Project Description
To Love & To Learn
We put a heavy focus on a strong foundation of manners for the family pet. Our basic manners classes help you achieve harmony in your home with your pets. Whether a new puppy, rescue dog, or adult dog, we feel that all dogs benefit from many of the same skills.
We pride ourselves on our small class sizes and individual attention on each dog in class. Our average class size is 6 dogs per class, which means we get to know you, your puppy, your goals and unique challenges.
Our basic manners classes follow a sequence of Puppy Socialization, Puppy 1, Puppy 2, Puppy 3, Adult Basic Manners and Intermediate Manners.
You can register for these classes online, or always feel free to contact us to see which class is best for you.
We feel all dogs benefit from knowing how to greet people and other dogs appropriately, and put a heavy emphasis on being patient, being tolerant of handling, coming when called and walking on a loose leash. Because our class sizes are small and individualized, our classes tend to vary depending on the attendees but always contain these crucial life skills.
Have A Question?
What Class is Right for You?
Puppy I
About Puppy I
For puppies under 6 months of age by the enrollment start date.
Sit, come, down, stay, leave it, drop it and loose leash walking will be introduced. Focus on puppy biting, potty training, and puppy behaviors will be covered to save your sanity. Class concludes week 7 with STAR puppy test!
Puppy II
About Puppy II
A follow up from Puppy 1, Puppy 2 includes leave it, drop it, loose leash walking, 4 on the floor, magic mat, stay & more!
Puppies must be friendly with dogs & humans & have successfully completed Puppy 1. If you have not completed Puppy 1, please email us to ensure this is a proper fit before registering.
Puppy III
About Puppy III
***NEED UPDATED CONTENT FOR PUPPY III CLASS***
Frequently Asked Questions
Find below some of our most frequently asked questions. If your question is not here, please email Beth!
We pride ourselves on our small class sizes & individual attention on each dog. Our average class size is 6 dogs. This means we get to know you, your pup, your goals and unique challenges.
Beth really takes pride in finding the best solution for every dog. Some dogs may need a “head start” with private instruction before being in a class with many distractions.
As a general rule, I find many dogs start out best in a basic obedience class. This is a 7 week class that focuses on the basics and introduces many skills at a base level to give you and your dog a nice working foundation.
If your dog has basic skills, but you’d like to increase the difficulty or reliability, our levels classes may be a nice choice for your dog. Here, we work on attentiveness to the owner, speed of commands, duration of positions, increased distractions, working at a distance, and off leash reliability.
Private sessions are best suited for owners who cannot commit to a class and need more flexibility with scheduling, or dogs who have human or dog aggression issues, or behavioral issues in and around the home.
The large majority of training the dog occurs when you are working with the dog in between classes or private lessons. Your results will vary depending on your commitment level to the program, the dog’s natural learning abilities (we can’t all be border collies!), and the severity of the problem behavior. All dogs (and their humans) are treated as individuals and our programs are easily worked into even the most packed schedule. Remember that practice makes perfect, and patience and hard work always prevail!
Because there are so many components of behavior, guarantees are never offered. (And you should be skeptical of any trainer that IS offering a guarantee!) Behavior in general is very complex and even small adjustments can lead to a backslide in behavior. While we can’t guarantee your dog will never bite the UPS man or steal pizza from the counter, we can promise to guide you on the right path with your dog so that you have a great life together.
(And yes, we can tell if you’ve been practicing or not!)
Hopefully! We have had a zero death count in classes over the last 10 years.
More seriously, distractions are a huge component of training and a great benefit to smaller classes. By keeping our classes small, your dog has minimal distractions compared to classes with 20-30 dogs. We put a huge emphasis on attention to the owner, and we do occasionally use greeting other dogs in class as a reward, if appropriate.
Yes, your dog may be barking and excited to see the other dogs. I really enjoy seeing their friendly spirit. We will tone them down and have them greet other dogs appropriately while allowing them to be the social animals that they are.
While many big box stores provide classes that are positive reinforcement based, they are typically not conducted by dog trainers who are nationally certified. These trainers are typically well versed in basic commands, but are not qualified to give behavioral advice.
Beth has made it her life’s work to commit to the BEST and most effective training techniques available and is a certified professional dog trainer. (For more info on that, go to ccpdt.org!) Beth spends thousands every year attending conferences to keep up to date on the best methods available, and is required to have 36 continuing education credits every 3 years. In the last 10 years, Beth has worked with at least 20,000 dog & handler teams and has seen tremendous results.
We accept cash, personal checks, credit cards and PayPal. Payment is due in full upon signing up for a class. You can reserve your spot in a class and pay in full here!
We do not offer refunds for classes once they begin. Your tuition holds the spot for you in class, and we cannot fill that spot once class has started. Under extenuating circumstances, we may offer you a place in another class at our discretion.
We do provide refunds to unused private sessions to clients whose dogs we recommend rehoming.
All phone calls are returned within 2 business days.