February schedule

A dog’s behavior matters. That’s true whether you are competing with your dog or just want a wonderful family companion. Understanding where your dog’s behavior comes from matters, too – and that’s exactly what this course will explore.

Although resource guarding of food objects is a normal behavior in dogs, it can escalate to an abnormal state, which is of great concern to members of the household, both human and other pets. It can also manifest with other items, places, and people. In my experience, this often comes from a state of anxiety. In this class, you will learn to identify any subtle signs of guarding, to identify your dogs’ thresholds and how it can change from moment to moment, and how to manage and modify the behavior to reduce risk and injury.

Do you dread going outside to train, knowing that your dog is going to be head down, sniffing at the first chance that they get?

This class is an intensive dive into the geeky side of Canine Fitness and Conditioning training. We’ll look at relevant biology and biomechanics, anatomy and physiology terms, relevant training theory and application, dog structural and fitness analysis, analyzing and improving form, how and when to progress exercises, and how to select appropriate exercises for a dog and its life.

Learn how to care for your canine athlete while training, resting, or on the day of a big event. This class will focus on teaching you the skill of using your hands to work soft tissue to increase circulation, reduce healing time, and keep your dog feeling good between events and training sessions.

Are you overwhelmed trying to come up with or at a loss for new ideas to stimulate your furry friend’s little mind? Is the weather too hot or miserable outside but your dog has too much energy to stay inside? Well, it's time to unleash their inner Einstein with our class on teaching cognitive skills to dogs! We'll show you how to train your pup to read, yes READ! They'll be reading War and Peace in no time. Okay, maybe not War and Peace, but we'll definitely start with some basic words and build from there.

You've trained the behaviors down to the tiniest of detail and are now ready to show them off to the world. This class will help you prepare for the distractions that await you in any environment you can imagine. We will discuss how to know if a behavior is ready to undergo the pressures of distraction, how to evaluate your environment as well as your dog's mental state, how to create patterns to set your dog up for success as well as work through a never ending list of games to play on the quest for distraction domination.

Building Bravery is a six-week, game-based class designed to help dogs grow confident, curious, and optimistic in the face of new challenges. Using play, communication, and trust-building exercises, you’ll discover how fun it can be to turn worry into wonder and hesitation into resilience.

This class teaches control and handler focus suitable for a variety of dog sports. Using structured games, handlers will work on impulse control, focus, and responsiveness in the presence of distractions.

Do you have a dog that chases the ball, yet won’t bring it back? Plays keep away with toys? Tugs but won’t let go? Bites you instead of the tug? Obsesses over toys, yet won’t listen to a single thing you say? Is your dog so high in drive for toys that they can’t think? Or do you just want to channel that prey drive right from the beginning and add the attitude your dog has for tugging or chasing toys to the obedience or agility ring?

Dock diving is a sport with unlimited opportunities to fine tune your dog’s skills and your own handler strategies! But when you only have a limited amount of time on the dock each week to practice, how do you make the most of that time?

Nosework is easily the hottest new sport around, and it’s easy to see why! It’s fun for humans, dogs love to participate, and it’s good for building confidence and focus in dogs that have issues like shyness, reactivity, aggression, or a simple lack of confidence. Any dog can participate; from puppies to very old or retired dogs. In a matter of weeks, you’ll see your dog confidently ignoring distractions and focusing on the target scent; and by the end of the course, many of the dogs will be ready to compete for their ORT.