How does it work?

The Levels Program is a self-paced 8 or 16 lesson program for dogs 6 months and up, divided into 5 separate modules. Each level represents a different skill level. Dogs enrolling in the 8 lesson program will achieve beginning to intermediate behaviors and dogs enrolled in the 16 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!

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

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

Why so many classes?

Instead of having individual 8 week courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced, it's all combined into one program. It takes time to learn new behavior to the point of reliability and fluency not to mention to un-learn bad behaviors. Just as it takes us lots of practice to learn new skills, it's even more so challenging because you are learning a new skill 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. In addition, our training techniques and training language may vary from the previous trainer. 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
• sit, stand, down
• leash walking skills for handler
• being able to recognize your dog's state of arousal
• being able to identify your dog's triggers
• management strategies

Level 2

• leash walking skills for handler
• management strategies
• U-Turns
• Backwards recall
• leave-it
• watch me - auto-watch
• parallel walking
• classical counter-conditioning

Level 3

• left side walking
• right side walking
• switching from left to right
• leave-it
• Stay: down and sit
• walk-bys
• playing with your dog

Level 4

• management and training exercises
• approach - retreat exercises
• oscillating proximity changes
• automatic focus on handler with distractions
• playing with your dog

Level 5

• investigations
• close walk-bys
• down on movement
• placement cues
• 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 are putting tension on the leash. Another example would be that your dog would need to be able to walk on a loose leash, stay calm and be able to walk by an unfamiliar dog at 8-10ft away to move onto Level 5.