Group training classes are not always the answer when you work shift work, live out of town or your dog has a more in depth behavioural issue than can be addressed in a group class setting. If this is the case, then setting up private sessions in your home or at a neutral space may be what you are looking for. For more information on private sessions, please call or email through my contact page.
My group training classes are held at K9 Awareness located at 28 Rowland Crescent in St Albert, Alberta.
(6 months and up)
This class focuses on teaching our dogs the basic manners they need in order to get along in our human world, including down, stay, come, loose leash walking, people greeting and building focus in a distracting environment while at the same time, providing owners with lots of behavioural information and tips.
The next Good Behaviour Level 1 starts Thursday July 7th at 8:00pm
(Puppies age 2 to 5 months)
A LITTLE KNOWN FACT…the leading cause of death in dogs under the age of 3 years is in fact not disease but euthanization due to behaviour issues. The vast majority of these issues can be traced back to a lack of early socialization in the first critical imprinting period (3 weeks to 3 months). For this reason, it is absolutely imperative that we socialize our puppies responsibly, giving them exposure to and good experiences with, as many people, places, things, dogs, and animals as possible before they reach the age of 3 months, keeping in mind their vaccination protocol and immunity level present. Sometimes we are advised to wait to socialize our puppies until after the 3rd set of shots (approximately 4 months). This is understandable, coming from a place of medical concern about disease, however, due to the glaring statistics regarding cause of death in dogs under the age of 3 years, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour advises that we should not wait until the third set of shots to start socializing responsibly. By responsibly, this means avoiding places where non-vaccinated dogs may frequent like dog parks, closely watching that our puppies are happy and having good experiences with the things we expose them to. One of the ways we can socialize our puppies with strangers and other dogs is a well run puppy class in a clean facility that ensures vaccinations or titers are up to date on all visiting dogs and with a trainer who has a solid education in the science of dog behaviour. Without early socialization, the chances are extremely high that a dog will be unable to cope with new people and situations which can lead to fear and aggression as they age, resulting in many cases to euthanization. Based on this evidence, the primary goal of all puppy classes should be people socialization first and foremost. The secondary goal is dog socialization and learning bite inhibition or a soft mouth with other dogs. Lastly, the classes include teaching sit, down, stay, come, and other fun learning activities all spaced in between lots of puppy play, off leash socialization and good behavioural tips for dog owners like how to read the body language signs of fear in our dogs. Puppies are welcome to participate in Soul2Soul puppy classes once they are at least 1 week past their first set of shots as per recommendation of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour.
The next Great Beginnings Puppy classes start: Saturday June 18th at 9:30am, Thursday July 7th at 6:30pm
* As recommended by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, puppies must be a minimum of 1 week past their first puppy vaccination by class start date.