April 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. 

Do you have “heeling envy”? Do you see all those prancing dogs in perfect position looking up at their handlers and wish you could teach your dog THAT? Does your dog love the pivot platform, but how DO you get from there to a finished heel position with no handler “help”?

This course outlines the foundation training program developed by the instructor, Sara Brueske. This program was developed with experience training many different breeds and ages of dog to successful careers in the sports of canine disc, agility, obedience, and dock diving as well as professional trick dogs.

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.

Disc dog is an amazing sport that has a variety of elements suitable for any toy-driven dog. This hybrid “handler’s choice” course will allow each team to work on the aspects of disc dog that suit them best but will also contain a basic foundation curriculum with lectures and videos as well. All lectures will be released and the beginning of the course and can be worked on as needed. Handlers can choose a variety of topics including but not limited to foundation flatwork, jump drills, tricks, strategy for games and disc throwing.

Are you interested in dock diving and want to give your dog a great foundation before you even hit the pool? Or perhaps you’ve been to the pool with your dog and things didn’t go as well as you expected. OR maybe you are already hooked on the sport and want to make some progress during the offseason or up your dog’s game between pool rentals? Whatever your situation, this course is here to help you and your dog find joy and success in dock diving by focusing on the groundwork fundamentals.

Obedience can be fun!! Even if you are just starting your journey and think that getting past novice sounds like a pipedream, you want to start this class! Get unstuck from the boring stuff in novice and start teaching your dog (and you!) just how joyful obedience can actually be.

Searching for and retrieving antlers- either as a pursuit in the wild or for competition- is one of the fastest growing activities that appeals to a large variety of dogs. In this class, I'll provide you with a roadmap of how to get from zero experience to a fully functional shed antler hunting dog, ready for entry level trials and tests!