Below you will find a list of our classes currently being offered for the upcoming training sessions. This page is updated frequently as our class offerings rotate based on the time of year. To register, click on the link below the class description.
All students must be up to date on age-appropriate vaccines and fecal testing.
Skills learned in this course include: settle on mat, desensitization to noises, sit, down, come when called, preventing resource guarding, handling skills, sit and down stay, loose leash walking, and much more!
Pop in to our open enrollment courses at any point in the curriculum! Open enrollment means that you can start at any point in the class. Our Puppy Kindergarten class is broken down in to real-life scenarios (Living Room, Kitchen, Vet, Outside Stroll, Grooming, and Cafe). Upon enrollment in this course, students will watch a virtual session prior to starting their in-person group classes. Students should complete all 6 sessions sequentially for best results.
Students will learn to train and communicate effectively with their dogs in various scenarios. Skills learned in this course include: settle on mat, desensitization to noises, sit, down, come when called, preventing resource guarding, handling skills, sit and down stay, loose leash walking, and much more!
An optional in-home session is recommended to compliment this course, and proof all of your behaviors on the environment that matters most: your home! This consultation can be added as an option during registration.
Skills learned in this course include: settle on mat, meet and greets, sit, no jumping, dog greetings, down, sit and down stays, leave it, come when called, and loose leash walking!
Pop in to our open enrollment courses at any point in the curriculum! Open enrollment means that you can start at any point in the class. Our Basic Manners class is broken down in to real-life scenarios (Meet and Greet, Home Office, Neighborhood Walk, Company for Coffee, Trip To Park, and Dinner Time). Upon enrollment in this course, students will watch a virtual session prior to starting their in-person group classes. Students should complete all 6 sessions sequentially for best results.
Students will learn to train and communicate effectively with their dogs in various scenarios. Skills learned in this course include: settle on mat, meet and greets, sit, no jumping, dog greetings, down, sit and down stays, leave it, come when called, and loose leash walking!
An optional in-home session is recommended to compliment this course, and proof all of your behaviors on the environment that matters most: your home! This consultation can be added as an option during registration.
Do you have a Reactive Rover on leash? Does your dog bark, lunge, whine, or stress when seeing other dogs, strangers, or both? This class is for you!
Do you have a Reactive Rover on leash? Does your dog bark, lunge, whine, or stress when seeing other dogs, strangers, or both? This class is for you!
Reactive Rover provides owners with critical handling skills so they they are well equipped to deal with challenges that may arise in their communities, and provides dogs with the life skills that they need to exist comfortably and thoughtfully in environments that previous provoked anxiety and heightened arousal levels and reactivity.
Students will learn to create positive feedback loops where there were only negative ones. Your dog will learn that the wide, wide world is still an unpredictable place but that he/she can rely on you to keep them safe. They will develop a new behavioral repertoire to meet that unpredictability, and that will take the second-guessing out of everything you do with your dog.
This is a 6 week course meeting once weekly for 45-60 minutes.
Control Unleashed is a continuing training program designed to help dogs learn to relax, focus, and work reliably in either stimulating or stressful situations.
Learn how to turn stress to confidence and distraction to focus using Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed Exercises. Control Unleashed is a continuing training program designed to help dogs learn to relax, focus, and work reliably in either stimulating or stressful situations.
Despite the program title, Control Unleashed is a vigorous and fun curriculum taught while your dog is on-leash in our training center. The games and exercises in this program are designed to help you achieve your goal of transforming your dog into a focused and confident companion that can work around lots of other distractions, especially other dogs.
With an emphasis on handler focus, impulse control and coming when called in the presence of common distractions, this class is a must for those planning to participate in dog sports like agility, but also for any handler of a young, easily distracted, impulsive or insecure dog.
A Note to Reactive Dog Owners:
Minimum Pre-requisites:
This is a 6 week course meeting once weekly for 45-60 minutes.
Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program is meant as “preventive medicine” for puppy raisers. Many common behavior problems can be either prevented or minimized by starting a puppy with good foundation training from the beginning.
Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program is meant as “preventive medicine” for puppy raisers.
Many common behavior problems can be either prevented or minimized by starting a puppy with good foundation training from the beginning. In addition, this program provides a program that will help you create a puppy with the ability to focus on whatever you want, for as long as you want, whenever you want. “Paying attention” is its own skill set and teaching it should be separate from teaching your puppy more complex behaviors. Without attention, you won’t get as far as you want with all those other behaviors you’re going to teach because it’s likely they will fall apart in the face of distraction. So it is wise to teach the attention skill set as the “base of operations” for your puppy training.
The attention skill set includes: Discrimination skills, self-control skills, and arousal regulation skills. The concepts and suggestions in this book can also be used for rescue dogs that, like puppies, are starting out as “blank slates” as far as your training is concerned.
Minimum Pre-requisites:
The AKC’s Canine Good Citizen Program is designed to recognize dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. This rapidly growing nationally recognized program stresses responsible dog ownership for owners and basic training and good manners for dogs.
