Sign Up Now! New Classes!
I have just finalized my schedule for the end of the year with WPHS and it is looking really really exciting! I have two very exciting announcements to make…
Greyson running a rally course, working on a Spiral Left, Dog Inside.
Rally-O
Thanks to all of the support from my Rally students we are adding a second rally class!! We are going to be running a Ready To Rally class on Wednesdays at 8pm starting in October and a Ready to Rally class on Sundays starting 10/13! I want my two rally classes to be on the same schedule this time around so we are starting with Ready to Rally instead of Rally Foundations this time around. Ready to Rally is a 6 week class that focuses mainly on running Rally courses. Weeks 1 and 2 we will go over all the signs and give you a chance to practice them but this class isn’t about precision work on the signs (the precision class will be offered next time around). Weeks 3-6, I will have a course designed for each week for students to run through. Depending on the number of dogs, everyone will get about 3 runs on the course, in between runs, students will get to watch others run the course.
The Wednesday Rally Class should be online shortly! Visit WPHS’ registration page to sign up!
Environmental exploration is so important for puppies!
Puppy School!
Yes, you heard that correctly! After nearly 3 years, I finally broke down and will be offering puppy preschool classes! My puppy class will be structured a little bit differently than other instructors’ in that I will be using a lot of environmental stimuli during classes and in smaller groups during play time to prevent high arousal play between puppies. I want them to learn to play but I want them to also learn how to explore the world together. A blank environment often leads to high arousal games of chase that can lead to bullying and rude behavior and can easily overwhelm less confident puppies–I want them to learn and practice appropriate socialization. We will focus on reading puppy body language, teaching puppies to make good choices, handling exercises (for easy nail trims and vet visits), normal puppy topics (potty training, mouthing, jumping), and we will teach basics like sit, down, hand touch, impulse control, come, and appropriate greeting. I’m excited to get puppies and their guardians started on the right foot!
My Friday and Sunday puppy classes will be online soon! Visit WPHS’ registration page to sign up!
Reactive Dog Behavior Modification Program
After lots of requests, I will be offering a reactive dog class at WPHS. This is more than just a class–it is an intensive program for people committed to working on their dog’s reactivity. This program will involve independent reading of a short book on resolving reactivity to act as a companion piece to the information provided in class. The book and a specific harness or head halter are included in the cost of this class to make sure everyone has the tools and equipment they need to be successful. The goal of this class is to two fold 1. to teach guardians the handling and body language skills needed to work with their reactive dogs 2. to provide controlled exposures with other dogs. Due to the space we have to work in this class will have 4 dogs in it but only 2 dogs will come to each class (with the last class being open to having more dogs, if they are ready). I really feel giving handlers the chance to see OTHER people working their dogs and watching for body language can be extremely helpful. Handlers will learn about thresholds, body language, management tools, foundational skills like counter conditioning, click the trigger, look at that, and much more.
This class is not appropriate for all reactive dogs–we have a small space to work in so dogs who are highly reactive, even at huge distances, would not be appropriate for this class. All guardians must fill out a history form and we will pick the dogs best suited for the class and our set up to get the opportunity to enroll in the class.
This class is already full for our first round but we will continue to offer the class.
Scout was the first to earn his MA! Yay Scout!
C.L.A.S.S. classes
I will be running the normal BA and MA classes but slightly fewer. We currently have 1 BA and 1 MA class scheduled on Sundays with a time slot for another C.L.A.S.S. on Wednesday which will be either BA or MA depending on need. We are going to wait until 2014 to start offering the PhD. level class to allow for more dogs to graduate with their MA (plus creating new curriculum for puppy and for reactive dog class doesn’t make it possible for me to create the PhD. curriculum right now). Visit WPHS’ registration page to see the C.L.A.S.S. schedule and sign up! It is, BY FAR, the least expensive BA, MA, or PhD that you can earn! Get started in on the fun!