Class Descriptions

Puppy Socialization and Training – Puppy PLUS
PLUS stands for Puppies Learning Useful Skills. Open only to very young puppies. Puppies can be registered starting at 8 weeks and no later than 14 weeks of age. Puppy PLUS is different from traditional puppy classes:

• Open enrollment. You can start any week that has an open spot and continue for six consecutive weeks.
• Each of the self-contained weekly lessons is designed to address socialization, skills and the value of calm behavior and self-control for your pup!
• Different topics for each week. We will cover lessons about the home environment and visitors, manners in the kitchen, vet care and grooming, children and dogs, going for a walk, and safety.

Puppy PLUS is a six-session class (one session weekly) and costs $150.

Household Manners
The Mind Your Manners series of classes are our core training curriculum for basic household manners. Dogs can join these classes at any age – starting at 17 weeks:

• Mind Your Manners 1: Foundations is the entry point for all dogs who haven’t had much in the way of formal training and for puppies who have graduated our Puppy PLUS program. 
• Mind Your Manners 2: Intermediate is for dogs who have had formal training before but need help building reliability and responsiveness and for dogs who graduated from our Foundations class.
• Mind Your Manners 3/CGC preparation is our advanced household manners class. Focus is on assessing current readiness and preparing you to test for AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC). The test will be offered a week after the last session of the class. Class participants have the option to sign up for testing.

All levels of Mind Your Manners are six-session classes (once weekly for one hour) and cost $150. CGC testing is $30.

• Mind Your Manners 1 – condensed: offered in the summer months only, this class will cover all behaviors taught in our traditional Mind Your Manners 1 class. However, it will be held two times weekly for 3 consecutive weeks to more easily accommodate summer travel plans.

Dog Training for Families
You are welcome to bring a child 7 and up to most of our classes – but let’s face it, kids often get bored when the focus is completely on the dog for the entire hour. For that reason we teamed up with Four Legged Scholars and developed Family Dog – a class built around kids and their best buddies:

Family Dog

• Designed for kids between 6 and 9 years of age with one guardian.
• Teaches kids how to be the best friend they can be to their dog by addressing both our responsibilities but also what we can offer the dogs to make their life more fun.
• Dogs stay home the first session and we will learn how to recognize important body language clues and how to teach a dog new things.
• Other skills we learn in this class are appropriate behavior around dogs, how to avoid becoming the chew toy, and many more.
• Kids will learn to teach their dogs some basic skills and tricks.

Family Dog will be taught in 4 sessions: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday morning from 10-11:30am. Cost for the class is $175 per one child and dog, if you would like to bring two children in the same age range to work with your dog, the fee will be $85 for the second child.

Please fill out and submit the form here to find out more about this class and get signed up.

Special Skills
Got the basics but need a little work on a specific skill? Each of our special skills classes focuses one important behavior.

• Leash Manners: Become a great walking team and enjoy your outings together.
• Come When Called: Critical to your dog’s safety, a reliable recall really is achievable.
• Visitor Greetings: For those over-enthusiastic greeters who just can’t help themselves from mugging visitors.

Leash Manners and Come When Called are three-week classes and cost $90. Visitor Greetings is a four-week class and costs $120.

Pop Up Sessions
Pop Up Sessions are offered for a number of topics ranging from reviews of specific behaviors to opportunities to try something new without having to commit to a full class to “let’s have fun” with trick-training and discovering new abilities. These one-session events are often added and posted on short notice and cost $25-$30. Check in anytime to see newly added Pop Ups!

Chill! for Reactive Dogs
Please visit our Chill! page for more information.

Specialty and Recreational Classes
We celebrate the fun of having a dog in your life. These classes are fun for both ends of the leash!

• K9 Nose Work: This class is one of our favorites. It is amazing to watch dogs do what dogs do best! Guided by John Swaney, CPDT-KA, who works search and rescue with his own dogs, your dog learns to find specific odors and alert you to them. You will learn how to read your dog and the two of you will develop a great partnership in the process. The class is for dogs starting at five months and runs six weeks. Keep strengthening your dog’s skills by continuing for consecutive six-week classes. The Introduction to K9 Nose Work costs $165 and includes an Odor Kit. All successive classes cost $150. Handlers will need to bring crates for their dogs since working dogs will often be on long lines or even off leash.
• Masterminds! For Advanced Learners: Do you want to know how smart your dog really is? This six-week class explores that question. Masterminds! is for advanced learners only. Different than a tricks class, it was developed to tap deeply into your dog’s cognitive abilities. You will use a clicker to teach your dog things like reading simple words, recognizing and selecting items by a given name, selecting items by color or shape, and copying your actions to learn a new behavior.
  Participating dogs must be over two years of age and able to stay relaxed and focused in the classroom around other dogs. Your dog needs to have a wide spectrum of reliable verbal and hand cues for basic behaviors. They need to be able to perform a minimum of six behaviors without the use of a lure. The fee is $ 165 and includes a clicker.
  Not quite ready for the Masterminds class? Try Trick for Treats to fill the gaps!
• Trick for Treats: Our Trick for Treats class was developed for the pleasure of dog training. It will challenge you to become a better dog trainer as you use capturing and shaping to put skills to the test. This class will be excellent to create a stronger, more joyful bond between you and your dog. We are offering testing throughout the year to give you a chance to earn Trick Dog Titles and bragging rights. Trick for Treats is four weeks long and costs $120.
• Therapy Dog Preparation: Want to help others and spend more time with your dog? Therapy work is so gratifying for you and your dog. Therapy Dog Preparation is a four-week class. The cost is $120.
• Rally Fit for Fun: Teams are challenged with a course of FitPAWS and other training equipment as well as obedience, tricks and games. Focus of this class is on canine fitness, enrichment and handling skills. This class is for dogs over 12 months of age with basic obedience training. Rally Fit for Fun is a six-week class and costs $150. Keep the fun going by continuing on for successive six-week classes. Class currently has a long Waiting List for participation. Please contact us to express interest.