The AKC’s Canine Good Citizen Program is designed to recognize dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. This rapidly growing nationally recognized program stresses responsible dog ownership for owners and basic training and good manners for dogs. All dogs who pass the 10 step CGC test may receive a certificate from the American Kennel Club.
The Benefits of Training
The AKC CGC Program provides an excellent foundation for training in other fun activities such as Rally, Obedience, and Agility and results in a well-mannered dog who is a joy to live with. Some therapy dog groups require passing the CGC Test as a prerequisite, some insurance companies recommend CGC training, and an increasing number of apartments and condos are requiring CGC training for resident dogs.
The AKC CGC Prep Course is a 6 week class which includes the cost of the CGC Evaluation at the end of the course. Skills covered include accepting a friendly stranger, sitting politely for grooming, loose leash walking, walking through a crowd, sit, down, stay, come when called, calm greetings toward other dogs, reaction to distractions and supervised separation.
Jenn Frankavitz is an AKC Approved CGC Evaluator.
This course is designed to specifically meet the training needs of “bully breed” type dogs.
This course is designed to specifically meet the training needs of “bully breed” type dogs. C.L.A.S.S., or Canine Life and Social Skills, is an educational program to promote training focused on the use of positive reinforcement and to strengthen relationships between humans and their canine companions. C.L.A.S.S. is a three-level evaluation for dog owners to demonstrate the real-life skills of their dogs, as well as a knowledge assessment of the owners’ understanding of basic dog handling and care.
The three levels of the program are named after human university degree programs: the B.A. for Dogs™ (Bachelor’s level), the M.A. for Dogs™ (Master’s level), and the Ph.D. for Dogs™ (Doctorate level). The skills in each level vary in the level of difficulty and distractions. For example, at the B.A. level, we allow the use of treats as rewards after the completion of an exercise, and some of the “real life” skills that are assessed are waiting at the door, drop it, and settle. In the M.A. level, dogs are asked to walk past several dogs of different sizes, breeds and genders, to wait in the car before exiting, and to allow the student to handle various parts of their body. And in the Ph.D. level, students must carry everyday objects such as a cardboard box or paper sack while walking their dogs on a loose leash, ask their dogs to back up, and have their dog demonstrate table manners during a simulated dinner session. Each level also allows for two “bonus rounds” that students may elect to try or not with their dog.
Young or senior, pure bred or mixed breed, any dog will enjoy trick training! Trick training is one of the best ways to build a fun, engaging, loving relationship with your dog!
Young or senior, pure bred or mixed breed, any dog will enjoy trick training! Trick training is one of the best ways to build a fun, engaging, loving relationship with your dog. Dogs of any age and breed(s) can participate in tricks. During classes, a variety of reward based training methods will be used to elicit behaviours. Trick training not only builds your relationship, it provides much needed mental stimulation and can increase your dog’s confidence and self-esteem.
We will help you and your pup learn many tricks (including Spin, Take A Bow, Say Your Prayers, Hoop Jump, Soccer, Crawl and many more!) that you can practice anywhere and anytime. Help your dog learn to focus in all situations, build a strong bond with your dog or just impress your friends. All tricks can be modified to you or your dog’s specific needs, skills or personality which will increase his/her success and fun!
Upon completing the Novice Trick Dog Class, dogs and handlers can qualify for their NTD (Novice Trick Dog) title from the international Do More With Your Dog organization. We will witness your title and submit all the paperwork and payment for you! All you have to do it sit back and enjoy the wonderful tricks your dog has learned, while waiting for your title certification to arrive in the mail.
Once a dog has completed the Novice Trick Dog class or received their Novice Trick Dog title they are able to join our Intermediate Trick Dog class to work toward earning their ITD (Intermediate Trick Dog) title! Subsequently, dogs who achieve their Intermediate Trick Title are eligible for Advanced Trick Dog class as well.
The focus of this topics class is polite walking on leash, particularly in the presence of distractions.
The focus of this topics class is polite walking on leash, particularly in the presence of distractions. Loose leash walking, leave it, and go for it will be practiced with various distractions to give guardians more control when walking their dogs in their neighborhood or around town. This class consists of a series of 3 sessions, one hour each in length, and an optional fieldtrip as a 4th session.
It is recommended that students have completed Puppy Kindergarten or Basic Manners class prior to attending this course.
Can you imagine telling your dog, “Let’s go to the vet!” and seeing her tail wag? How about getting out your cat’s carrier and seeing him come running?
Can you imagine telling your dog, “Let’s go to the vet!” and seeing her tail wag? How about getting out your cat’s carrier and seeing him come running?
Pet owners won’t need to imagine it if they work with Four Leggers on Fear Free handling techniques. That’s because they are part of a new initiative sweeping veterinary medicine designed to ease the stress, fear, and anxiety so many pets experience while at the veterinarian.
Known as Fear FreeSM, the training and certification program helps veterinarians modify their procedures, handling, and facilities to help pets feel safe and comfortable while receiving the medical care they need.
Founded by veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker, the Fear Free Certification Program was developed by board-certified veterinary behaviorists, veterinary technician behavior specialists, board-certified veterinary anesthetists, well-known veterinary practice management experts, and board-certified veterinary practitioners experienced in Fear Free methods.
