Julie Flanery, Faculty (Foundations, Freestyle, Electives)
Main info
Julie Flanery (she/her), CPDT-KA has been working professionally with dogs and their handlers since 1993. She focuses on the needs of the dog and helping people form a strong relationship, through clear communication, and positive reinforcement.
She has placed Obedience, Freestyle, Rally, Rally-FrEe, Agility, Trick Dog and Parkour titles on her dogs and has earned a Championship in Heelwork-to-Music and a Grand Championship in Freestyle and Elite Grand Championship MCL in Rally-FrEe. She has achieved both High Technical Merit and High Artistic Merit in both Freestyle and Heelwork to Music several times over, including three prestigious Attila Challenge awards, as well as several “Top H.A.T.” awards for High Scoring Heelwork, Attention and Teamwork. In 2001 she was named "Trainer of the Year" by the World Canine Freestyle Organization and has been a competition freestyle judge since 2003.
In 2012, Julie developed the sport of Rally-FrEe, combining trick and freestyle skills on a Rally style course, to help freestylers increase the quality and precision of their performances. It has since become a stand-alone sport enjoyed by dog sport enthusiasts worldwide. Julie is the author of "Joy of Heeling: Building Confidence, Enthusiasm and Precision through Games! based on her popular FDSA course Joy of Heeling: Rock it Like a Freestyler!
Pronouns: Julie goes by she/her.
Julie Flanery's current and upcoming courses
RA560 Shape Up
Shaping is the art of teaching by reinforcing small, incremental steps toward a final, goal behavior—letting the dog take the lead in the learning process. It builds problem‑solving, confidence, creativity, and true engagement. When we shape, we’re not just teaching behaviors; we’re teaching the dog how to learn, how to experiment, and how to trust that their ideas matter. It’s one of the most powerful tools we have as trainers.
F3000 The Hows and Whys of Teaching Clean Verbal Cues
3 WEEK CLASS - Have you found it challenging to help your dog grasp verbal cues? Does it seem like your dog sometimes doesn’t recognize the verbal cues you’ve taught? Or perhaps verbal cues feel less relevant to your specific sport. Understanding how to create meaningful cues is a crucial but often misunderstood aspect of training. Fully trained cues ensure that your dog consistently responds with the desired behavior whenever needed. If a behavior isn’t on cue, it’s not truly complete.
RA500 Rally Free 1
Rally-FrEe is a unique sport developed in 2012 that blends the structure of Rally with the creativity of Musical Freestyle. Originally designed to improve accuracy and precision in freestyle routines, it has since grown into a standalone sport enjoyed by dog sport enthusiasts around the world. Competitors can participate in both live and video events. To learn more, visit www.rallyfree.com.
