Live Dog Training Course Catalog
In Home Private Lessons

Puppy class is for dogs 10 weeks to 6 month old. They need to have their second series of shots completed and shot records are required at your first class. You can also fax me the shot records before class.

Puppy class covers: socialization (learning how to interact with strange people and strange dogs); group recalls (calling the dog to you and away from other dogs that they are playing with); problem solving (biting, chewing, digging, jumping, stealing, barking and housebreaking); motivational training (teach heel, sit, down, stand, recall, finish and send out using toys, praise and play as a reward); boundary training (teaches the dog not to run into the street; it can also be used not to run out the front door, the garage, or to stay out of certain rooms in the house); and a little grooming, first aid and nutrition.

Basic Obedience is the starting point for training dogs 6 months and older. Yes, even dogs 8 years and older can still learn.

The commands in the basic obedience class are: heeling or walking on a loose leash, there are five turns associated with heeling; sit, down, and stand; stay in all three of these positions with distractions (such as people, toys, other animals or anything that can cause a dog to break the command); recall (dog runs to you and faces you); the finish (dog moves from a front sit to your left side); figure 8 (where you are able to move in and around obstacles, with the dog in the heel position on your left side, without sniffing the obstacle or taking a short cut).

The next level takes the Basic commands and expands on these skills. By teaching the dog in progressive steps, we get to our goal of off leash training a few simple steps at a time.

The commands in the intermediate obedience class are: introduction of off leash heeling; sit, down, and stand out of motion (you walk or run, give your dog one of the three commands, and the dog will freeze in that position as you move away); down on a recall (you call your dog to you and as the dog is running to you, give the down command and the dog freezes in the down position); down out of play (the dog is in an excited, playful state and drops when you give the down command); introduction of send out (dog runs away from you to a pre-designated spot); off leash recalls (dog runs to you from across the yard and passes another dog who is running to their owner, and sits down in front of you).

You 're almost there!

The commands in the Advanced Obedience class are: introduction of off leash heeling; sit, down, and stand out of motion (you walk or run, give your dog one of the three commands, and the dog will freeze in that position as you move away); down on a recall (you call your dog to you and as the dog is running to you, give the down command and the dog freezes in the down position); down out of play (the dog is in an excited, playful state and drops when you give the down command); introduction of send out (dog runs away from you to a pre-designated spot); off leash recalls (dog runs to you from across the yard and passes another dog who is running to their owner, and sits down in front of you).

In the Advanced Class we do all of the above commands in an off leash environment with as many distractions as possible

The agility course is an AKC regulation course which includes: 12' dog-walk, A-frame, teeter, table, solid tunnel, collapsed tunnel, weave poles, tire jump, high jump, bar jumps, winged jumps, and broad jump. (I also have the window jump and a selection of jumps from the police agility course.)

The class will be an ongoing format, which means you can audit the class on your schedule. If you miss any classes, you can make them up. We will not be pushing for competition; the class will be designed for a fun activity that challenges you and your dog.
------------------------------------------------------------
The Group Classes are ongoing, so you can start this week! (Unless its raining or it's a holiday weekend)
=========================================================

Behavior Modification

For extreme behaviors like aggression or problem behaviors like housebreaking or destructive behaviors.

Dog to dog aggression and dog to people aggression generally take somewhere between 16 and 24 weeks to be at a point of resolution you will be comfortable with. These behaviors will require consistant practice on your part. Meeting once a week and doing simple exercises during the week are required on your part.

As you know, extreme behaviors have normally developed over the course of time and have become ingrained habits in the dog. The only way to fix these problem is through a combination of reworking the response to the triggers and desensitizing the dogs reactions towards those stimuli.

Most extreme cases take any where between 16 and 24 weeks to reach a point where you are comfortable with the situation. I normally offer these classes in sessions of eight weeks each. In an eight week course I can get your dog responding to the training and I can introduce the tools used to resolve the problem. In most cases you will have the knowledge to use these tools to reach your goal without me, but you will need a helper of some type to assist in your practice sessions.

• 8 week Basic Modification (Short Course to get your dog responding and introducing you to the tools to resolve the issue and understand how to use them.)
• 16 week Intermediate Modification (Jump Start Course to get to a point where you should have a pretty good handle on the situation and in some cases a solution.)
• 24 week Advanced Modification (Complete Course is enough time to resolve some the most extreme cases I've worked with. From experience you should be very happy with the progress your dog has made.)

Tracking And Area Search

8 week Basic Tracking (Short Course)
16 week Intermediate Tracking (Jump Start)
24 week Advanced Tracking (Complete Course)

------------------------------------------------------------
The Tracking Classes are Private Lessons and are by far the best way to train your dog because we can control the environment and work with you every step of the way. With control over the distractions or other problems, we can advance you and your dog faster than with any other method.
=========================================================

The Puppy Pak is designed for those situations where the vet has recommended that the puppy not enter a group class until all of the shots have been completed.
The Puppy Pak is an eleven week course. We get together for 3 in-home visits, once a week for about an hour. During that hour, I show you how to train your dog. You also get the 8 week group Puppy class which covers: socialization (learning how to interact with strange people and strange dogs); group recalls (calling the dog to you and away from other dogs that they are playing with); problem solving (biting, chewing, digging, jumping, stealing, barking and housebreaking); motivational training (teach heel, sit, down, stand, recall, finish and send out using toys, praise and play as a reward); boundary training (teaches the dog not to run into the street; it can also be used to teach not to run out the front door, the garage, or to stay out of certain rooms in the house); and a little grooming, first aid and nutrition.

We can also work on any problem solving you may have with the dog around the house, as well as help you set up the perfect situation to manage your dog's life. These services include setting up dog runs, dog doors, hidden fence areas, or safe play areas for the animals.

The Obedience Pak is a 12 week course. We get together for 4 in-home visits, once a week, for about an hour. During that hour, I show you how to train your dog. Then you get 8 sessions in the group class to proof your training in a distractive atmosphere. The exercises we cover are: attention; targeting (moving the dog to a desired position without force; motivational training (training in an excited emotional state); heel (walking on a loose leash); 5 turns with heeling; sit, down, and stand; stay in all three of those positions (with distractions); the recall (the dog runs to you and sits facing you); the finish (the dog moves from a front sit to your left side); and figure 8 (you are able to move in and around obstacles, with the dog in heel position on your left side, without sniffing the obstacle or taking a short cut).

We can also work on any problem solving you may have with the dog around the house, as well as help you set up the perfect situation to manage your dogs life. These services include setting up dog runs, dog doors, hidden fence areas, or safe play areas for the animals.

We begin by you sending me some information about your dog and your issues. Then we hook up by telephone with your list of pre-arranged questions (this helps so you don't lose time). You can record the call and even follow up with one or two e-mail questions.

A lot of people ask me if a Phone Consultation can really solve all their dog behavioral issues. I mean how much can you really get done in one hour? In fact, you'd be amazed at how many issues can be addressed in that amount of time.

======================