How does it work?

The Levels Program is a self-paced 6 or 12  lesson program for dogs 4 months and up, divided into 5 separate levels. Each level represents a different skill level. Dogs enrolling in the 6 lesson program will achieve beginning to intermediate behaviors and dogs enrolled in the 12 lesson program will progress to advanced, off-leash work.

All students start at Level 1, after attending the Orientation, and will only "pass" onto the next level when the instructor determines the dog and handler have mastered the skills needed. So students need to achieve certain criteria before being passed to the next module.

Because of this unique structure, if you miss a class here and there, you wont fall behind. Simply return to the Level  where you left off!

6 lessons - Students need to complete the program in 3 months

12 lessons - Students need to complete the program in 6 months

Why so many classes?

Instead of having individual 8 week courses for beginner level , intermediate level  and advanced level, it's all combined into one program. It takes time to learn  behavior to the point of reliability and fluency. When you learn a new skill or task, it take time for you to gain fluency and automatic responses. This is even more so challenging because you are learning new skills and concepts and your dog is learning how to respond to your cues reliably.  Teaching a dog a new behavior or trick is easy, the hard part is getting the dog to be "well-behaved" around real-life distractions which takes a lot of practice.

How many dogs in class?

This is a flexible program so the number of students in class will vary per lesson. You will be required to RSVP to the lesson you choose to attend at least 3 days prior to make sure that 1) there are enough students and 2) to make sure that there aren't too many dogs at once. 4 minimum - 8 maximum.

My dog has been to previous training classes, do we still need to start at the beginning?

No two training classes are alike and we may teach some exercises or introduce new training concepts to you that may not have been covered in your prior classes. We may also use different terms or approach teaching behavior differently.  For that reason, we do require all students to attend orientation and Level 1. However, because the Levels Program is self-paced, you and your dog may progress to more advanced levels more quickly. You can use the beginning Levels to refine your dog's existing skills.

What is taught at each Level?

These are just general guidelines of the types of exercises and information covered in a lesson.

Level 1 

• how to hold and handle a leash
• when to click and how to deliver a food reward
• name recognition
• down: the dog must lie down from a sit or stand with no more then two cues; hand and voice, voice and body language, etc. It is not necessary for the dog to hold the position- just to simply lie down
• sit: the dog must sit from a standing position on only one cue
• target training: the dog must deliberately touch the owner's hand with his nose on voice cue
• recall games (Fido, Come)
• leave-It: the dog must stay away from a treat in the owner's hand for 5 seconds.

Level 2  

• leash manners: no pulling from the owner or the dog with mild distractions
• crate training: dog enters the crate with no more then two cues and remains there while you close and open the door
• stay: the dog is to not move for one minute while the owner is within 3 feet and able to repeat a stay without standing in the same direction or manner.
• auto-watch: the owner is to capture when the dog is looking at the owner's face (eyes) with mild distractions without a cue or being prompted
• Clipping and Unclipping the leash: the dog is to stay still while the leash goes on and to pay attention to the owner when the leash is taken off
• sit, down, stand: single cue only - with less then a 2 second latency
• target stick: nose touch to a target - start following or going to
• leave-it: open hand with a temptation at about 2 ft from the dog - for about 30 seconds - dog can offer other incompatible behaviors
• recall games
• go to mat: the dog is to go to mat on no more then two cues from a distance of 8 ft
• meeting people politely: on leash greetings - the dog must keep four paws on the ground and not be highly aroused or excited.

Level 3 

• down stay while owner moves away
• leave-it
• recall games
• stay with more challenges
• introduction to distance work
• introduction to retrieving objects
• being handled and examined by a stranger

Level 4

• wait
• long-line work
• distance commands: sit, down, stand, come
• automatic focus on handler with distractions
• recall games
• directed retrieves
• refining and strengthening behavior

Level 5

• long distance exercises
• down on movement
• placement cues
• stay with owner out of sight
• field trips to public areas.

To move from one level to the next, handlers and dogs must meet all outlined criteria which will be covered in orientation. For example, you can't pass Level 2 if your and/or your dog is putting tension on the leash. Another example would be that your dog would need to be able to come to you through a "tunnel" of dogs and people without special training equipment to move onto Level 5.