Each time your staff step onto the daycare floor, there are two group management skills that may be missing.
Intentional movement. Staff should be moving in a continuous flow throughout the room. It should be as natural as possible and serve a purpose. Movement feeds movement and allows a breakup of attention and arousal.
Handlers should be present within their groups, not just relying on obedience commands, but owning the space purposefully. This will look like moving through and around each dog in group, moving in between dogs to break up mingling or play, and checking in visually with each dog in group. Handlers should be repeating this throughout the day, especially when the environment changes in the form of moving the groups inside/outside, new dogs or people entering the group, arousal spikes, etc.
This means no more benches, stools, chairs, or posting up in groups!
Handing out gold stars. Handlers in groups look for dogs to respond to them throughout the day when they work on things like recall, group sits/downs, and different obedience activities. One major thing handlers in groups many times miss is capturing moments where dogs offer us engagement for FREE. There are also many moments in a group where dogs may offer us “nothing,” or moments where they are disengaged from other dogs. A skilled handler notices these moments and takes advantage of them. Mark and reward dogs with food if you use it in group, or with verbal praise and engagement.
This is going to be particularly important to notice with our active or high-arousal dogs. They value play and interaction with other dogs, but we can teach them to value the handler by being and staying just as engaged with the group as we want them to engage with us! Our dogs will be much more willing to give us frequent engagement when we empower them to naturally make the decision themselves!
Sometimes the best technique for handling groups is to remain present and purposeful within them. We can create natural engagement through intentional movement and shaping or capturing dogs’ behaviors as they offer them to us.
Last Updated on September 25, 2026