Puppy Foundation

Education for your puppy

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ADULT HANDLERS 18+ AND PUPPIES AGES 12-WEEKS TO 1-YEAR

Got a new puppy? Congrats!

Do you want help with:

• Household manners – being ok in the house, stopping the nipping and biting, growing calmness and house training
• Inspiring great behaviors
• On-leash behavior – easy walks, core concepts and lessons that build the foundation for this before you step outside
• Off-leash behavior – how to be successful with your dog choosing you over the environment & choosing to hang out with you instead

We can accomplish all of that by playing games with our puppies.

In a traditional training class we might teach our puppies to sit, lay down, leave it, etc. and what you will have is a puppy that can sit, lay down, and leave it mostly in your home. You won’t have a puppy that is prepared for real life, which is why I teach concept training. By training concepts to your puppy, behavior training is a breeze.

Now I love a good sit and down as much as the next person and those behaviors are good to have and fun to train but it won’t teach your puppy how to make the right choice when UPS drives up or an umbrella is suddenly popped open on your morning walk. Behaviors (sit, down, leave it, etc.) are wonderful but they don’t help your puppy listen to you when something really exciting is happening (say a squirrel running around).

The focus in this class is to train concepts by shaping your puppy’s brain and personality. Think of your puppy’s brain being made up of concepts and all the concepts make up your puppy’s personality. How skilled your puppy is at any particular concept influences the choices they make in daily life: should I bark at the delivery person? Chase the cat? Cuddle with my owner?

For example, calmness may be one of the concepts we focus on, and we’ll see that some puppies are more naturally calm than others. But all will benefit from calmness strategy which works on the concept of calmness. Optimism may be another concept, where some puppies see something new or strange as a good thing. Others will see that same thing as a bad thing, they are more pessimistic. How puppies respond to those concepts varies by individual.

So if I have a puppy whose brain is predominantly positive, they will tend to be relaxed, happy and confident and can cope well with whatever life throws their way. But if that puppy’s brain is full of concepts that are mostly negative, that puppy will struggle with the demands of everyday living.

Fortunately, all of the concepts in your puppy’s brain are dynamic. They can change naturally over time and they can be actively changed . And in this class, that’s the fun part! You will play games with your puppy that will shape their brains to grow the key concepts for preparing your puppy for the big world.

Each class is an hour and half long. The first half is designed for humans to check-in with questions and see how the previous week’s homework went. The next hour we do some review with the dogs and then new games for that week are introduced.

All of my classes start with a basic road map and then it is further customized for the needs of the class participants. My goal is to address all puppy related questions and needs of the owners in class.

What you need to know:

Age Range: Puppies from 8 weeks on

Vaccination Requirement: Proof of current vaccinations. Full puppy series is not required for class.

Fee: $285.00

Sessions: 6

Class Length: 1.5 hours

Pre-requisite: Participants must be able to keep physical control of their dog. We reserve the right to restrict any dog’s participation for any reason, for the safety of other dogs and participants. Evidence of current vaccinations required.

Instructor: Jan Shannon is a professional dog trainer certified by Karen Pryor Academy (KPA CTP), and Animal Behavior College (ABCDT) and the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA). For a full description of education, certification, and philosophy, visit www.modernk9training.com

Bring: Collar and leash

Location: Community Park “Dog House” – 5495 Maxwelton Road, Langley; classes meet in classrooms and outdoors.

Schedule: TBA

Sessions: TBA

Fee: $285

Minimum 4/Maximum 6 students