Paw School Class Descriptions

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Preschool | Kindergarten | Foundation | Elementary | High School | Rally College
Open Playtime | Open Training | Obedience Games

Puppy 1 - Preschool - 9 weeks to 5 months old
Come with your puppy as early as nine weeks of age.
Socialize your puppy with people, dogs, and new environments to avoid fear reactions when they are older. Increase your puppy's self-confidence and trustworthiness while enhancing your relationship and bond. Build the foundation in obedience training for activities such as obedience competition, agility, search & rescue, service, or guide dog.

Puppy Preschool Class Requirements:
5-way vaccinations any time after 8 weeks of age and at least 5 days prior to the first class. Rabies vaccination after 4 months of age. Dewormed and negative fecal sample - bring proof of vaccination and worm status to the first class.

Puppy II Kindergarten - Puppy Preschool graduates - under 1 year-old.  Puppy Kindergarten follows Puppy Preschool for pups not old enough or ready for the Foundation Class or Elementary School.  Puppy Kindergarten description and requirements are the same as Puppy Preschool except for the age requirements. NOW each PS2 graduate is given a free exam at Far Country Veterinary Hospital upon graduation

Puppy School Package - Includes Puppy I & Puppy II for a reduced price
Click here for details

 Foundation Class (for dogs 6 months and older) is our "behavior class" for dogs with little experience in obedience training, or to "proof" the training they received at home in a different environment. This class trains loose leash walk, keeping a position despite distractions, calming exercises, polite behavior, off/ leave it, and handling. Features address jumping up on people, leadership, the Come command, chewing up wrong objects, and more.

Elementary School
The "obedience class" for dogs around one year and older. This class offers the basics for the new fun sport Rally Obedience. We work on formal obedience commands like Heel, Come, Stay, Leave It, and more. Features address the reliable stay, meeting Moose or stray dogs on the walk, the multi-dog household, and more. Everybody interested in continuing with Rally College will need this class for preparation. The last week features a fun rally, repeating the exercises from this class.

High School prepares your dog to become a "Canine Good Citizen". The Canine Good Citizen Test is testing your dog in 10 everyday situations, proofing the dog's obedience, non-aggressiveness and non-fearfulness. It's an excellent way to show your community that you are a responsible dog owner. During the summer, we'll offer open play for adult dogs in the fenced outdoors arena. Having passed the CGC test will be a requirement for all dogs over 1 year of age. The class runs for only 4 weeks. (Test not included, but offered regularly in Anchorage and the Valley for little cost. Open for purebreds and mixed breeds!)

Tricks 'n Clicks College  is fun for any dog. We recommend your dog having been either through P1 + P2 or through FC, before teaching them more tricks. Learn how to use a clicker (provided) to teach tricks like "Shake", "Weave", "Close the Door", "Bring the Remote", "Pick up that Glove", "Go to Your Spot", and lots more. We'll work on increasing the dog's creativity and channeling it for fun and useful tricks.

Rally College
Prepares you for the fun new sport.  Set up like an agility course just with obedience obstacles.  You'll stay in contact with your dog by talking, hand signals, cues, and more.  You are encouraged to praise your dog throughout the competition.

OPP/OPA: Open Play time is divided into puppies up to 1 year, and adult dogs 1year and older. All dogs one year and older will have to show proof of passing the Canine Good Citizen Test (see High School). Both can be offered indoors; or outdoors in the fenced area. Basically, the Open Play will be handled like a dog park. There will be no close supervision or training, but rules are in place and will be reinforced to minimize any aggression or bullying. Females in heat are not accepted. No sign up is necessary and no maximum of dogs is given (stop on accepting more dogs is left to the discretion of the supervisor, especially indoors). The fee is paid single for each time before entering the play area.

Open Training
After the one class is over and no new class up yet, we occasionally offer open training for any dogs that have been in a Better Companion class already. This doesn't necessarily have to be the most recent class, it could also be any time earlier. This is to REPEAT and STRENGTHEN what they learned already, and for SOCIALIZATION. No lesson plan, no feature, no written homework. I'll help by giving ideas what to train, what to try out, and how to do it, and by answering questions. Open training for Puppies is for Preschool and Kindergarten graduates up to 6 mo of age, with play sessions.  Open training Adults is for dogs older than 6 mo, after Kindergarten, Foundation or Elementary Class.
Open Training for Clicker training is for dogs, that have been in a clicker class with me already. Open training means no obligations, payment due for each class at that class session. $10 per session.

Obedience games for P2 or FC graduates
No sign-up necessary, just come with your dog when you can. We'll play games to improve the dog's obedience in what was taught at P1, P2, and FC. This includes longer sits, downs, and stands; watch, leave it, leash walking, handling …and will give you even more ideas for practical applications at home. Fee: $10 at the door. No minimum of dogs required; if you're the only one, you'll get a private lesson!

Homeschool - In-Home Training

Agility Classes

Weight Pull Classes

Visit Behavior Resources for CGC info & More

Claudia is an "Affiliate Trainer"
with Animal Behavior Network

Specials and receive weekly pet parenting emails, very helpful hints on various behavior topics, brief and focused positive reinforcement techniques, access to an online behavior library, as well as many other member services. www.animalbehavior.net