OBEDIENCE PROGRAM

You and the trainer meet with your dog weekly to learn the basics of obedience.

Read below to learn more about the Obedience Program.

Who Is a Good Fit For The Obedience Program?

The Obedience Program is an excellent choice for owners who have the time and dedication to consistently work on daily training with their dogs. This is a “train the trainer” type program that puts the knowledge of training in the owner’s hands, and provides an approach to training that can last a lifetime. It is an in-person, private lesson style program aimed at teaching your dog the basics of obedience over the course of months. The goal behaviors are: Sit, Down, Stay, Heel, and Come. Depending on the dog, and the owner’s lifestyle, there may be more emphasis on solidifying one or more of the behaviors over others.

The structure of the program is: weekly visits from the trainer on a scheduled day each week, with a loose goal for each meeting. The meetings take place anywhere from the owner's home and neighborhood to busy public meeting sites. The trainer will often work hands-on with the dog during the session and show the owner the techniques needed to teach their dog the desired behavior over the following week to achieve the set goal. The owner is assigned homework to practice between lessons and each week there will be a new goal. During the following meeting, the trainer will provide acknowledgement and feedback on what's working great and provide tips on ways to possibly improve before progressing to the next stage.

The main challenge with this type of program is the significant time investment required. It’s critical for the success of the training that the owner spends time working with their dog for at least short periods nearly every day for the duration of the program. It’s important to note that it takes the physical ability to learn the handling skills required for effective training, such as moving with your dog, bending and luring with food, leash handling, and juggling tools and rewards. It also requires the mental effort of bringing your full attention, energy and positivity to your sessions so your dog is motivated to learn.

. It takes commitment and mental strength to consistently work with your dog with a positive attitude, and to spend the time your dog truly needs to learn new behaviors. The outcome of the Obedience Program is heavily dependent on your dedication to practice between weekly meetings.

The Obedience Program is not designed to tackle specific behavior issues, or to proof behaviors in different challenging environments, just to build a foundation of obedience and communication to help you more successfully handle your dog and gain the knowledge you need to improve over time. However, the first and most important step to addressing any behavior issue, and to achieve reliable obedience in any location, is developing communication and clear expectations for your dog, which is achieved through teaching this initial obedience (as well as structure at home).

Obedience training is so much more than teaching your dog specific commands. It’s creating a way for you to communicate with each other, and when done right will set up a healthy dynamic for your relationship. As you become proficient at teaching these basic commands, a whole world of communication will open up for you in which you can develop a shared language with your dog and an awareness of all the non-verbal communication you’re exchanging each day.

The Obedience Program is offered in two 8-week sessions at $750 each. Some may achieve satisfactory results in the first 8-week period and choose not to continue for a second session. Those who want to continue towards advanced obedience, or work on solidifying behaviors around distractions with the help of the trainer, often choose to continue for the second session. From experience, the full 16-week program is typically required to achieve a noticeably well trained dog. Your decision to invest in one or two sessions will be dependent on your specific dog and their response to training, your standards for behavior, and the amount of time you personally invest in training between visits.

The cost of the full 16-week program is $1,500 with 50% due up front and 50% due at the 8 week mark (half way if choosing to continue for the second 8-week session)

NOTE: For those who are interested in tackling behaviors issues with in-person lessons, it's possible to add-on private lessons following completion of the Program at the discretion of the trainer (if they haven't resolved themselves by the end!) It's also important to know that structure at home can be an important factor in managing and improving behavior issues, and the owner should be willing to incorporate potential changes at home if the goal is behavior modification. The trainer reserves the right to decide whether a dog and their owner would be a good candidate for this type of approach before beginning the program.

Along the same lines, if an owner has specific advanced obedience goals, such high-level performance in public places, e-collar conditioning, sport obedience foundations, or specific task training, these obedience goals can be tacked on in addition to the Obedience Program with a more predictable timeline and additional cost. Please feel free to speak with the trainer about your personal goals and see if a plan to achieve those goals fits within the existing program or can be achieved with the addition of more visits.

Obedience Program Timeline
After your first consult and in-person evaluation of your dog, you can opt to begin the Obedience Program if recommended by the trainer and roll your consult cost into the payment for the program. You'll then schedule a recurring day a week to begin the lessons!

Initial Phase (first week(s) with trainer)

Second Phase (middle weeks of training)

Final Phase (last weeks of program)

The initial training period takes should take place in a comfortable and quiet environment (such as your home or yard or a quiet park that your dog is fairly familiar with). You'll learn how to "lure" your dog with food rewards into the first basic commands, how to properly communicate when they've got it right, and how to pace your training. The entire learning period is completely positive and there are no corrective measures used to speed up the time of teaching.

Once your dog has mastered the behaviors in a distraction free environment, we will increase duration, distance and distraction incrementally and teach your dog that they are expected to follow through with the behaviors they know and understand, even if there are distractions present (other dogs, people, food, etc.). It's often necessary to introduce some type of tool to provide your dog with feedback when they ignore your commands or to keep them focused during times of distraction.

As the training proceeds, your trainer will identify your dog's particular strengths and weaknesses and will try to incorporate as many challenges as possible to "proof" your dog's obedience. The final phase is often when the amount of time the owner has put into practice between sessions becomes most apparent. For those who have been consistently building on the goal behaviors, we often move into advanced off-leash reliable behavior, whereas those who have not had as much time to dedicate may still be working on solidifying one or more of the basic commands. The most important factor in the outcome of this program is YOU!