Puppy Start Right

Ages 8-16 weeks

Mondays in Freeport, ME (Freeport Veterinary Hospital)

Five Weekly Classes $160

Unfortunately due to issues with scheduling I am unable to offer the Puppy Start right class at this time.

For those clients looking to enroll a young (less than 16wk) old puppy in a socialization program feel free to check out any of the local trainers listed below for great offerings!

• Good Dogz Training (Nancy Freedman Smith) www.gooddogztraining.com

• Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland https://arlgp.org/behavior-training/dog-training/

• Freeport Veterinary Hospital https://www.freeportvet.com/services/training-services

Puppy 2: Entering Adolescence (and Surviving!)

For Puppies Ages 3-6mo (at start of class)

Wednesdays in Brunswick, ME (at Midcoast Humane Society)

Six Weekly Classes $200

Adolescence is a DIFFICULT time, and a unique learning period for our dog. Caught in the transition from “puppies” to “teenagers” it can difficult to know where to START with these pups.

This class is specifically designed for puppies entering adolescence, ages 3-6mo and is a hybrid life skills, basic manners and socialization class. This class will cover important life skills for young teenagers including learning how to greet people politely without jumping, how to settle around dogs, people and other distractions. We will address common problems for young teenagers such as curbing nipping and chewing and also cover important socialization topics such as socialization to people and other dogs, body handling and veterinary care patterns; as well as introducing our pups to the basics such as sit, down, stay and loose leash walking.

Learn how to best teach the adolescent puppy, and how and WHY they do the things they do, and enter adolescence on the right paw!

Puppy 3 - Teenage Tyrants!

For teens ages 7-24mo (at start of class)

Wednesdays in Brunswick (at Midcoast Humane Society)

$200 for 6 weekly Classes

This secondary stage of adolescence is the TOUGHEST. Your teenage brained pup has a BIG DOG body and has learned how to use it! They jump, they body slam, they bark non-stop in your face! They want to move WAY faster than you do on the leash, and want to chase off after everything they see. If you’re extra unlucky, this is also the time of life when behavior issues such as anxiety, fear, reactivity or aggression start to appear.

This class will teach you how to work WITH your dog through the throes of adolescence, as a team.

Learn how to help your teenager stop jumping on people, how to greet guests politely, behave calmly when you have people over, make good choices out in public, improve focus and relaxation, reduce nipping, demand barking and other undesirable teen behaviors.

In addition to addressing these important lifeskills, this class will cover the basic foundation behaviors sit/down, stay, place, and loose leash walking.

Looking for JUST the basic foundation skills and aren’t worried about jumping, nipping, polite greetings etc.? Check out the Family Dog Manners Class down below!

Family Dog (Adult Manners)

All Ages

Wednesdays in Brunswick (at Midcoast Humane Society)

Six Weekly Classes $200

This class is designed to help you get the perfect family dog! We will cover important behaviors such as how to stay (I mean really stay), leave it, drop it, come, leash walk, heel and so much more, and add advanced criteria to the behaviors.

In this class you will learn how to structure your dog’s life and training in a way that gets you the behavior you want! Address common problems such as jumping, leash lunging, demand barking, door dashing all by creating a lifestyle where your dog makes good choices without needing to be constantly TOLD! This class is open to dogs of all ages, but it is designed for the adult dog and puppies/dogs who have completed the puppy program.

Family Dog Advanced

All Ages - Must have completed Family Dog

Wednesdays in Brunswick (at Midcoast Humane Society)

Six Weekly Classes $200

Family Dog Advanced, is for dogs who have already taken Family Dog and are ready for a new, bigger challenge! This class is all about PROOFING behaviors to perfection (or as close as we can go!) Pick up where you left off with important foundation behaviors such as place, stay, leave it, loose leash walking, recall, focus, settling and more. Learn how to do complicated stays with distractions and distance, how to parallel walk with other dogs, stop and have a chat with your neighbor, how to REALLY crush that LEAVE IT training and so much more.

Drop the Leash - Basic

All ages

Thursdays in Brunswick (at Midcoast Humane Society)

Six Weekly Classes $225

Does your dog understand the “basics”, maybe even behaves really well at home but all bets are OFF when you leave the house, or when distractions or stimulating things are occurring? Do you WISH you had the ability to control your dogs behavior better, especially around people or other dogs? Do you wish they would just LISTEN when you talk to them?

