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. 

Iliopsoas injuries are unfortunately becoming a fact in many performance dogs' lives, as well as the lives of active dogs. This course will review the reasons why so many dogs are suffering from iliopsoas issues, prevention of these problems, exercises and activities to assist in the prevention, addressing and recognizing and injury, appropriate exercises for an injury, and a safe, successful and realistic return to activities. Easy steps may be taken to assist in stacking the cards in your dogs' favor to help with the prevention of an iliopsoas problem. Dogs with predisposing factors, such as canine hip dysplasia, stifle disease, or lumbar transitionial vertebrae, should take extra steps to help them live an active and pain free life for the longest time possible. Your dog may be knocking the occasional bar in agility or refusing to walk on a slippery surface - there are many levels of iliopsoas problems and they all need to be addressed. Chronic iliopsoas problems may be associated with pelvic weaknesses or range of motion deficits. This course will not only examine the coordination of care for a dog with an iliopsoas problem but also steps to take to prevent an injury.

Want a strong, motivated retrieve of the dumbell and a good foundation for utility exercises? Join me as I teach you how to create a firm hold, the end skill in the complex retrieve chain. Our basic goal is a dog who thinks that holding skill is the best part of the whole thing, and hurries to get there when we ask for a retrieve. Importantly, we'll also be covering how to create a dog that starts the action and demands the opportunity to hold the dumbell, a crucial part of achieving total "buy in" from your learner dog. Teaching a hold is hard and sometimes we as handlers need that information from our dogs.

Interested in obedience or rally? This isn't a class full of heeling around in circles!

Do you struggle to get your dog's attention without a cookie (or toy!) in your hand? Are you tired of your dog only responding to a cue until you reach into your pocket?

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!

Did you know that the MOST important time in a dog's early career in Nosework happens AFTER they learn target odor (as in NW101) and BEFORE they start their general searching? Making mistakes now are costly. In this transition time, the dog (and handler) learns searching habits, passive indication, precision, consistency, and the ability to work in new and novel locations. THIS class forms the initial foundation to get you off onto the right track. Without these skills, a team may suffer from missed hides and false alerts and their ability to move up the levels successfully may be hampered.

This is a class about preparing our dogs for the competition or seminar environment. Over and over I see dogs that are unprepared or rehearsing behavior we don't want at seminars, classes and trials. Over time this leads to more stress from both handler and dog and I want to help out with that!