December schedule

Does your dog seem uncomfortable with men? Is she afraid of the teeter, plastic bags or enclosed spaces? Does he seem stressed out? Many performance dogs (and companion dogs, too!) develop challenges like these, and solving these issues positively will hinge on your understanding of the fundamentals!

Anyone who has a fearful dog needs a thorough grounding in basic behavior modification concepts before attempting rehabilitation. How does desensitization work in real life? Is it ok to comfort a fearful dog? In this course we will go over the fundamentals of fear in dogs, what we often do as owners that makes it worse, and modern approaches to fixing it. This will be a Silver and Bronze level course only, with lecture and discussion, and is a pre-requisite for the Practical Applications course. 

This class has a TA (teaching assistant) for bronze and silver students!

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.

Bring the power of Control Unleashed into your training with this deep dive into CU Pattern Games! Control Unleashed is a program that was founded by Leslie McDevitt to help dogs adapt to and live comfortably in our big crazy world whether they’re a family dog, a sport dog, or a working dog. Patterns allow a dog to use voluntary behaviors to initiate asimple, repetitive chain that creates a predictable pattern. This will help to normalize the environment and allow the dog to process information from the safety of the pattern.

Is your dog worried about the noises around her? This class is for you! Whether the issue is in your house with your dog barking at the sounds outside, or you have a dog that can't go out because buildings creak and doors slam, this class can help. If your dog barks at what he hears and stresses up, or shakes and withdraws and stresses down, we can work to make him feel more at ease. Noise issues tend to get worse if we don't step in and help, so dogs really need us to have a solid plan to intervene and help them through this emotional challenge!

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.