FAMILY DOG INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED | view beginner family dog classes
The next step in Family Dog Manners
Manners class for friendly family dogs
12 Weeks, $225
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The series is divided into four 3-week modules, each dedicated to a core concept. This is an opportunity to build on what you learned in our Basic Skills Series, for your goal of the perfect canine companion.
Family Dog Intermediate
Challenging & Fun Next Step after Family Dog Basic Skills Series
6 Weeks, $150
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Put you and your dog to the ultimate test with a series of challenging games. Do you think you have a stable stay? How about a reliable recall that races the clock? Can your loose leash walking survive the obstacle course of doom and distractions? Take this class to find out! There’ll be plenty of time for actual training, too.
Prep for the test
Part of Family Dog Intermediate Skill Series
3 Weeks, $60
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The Canine Good Citizen test was started in 1989 by the American Kennel Club as a way of recognizing basic training. The test is open for all breeds and mixes. The test items are meant to be similar to skills that would be useful in every day life (walking through a crowd, stay while the handler walks away, sit for petting).
Polite in public
Part of Family Dog Intermediate Skill Series
3 Weeks, $60
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Whether walking in a crowd, passing strangers on the sidewalk, settling on the patio of your favorite restaurant, this class will help your dog learn the manners needed to succeed while out and about.
Perfecting known behaviors
Part of Family Dog Intermediate Skill Series
3 Weeks, $60
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Challenge your dog with harder & varied distractions. This module focuses on improving your polite greetings, recalls, stays, and walking skills. Dogs will be challenged with harder and varied distractions, learn to go longer between rewards, and to be able to continue working as rewards are faded out.
Distance Work
Part of Family Dog Intermediate Skill Series
3 Weeks, $60
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Build reliable off leash control with this exciting class. Activities in Off Leash Control include sending your dog in a specific direction, recalls, changing positions at a distance, and off leash walking.
Three Week Modules
Training for competition or just for fun
3 Weeks, $75
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Rally and obedience are dog sports that combine skills needed for basic manners (walking, stays, recalls) and more training challenges (retrieves, scent work, jumping). The emphasis is on teamwork between the dog and handler and working on these skills will improve your relationship with your dog even if you do not currently have an interest in competing.
All of our classes meet weekly for 50 minutes at the same time (e.g., Tuesdays from 7:00-7:50 pm). The 10 minute transition time between classes is necessary to allow dogs from the previous class to leave and from the incoming class to arrive and settle without feeling rushed.
When you register for a class you will see the start date (e.g., “Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00 pm), and know that your class will meet at that time for the number of weeks specified (e.g., Tuesdays at 7pm for 3 consecutive weeks).
At times, there will be skip dates for holidays or other events. They are normally posted before you register, so the posted date may say something like this: “Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00 pm (Skip November 13)”. If there are skip dates, you do not lose a class; you merely skip that week and class continues the following week.
On rare occasions we have to skip a class after you have registered, your trainer will notify you in class, or will send out an email with the information.
No, unfortunately we do not offer make ups. Most of our classes are offered as 3-week modules that can be taken in any order, so if you know you will have to miss a week or two, you might consider skipping that module and signing up for it when it is offered at a different time.
Come to class next week! Although the content builds from week to week, you will still be able to participate in class and improve your training skills even if you missed a class.
Dogs enter our classes with a wide variety of prior training and experiences. Some dogs have had lots of prior training with a handler who has trained many dogs using positive reinforcement methods previously. Other dogs are brand new to the household or are young dogs. We encourage teams to judge progress relative to where you were previously, not relative to others. If you have questions about how to best spend your outside of class training time, please ask your instructor during class.