GROUP TRAINING WORKSHOPS

Are daily walks a bit stressful instead of a relaxing time to bond with your dog? Do you wish you could take your dog more places, but once you start walking you lose your connections?  

This 1 1/2 hour workshop will, perhaps surprisingly, focus on not using the leash so much to control your dog. Instead, it will focus on teaching your dog where to be and how to stay connected to you, whether your pup is on or off leash.  

You will learn to: 

• encourage your dog to stay connected around distractions 

• employ a wide variety of rewards and use them effectively 

• respond in situations in which your dog is pulling or barking 

• plan outings to set your team up for success 

• avoid common problems and pitfalls 

· use the leash as a safety and management tool and not as a way to communicate or punish

We all love our dogs deeply and we all, also, want to build our dogs’ trust in us throughout their whole lives.  We want our dogs to understand that we are trustworthy, kind and always ready to reward them for following our lead.  As we build up our bonds with our dogs, our connection increases, our dogs’ behavior becomes more reliable and prompt, and our dogs become more willing to try new things with us.    

This workshop is ideal for teams looking to take their work to the next level, whether in a sport, dog therapy work or just getting more coordinated together in the house, park or at family gatherings.     

This 1 1/2 hour seminar-style workshop will focus on these major areas:   

•  teach humans how to observe canine behavior  

•  teach humans to respond to their dog’s feelings and needs effectively  

•  teach humans to be more fun with a repertoire of games and exercises so that the dog will be more consistent  

•  develop a wide variety of ways to reward dogs in order to motivate and encourage them effectively  

•  teach the dog that all humans are reliable, trustworthy, fair and fun  

•  teach the dog that they can trust their humans when they are asked to try something new 

With the pandemic having limited our options for bringing our dogs to new places, many of us are struggling with dogs that are great at home and with family but are highly distracted and over-energized when we take them outside the house.  Now is a great time to take the opportunity to learn some strategies for improving your dog’s behavior in new settings and around distractions. Make progress on your goal of having a well-mannered dog you can take more places with less stress!     

This 1 1/22 hour workshop will focus on teaching your dog how to stay connected to you around distractions.    

You will learn to:   

• encourage your dog to stay connected  around distractions  

• employ a wide variety of rewards and use  them effectively  • respond to situations in which your dog is pulling or barking  

• plan outings to set your team up for success  

• avoid common problems and pitfalls 

Would you like your dog to be able to experience the world in an interested way without being out of control? A dog’s ability to connect with you over the environment is an important concept.  We will address managing a dog’s threshold levels, the benefits of impulse control and fun games to help build these skills.     

This 1 1/2 hour workshop is great for any team of any level or experience as teams will be separated into groups.     

You will learn to:    

• recognize and understand how your dog communicates   

• understand how your dog communicates   

• how to read their emotional needs in different environments 

Recall involves a more complex request of a dog than we sometimes realize.  We all want dogs that come promptly when we call, but sometimes that behavior breaks down.    

This will focus on having fun with your dog while learning the concepts and methods that will allow you to build a more reliable recall over time.    

You will learn the principles of a strong recall, breaking down each piece of the behavior with games and activities to practice.  Each team will learn where they are strong and where they need to focus. 

 This is a 1 1/2 hour  workshop that prepares you and your dog for the AKC canine good citizen (CGC) test. The AKC's CGC Program is designed to recognize dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. There are 10 required skills that you and your dog must perform to pass the test. All of the exercised are done on a leash. The test will be given by an AKC  certified evaluator at the end of the workshop.