Training

• Puppy Kindergarten
• Basic Obedience
• Behavioral Consults
• Advanced Obedience
• Day School
• Our Training Facility

Puppy Kindergarten

Course Topics

• Housebreaking and Teething
• Sit and Down Commands
• Coming When Called
• Walking Pleasantly on a Leash
• Effective Corrections for Jumping, Nipping and Barking

Puppy Kindergarten gives owners the opportunity to develop a working rapport with their puppy in a fun, but goal oriented environment. The program gives owners the tools to teach their puppy good manners in the home, as well as in public places. Puppy Kindergarten is not formal obedience training.

We help you work through the housebreaking and teething phases to minimize chronic adult problems. We teach you how to effectively correct puppies for jumping, nipping and barking without striking the dog or communicating anger or impatience. We show you how to effectively teach the commands sit, down and come with the goal of having the dog comply on the first request in the presence of everyday distractions. The course includes basic grooming skills such as doing your dogs nails, ears and teeth.

Puppy Kindergarten consists of three one hour private sessions. The sessions are scheduled to meet your schedule and your trainer's availability. In general, Puppy Kindergarten is for puppies age eight weeks to 24 weeks, but is sometimes recommended for older dogs in certain circumstances.

We also offer Group classes of not more than 10 dogs per class including play time to learn socialization skills with other dogs and people.

Basic Obedience

Course Topics

• Walking on a loose leash with automatic sit with distractions
• Sit and down with stays
• Coming When Called
• Problem solving for jumping, barking and counter surfing
• Stand for exam (your veterinarian will love you)

Basic Obedience teaches the basic skills necessary to be a canine good citizen plus a responsible member of the household - able to go anywhere as part of the family. Basic obedience is a great experience building the bond of respect and establishing you as the authority figure in the household - the leader of the pack.

We offer multiple choices of Basic Obedience programs: Private Lessons, Day School and Group Classes.

Private Lessons: We teach YOU to train your dog. You work with your dog between sessions. If you choose Private Lessons, we recommend that you be able to work with your dog daily and that you commit yourself to a variety of environments. You would want to work with your dog around other dogs, traffic and typical neighborhood distractions.

Day School program: We teach your dog the basic leash commands and provide the distraction training. Your dog spends 10 weekdays with us over a two week period. Check-in time is between 7:30 am and 9:00 am and check-out time is between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. The program includes three one hour private sessions with you and your dog. We teach you during private sessions the commands and exercises taught to your dog so you can effectively work with your dog. Any issues or behavioral problems will be addressed at these sessions.

Group Classes:Group classes are held one night a week for 6 consecutive weeks. We limit the size of the group classes to 10 dogs. See upcoming event section for schedule of classes.

Behavioral Consults

Course Topics

• Bad Manners
• Chronic Problems
• Breed Selection
• Timidness
• Aggression

Behavioral Consultations are available to help owners who are concerned about one particular problem only. Typical topics for consultations include chronic house breaking problems, pulling on a leash, aggression and timidness in everyday settings. We can also help you choose a dog for your family.

The one hour session begins with an information gathering phase. The trainer then demonstrates the skills and provides the tools necessary to begin working on the problem.

Our instructors volunteer their services to do behavior consults and evaluations for rescue groups, Humane society and animal shelters.

Advanced Obedience

Course Topics

Advanced Obedience is offered after finishing a Basic Obedience course. Advanced Obedience includes training leading to Canine Good Citizen Certification or Therapy Dog Certification.  Our instructors are certified through the American Kennel Club as CGC Evaluators, and routinely offer CGC exams at our facility.  Please see our Upcoming Events section for a schedule of classes and upcoming exam dates.

Day School

Our Day School Program is an intensive 2 week program where your dog will work one on one with a trainer to learn basic obedience and social skills.  Your dog will be immersed in learning both inside our facility and with distractions walking through the Town of Leesburg. You can frequently see us walking the Day School dogs through Market Station, the Government Center and in nice weather eating lunch at many of the local outdoor restaurants, thus teaching your dog how to behave in many common settings. Time for socialization with other dogs is built into our program to teach social skills with other dogs and to teach a positive outlet for release of energy.

With the Day School program you are offered 3 one hour private sessions with your trainer so that you can follow thru with the training program in your home environment. The Day School Program can be customized to focus on specific issues you may have with your dog.

Our Training Facility