Out of the Box

Some owners enjoy taking their dogs along on varied scenarios and other owners ask: ‘Besides obedience, what else can I do with my dog?’. If this sounds familiar, this is the best group of sessions for you and your buddy.

Taking your dog to Starbucks or to the downtown strip with friends is a common expectation. However, not all dogs are familiar and comfortable with crowded places or with constant approach by strangers. We can work with these dogs to learn to enjoy or to tolerate such settings, or discover different scenarios that would be best fitting for you and your companion.

Or perhaps you want to take training to a different level and have your dog earn a Good Canine Citizen (GCC) title. Or maybe your dog is a bit hyper due to being incredibly smart, having a high prey drive, or an overly acute nose. In this case, he is definitely a good candidate for ‘mental’ agility (brain exercise as opposed to physical exercise alone). We can do fun tracking and scent work. Why fight instincts when you can join them?

These sessions are fully customized to your dog’s history, breed, prey drive, interests and your goals for your relationship with him – here are some of the many situations we cover:

• Fun scent work (confidence builder, mental stimulation, watch your dog strategize and solve problems)
• Fun tracking (long leashes, scent at a distance, bonding beyond words)
• Outings (open malls, restaurants, pet stores, parks, etc)
• Public politeness (may I pet your dog?)
• Loose leash walking (J walking is a positive thing)
• Chasing ducks & squirrels (we have a cue for that)
• CGC – Good Canine Citizen Test (what a great title to have)
• Reinforcing commands in an open space, off leash (are you really more interesting than an opossum?)

Important to remember: Every dog of every breed is unique. A client who loves boating and all water sports is best suited with a water-loving breed such as the Portuguese Water Dog. Though the breed often predicts behaviors and traits, if the introduction to water is not done properly, a Portuguese Water Dog might despise swimming. A Beagle’s nose might make heeling a very challenging training process, however it will absolutely shine on a tracking field. This is where we should combine gentle and fun introduction to the traits we initially got the dog for as well as to use these amazing innate qualities and instincts to help us get the best possible behaviors from them. We will set doable expectations and find a good balance where you can enjoy and bond with your dog while he is learning and having fun out and about.