Class Descriptions

A 6-week class for pup's ages 10 weeks to 5 months at the start of class and their families. Socialization, manners, training, and play! The first week we will begin to explain how to use positive reinforcement training in all aspects of puppy raising. An introduction to a marker signal, how to reinforce behaviors that you like and how to manage and re-train unwanted behaviors. Classes will be part parenting, part training, and part play. The parenting portion will cover topics like house training, mouthing / nipping, chewing, jumping, diet, socialization, stages of development and crate training. Obedience training will include sit, down, come, and leash walking. This is a great starter class for young pups.

For any dog over 5 months old who hasn’t had any basic training or graduates of Puppy K. You will learn how to use positive reinforcement and a marker signal to train your dog. This canine-friendly approach is the cutting edge in training today, it’s painless, it gets results and creates a great working relationship with your dog. The first class is a 1-hour intro session for people only (no dogs), time will be given for questions and answers. The remaining weeks will focus on attention, sit, down, stand, stay, come, leash walking, leave it, settle, and recall. $155 + tax for My Dog’s Place Puppy Kindergarten graduates when taken within 6 months of graduating.

This intermediate level obedience class is for dogs who have learned the basic skills and want to put them to use in “real” life situations. In this class we will be strengthening impulse control with practice waiting at a main entrance or to get out of the car. Recalls with leashing up manners, loose leash walking with more focus on attention and properly greeting a stranger. We will also tackle issues like “table manners” and passing by other dogs. We will introduce “backing up” and “settling”. We will also cover skills required to pass the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test. A CGC test will be scheduled at the end of each session. 6 weeks / 1 hour per.

An in person Basic Manners class with My Dog's Place is a mandatory prerequisite for this class. If you have taken an online class or with another training center please call to set up an evaluation with an instructor for entry to this or any other upper level class, $40 fee for a private pre-class evaluation. 

Canine Good Citizen training is both fun and useful. This class will focus on training the 10 skills which make up the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. CGC training emphasizes manners and sociability instead of the technicality required for competition. Dogs will practice meeting human and canine strangers, becoming comfortable with distractions, walking nicely around human and canine distractions, as well as traditional sit, down, stay, and come. Prerequisites: Basic Manners class or higher. 6 weeks 1-hour sessions.

The "leave it" command is used to prevent your dog from picking things up. It allows you to tell your dog not to touch the things that you don't want him to have, like a child's toy or a dirty tissue or any one of the hundreds of things he may try to pick up or chew. We will go through step by step training to have a reliable “Leave it” cue. This class is open to any age dog and experience level.

Have you done an obedience class, but need more practice with Leash Walking? Then this is the class for you! We will work specifically on teaching our dogs appropriate leash behavior. Starting with getting out the door politely and moving up to walking nicely with us. Our goal will be to get out to the sidewalk and work through real life situations. 4 weeks / 1 hour. Prerequisite: Basic Manners or Puppy Kindergarten within past year.

For dogs who have completed Intro Air Scenting or repeating Intermediate Air Scenting. We will build on the basic skills by learning how to read our dog's body language and cues to know when they are "in" scent. By continuing to increase the search area and search targets the dogs and handlers will learn to trust each other.

Scent is how dogs understand their environment, put your dogs natural abilities to work to find the items you decide.  By using "find it" games we'll build your dog’s confidence to discriminate specific scents, toys and objects. Easy homework exercises will make it a fun and enjoyable way to give your dog an energy outlet. Basic Manners or equivalent is a requirement for this class. Dogs must be able to work comfortably on leash in the classroom with other dogs.

Rally is a dog sport based on obedience. The behaviors learned are wonderful for living in the real world and can be instrumental for getting you and your dog out of a dangerous situation. The dog and handler follow a course of signs and perform the behavior(s) listed on each card. Rally is a lot of fun, builds teamwork and strengthens the relationship with your dog. Prerequisite: Life Skills or Canine Good Citizen.

This upper-level obedience class is geared toward Therapy Dog training as well as any dog / handler team looking for that level of training. Exercises with your dog to include properly greeting people and other dogs, distance sit-down-stays, accepting grooming and crowded petting, leash walking through crowds, exposure to loud noises and healthcare equipment as well as other skills. For those people looking ahead to therapy work with their dogs, this is a great primer for the Delta Society Pet Partners Program or TDI testing. Previous training to the intermediate level and positive reinforcement methods is required. Teams new to MDP must be evaluated prior to admittance - $40 private evaluation fee. 

Foundations: For dogs that are interested in water but aren't swimming on their own. Building a confident, cooperative water companion is the goal of this class. Dogs and handlers learn to swim safely as a team. Prerequisites: Basic Obedience.

Beginner: For confident canine swimmers and beginner retrievers. Safety and control around and in the water is the goal of this class. Basic retrieve, towing, and delivery behaviors both on land and in the water will be covered.

Intermediate: For confident canine retrievers and able swimmers. The focus is on retrieve variations (distance and directional) Additional topics: delivery tasks, tow work, and directed swimming.

Foundation level: The Foundations class is appropriate for a variety of situations. A solid foundation is crucial for the development of a good agility dog-human team.  This class is intended for a variety of dogs and their handlers, including dogs and handlers just beginning agility, new dogs with experienced handlers, or new handlers with experienced dogs. This class will also be helpful to those already doing some agility who are interested in taking a foundations class to further develop or reinforce basic agility skills.  Prerequisite: My Dog's Place Basic Manners or equivalent.

This class is designed for agility teams who have taken agility classes and are comfortable with the equipment, though the seesaw and weave poles do not have to be mastered. The sessions will include sets, sequences, and courses that focus on a variety of agility techniques and handling skills, as well as work on the human-dog connection and communication. Prerequisite: Foundations Agility with Kristie or instructor permission.

Intermediate/Advanced level:  This class is designed for dog-handler teams who are comfortable with all agility equipment. Focus is on dog-handler communication through visual and verbal handling skills. Handlers learn a variety of handling techniques and determine which approaches will be most effective given their dog, the course set up, and other factors.  Prerequisite: Basic or with instructor's permission.

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