clear improvement. If progress stalls, the workbook points to the cause. You change one variable at a time and re test. That is the Smart Method in action.

Troubleshooting and Decision Trees

New handlers need simple, confident choices. The IGP planning workbook includes troubleshooting pages with decision trees. For example, if your dog breaks on the out, follow the branch that checks clarity of the command, reward timing, and line position. If head drops on the track, follow the branch that checks food placement, surface pressure, and rest days. You make one change, you test it, and you record the result. This prevents emotional training and keeps progress calm and steady.

Trial Preparation Checklists

When trial day is close, the IGP planning workbook shifts to preparation. You get a full checklist for each phase and for the full day.

• Gear checklist. Line, long line, pins, harness, collars, articles, dumbbells, leash, and reward items.
• Field checklist. Warm up routine, gate entry, judge greeting, and exit plan.
• Dog checklist. Hydration, rest, toilet schedule, and crate setup.
• Handler checklist. Cues, posture, breathing, and mental rehearsal.

We also include a timeline for the week before the trial and the night before. You run your routines exactly as you will on the day. On trial morning, you open the IGP planning workbook and follow each step with calm confidence.

Mindset and Handler Skills

IGP is as much about the handler as the dog. The IGP planning workbook includes mindset prompts so you stay composed. You will practice a short breath pattern, a simple visual routine, and a positive self talk script. You will also define a recovery plan after any error. The goal is not perfection. It is control, trust, and a return to criteria. This is how Smart Dog Training coaches new handlers to win under pressure.

How to Use Marker Training in the Workbook

The Smart Method relies on clear markers. Your IGP planning workbook standardises your words and their meaning. One marker pays food at source. One marker ends work and releases. One marker says good but keep going. You will write these on the inside cover and use them in every plan. This builds the clarity pillar that drives fast learning.

Progression Without Confusion

Progression is more than doing more. It is adding the right challenge at the right time. The IGP planning workbook gives you a scale for distraction, duration, and difficulty. You move one point at a time. You never raise all three in the same session. This protects confidence and keeps behaviour clean. When your notes show stable performance at level three, you try level four. If errors jump, you return to level three and rebuild. Simple and effective.

Working With a Smart Trainer

Some teams prefer guidance from the start. You can use your IGP planning workbook with a local Smart trainer for tailored oversight. Your trainer reviews entries, sets next steps, and coaches handling skills in person. Ready to turn your dog’s behaviour around? Book a Free Assessment and connect with a certified Smart Master Dog Trainer - available across the UK.

Real Life Reliability

IGP success depends on behaviour that holds anywhere. The IGP planning workbook builds this by taking training into new places. You will schedule field days, club days, and solo practice. You will proof skills with other dogs, helpers, and judge pressure. You will record how the dog responds. Smart Dog Training then uses that data to guide the next week so progress is never random.

Common Mistakes New Handlers Avoid With the Workbook

• Over training without rest. The schedule plans recovery so intensity stays high.
• Changing too many variables at once. The templates limit changes so you can see cause and effect.
• Chasing points instead of skills. Goals focus on behaviour and quality, not just scores.
• Inconsistent markers and cues. The marker page fixes this from day one.
• Skipping foundation because the dog is keen. The plan protects foundations while building power.

Case Flow Example

Here is how a new handler might use the IGP planning workbook during a single week.

• Focus. Clean out in drive and stable heel focus during helper approach.
• Tracking session. Two corners, three articles, light wind. Dog shows one re cast at corner two. Adjust food at next session.
• Obedience session. Three short heel runs with off field distraction. Reward on return to eye contact. Latency improves by point two seconds by day three.
• Protection session. Helper sets clear picture. Dog grips full and out within two seconds on first rep, one second on third rep. Record success and plan short session next time to preserve quality.

By Friday, notes show progress in all three areas. The next week keeps the same focus but adds light judge pressure in obedience. This is planned, predictable growth.

When the Workbook Says Stop

Honest notes protect the dog. If signals show fatigue or the dog is flat, the IGP planning workbook will tell you to reduce intensity, change the picture, or rest. That is not failure. It is good training. Smart Dog Training teaches new handlers to respect recovery so performance stays healthy and strong.

How SMDTs Coach You Through the Workbook

Across the UK, a Smart Master Dog Trainer uses the same templates you have at home. That shared system lets a trainer read your notes and make precise calls. They can see your pressure and release timing, your reward schedule, and your handling influence. They will adjust your plan and show you how to apply the Smart Method more clearly. This partnership turns a good IGP planning workbook into a powerful engine for results.

Getting Started With Your Workbook

Start simple. Write your season goal. Choose a twelve week block. Fill the first week with three sessions and two short reviews. Commit to five minutes of notes after each session. Within a month, you will feel calmer and more in control. Your dog will be clearer, more motivated, and more accountable. That is the Smart Method working through your IGP planning workbook.

FAQs

What makes an IGP planning workbook different from a basic training log

A basic log records what you did. An IGP planning workbook from Smart Dog Training tells you what to do next and why. It links goals, sessions, metrics, and reviews using the Smart Method. That means clarity, pressure and release, motivation, progression, and trust guide every step.

Can a brand new team start with this workbook

Yes. The templates are built for new handlers. You begin with simple engagement and position work, short tracks, and controlled protection pictures. The workbook shows when to progress so you do not over face the dog.

How often should I write in the workbook

After every session. It takes five minutes. Quick, honest notes drive good decisions. Over time, those notes become a map of what works for your dog.

Do I need a trainer to use the workbook

No. The IGP planning workbook stands on its own. That said, working with a Smart Master Dog Trainer can speed up results. They will read your notes and refine your plan with expert eyes.

How does the workbook help on trial day

You follow familiar routines. Your warm up, entry, cues, and recovery are already written. You have gear and field checklists, a handler mindset script, and a timeline. You arrive ready and calm.

Will this help with a high drive dog

Yes. High drive dogs thrive with clarity and structure. The Smart Method plans short, intense work with fair pressure and clear release. Your IGP planning workbook keeps that balance so drive becomes focus, not chaos.

Can I use the workbook across multiple titles

Yes. The framework scales from early foundations through higher levels. You will set new season goals and reuse the same progression logic to maintain quality while adding challenge.

Conclusion

Your dog deserves a plan that builds clarity, motivation, and trust. An IGP planning workbook gives new handlers a proven system to reach their goals. Built on the Smart Method and used daily by Smart Dog Training teams, it transforms scattered effort into steady, measurable progress. If you want confidence on the field and reliability in real life, start planning the Smart way. Your future self will thank you and your dog will too.

Your dog deserves training that truly works. With certified Smart Master Dog Trainers SMDTs nationwide, you'll get proven results backed by the UK's most trusted dog training network. Find a Trainer Near You