Drop the Leash focuses on relationship based training, advanced impulse control, focus around distractions, understanding and controlling arousal and creating an engaged training partner. Learn how to really understand and motivate your dog, and learn to train around any distractions.

YOU/YOUR DOG WILL LEARN:

• Advanced Focusing Skills

• Training around distractions

• How to get behaviors that REALLY work, no matter WHAT

• How to create an engaged training partner

• Increased understanding of canine behavior & body language.

Drop the Leash - Advanced

All ages - Must have taken Drop The Leash (Or spoken with trainer)

Tuesday’s in Various Locations

Five Weekly Classes - $175

For students who have completed the basic Drop the Leash program, this class takes your dogs amazing new skill set to a whole different level!

Even more distractions, even more challenges, even more relaxation, even more control and even more ENVIRONMENTS! Drop the Leash Advanced is a class that meets weekly in different environments in the Greater Portland Area, so we can put our dogs skills to the test in the REAL WORLD around REAL distractions and challenges!

CGC Prep Class

All ages

Wednesdays in Brunswick, ME (Midcoast Humane)

Six Weekly Classes $200

Looking to take the Canine Good Citizen with your pup but want to make sure you are ready to pass the test? Then this class is for you!

During this 6 week class we will systematically work through all steps of the CGC test, helping you and your pup practice and prepare for the test.

CGC Testing is available at the end of the class if you would like to take the test!

Dogs taking this class must have a basic understanding of foundation exercises such as sit, down, stay and loose leash walking. These skills will not be taught in this class, we will be using these skills to prepare for the test!

Community Canine

6+ months

Yarmouth and Midcoast Area

5 Weekly Classes $200 or Drop-Ins $40 per week

Have you taken classes before and your dog does well but you wish he behaved better in REAL LIFE? Or perhaps you’re just looking to improve your dog’s skills or take a fun, different class - if so you will want to check out the community canine classes.

Community Canine Basic:

In this fun class we meet at different parks and other public, outdoor dog friendly environments and practice training out in the world you live in! Learn how to compete with distracting environments for your dogs attention and how to seamlessly transition your classroom skills to the outside world! Training locations vary but range from Yarmouth area to Brunswick area. Discover new locations to play, walk and train with your dog and most of all just have FUN with your dog!

Community Canine Basic is available as a “drop in” class to accommodate your schedule, register for one or more weeks, or up to all five if you want to do the whole class.

Community Canine Advanced:

This is for dogs who have MASTERED the basics and are ready to take on advanced, urban environments. Explore outdoor cafes, crowded down down environments, busy stores, the airport and more.

This class is NOT available as a drop in, it is a 4 week class and you must sign up for all four weeks.

PLEASE NOTE. COMMUNITY CANINE CLASSES ARE FOR PROBLEM SOLVED TRAINING STUDENTS ONLY. YOU MUST HAVE DONE PRIVATE TRAINING OR A GROUP CLASS WITH PROBLEM SOLVED TRAINING TO SIGN UP FOR THESE CLASSES.

Intro to AKC Rally

Brunswick, ME (Midcoast Humane)

Are you ready to RALLY? AKC Rally is a super fun dog sport. Rally tests the communication between dogs and their handlers as you navigate the course and perform specific behaviors at each sign getting points for precision and teamwork! In this class we will be focusing on INTRO to Rally, for novice handlers and dogs. In this class we will learn the basic rules of rally, learn rally novice level signs and practice the skills needed to complete these signs, and practice running rally novice courses.

Pre-requisite skills & temperament:

This is a sport class, there will be dogs and humans moving around the room, physical barriers such as gates will not always be in place (dogs WILL be on leash at all times). Dogs taking Intro to AKC Rally should be non-reactive to people and other dogs, and be able to work in a group.

To be the most successful in this class dogs should have the following skills:

• Loose leash walking with eye contact/focus, OR ability to follow a food lure or a hand target in a loose leash walking pattern.

• Sit

• Sit Stay/wait

• Down

• Down Stay/wait

AKC Rally Intermediate/Advanced

Brunswick, Me. Midcoast Humane.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, its time to move on to Rally Intermediate/Advanced for your next title! Advancing your skills for both human and dog alike!