The basic obedience course is 6 weeks long. We meet weekly for one hour and fifteen minutes. You will need to commit about 30 minutes a day to training homework with your dog. During the course, you will learn the skills needed to most effectively and efficiently communicate in a language your dog understands. At the end of the course your dog will have accomplished:

• Learning to pay attention to you in a distractible environment
• Sit and down
• Sit stay and down stay at a distance of 30 feet for 1 minute
• Boundary stay at a distance of 30 feet for 2 minutes
• Come when called
• Heeling with turns, sitting when stopping, and heeling past other dogs
• Enter and exit doors with permission
• Appropriate greetings of strangers and other dogs
• Increased dog and people socialization
• Limit jumping, barking, mouthing, and digging

Additional discussions critical to responsible dog ownership include understanding how dogs learn, equipment education, how to be the leader of your pack, understanding your dog’s needs, interpreting dog behavior and body language, how to safely greet new dogs, and keeping you and your dog safe around other dogs.

Dogs must be 5 ½ months old to attend. The curriculum is challenging and the dogs need to be mentally, emotionally, and socially developed enough to succeed.

For training options for dogs younger than 5 ½ months, see puppy obedience