For Puppies 5 Months and Under

Welcome to Puppy Life Skills, a fun and engaging class designed to introduce your puppy to essential life skills — all through the power of games! This class focuses on creating a strong foundation for your puppy’s future by emphasizing your relationship over just training behaviors.

Why Games?

By playing interactive and concept-based games, your puppy will develop critical skills like:

• Focus and engagement
• Confidence in new environments
• Calmness around distractions
• Problem-solving and resilience
• Impulse control and patience

Common Puppy Struggles We’ll Address:

• Biting and mouthing
• Jumping up on people
• Over-excitement and zoomies
• Barking for attention
• Managing social interactions with dogs and people

What's Different About Puppy Life Skills?

Rather than teaching strict obedience right away, we focus on setting your puppy up for success by nurturing their optimism, curiosity, and ability to make great choices.

What to Expect:

• Short, fun, and easy-to-replicate games you can play at home.
• Opportunities to build skills like loose leash walking, recall, and polite greetings — all without the pressure of traditional obedience.
• Learning how to read your puppy’s body language, ensuring you’re meeting their emotional needs.
• Games + Relationship = Lasting Results

When puppies learn through play, they develop skills that translate naturally into real-world success. Our goal is to build a well-adjusted, optimistic, and confident puppy who’s eager to learn and thrive by your side.

Perfect For:

• First-time puppy parents
• Families who want to connect with their puppy in a positive way
• Owners hoping to build strong foundations for future dog sports, adventures, or everyday life

Enroll today and give your puppy the gift of learning through laughter, play, and connection!

LifeSkills 1 is perfect for dog owners ready to tackle common behavior challenges like leash pulling, jumping, and overexcitement. This class is designed to introduce practical, real-world skills while laying the foundation for a stronger, more positive relationship with your dog.

What Will You Work On?

Through fun, science-based training techniques, LifeSkills 1 helps you and your dog develop essential skills, including:

• Reliable Recall: Teach your dog to respond to your call, even with distractions, using positive reinforcement to make coming to you rewarding.
• Loose Leash Walking: Train your dog to walk calmly beside you through games and rewards, turning walks into a stress-free activity.
• Focus: Strengthen your dog’s ability to pay attention to you, even in stimulating environments, using techniques that make you the most exciting thing in the room.
• Self-Control: Help your dog practice patience and thoughtful choices, such as sitting politely at doors or resisting the urge to jump, by reinforcing good behavior consistently.

Training Techniques

We exclusively use modern, positive reinforcement methods, rooted in behavioral science. These techniques:

• Motivate your dog through rewards they value, such as treats, toys, and praise.
• Encourage your dog to think and problem-solve, making training enjoyable and engaging.
• Foster trust and confidence, ensuring your dog learns in a supportive and safe environment.
• Avoid aversive tools or corrections, ensuring that learning is stress-free and based on positive experiences.

Why Is This Important?

Positive reinforcement creates long-term behavioral improvements by focusing on rewarding desired actions rather than punishing mistakes. This approach not only enhances your dog’s learning but also strengthens your bond, making training a fun and collaborative process.

Who Should Join?

• Owners of dogs who pull on the leash, jump on guests, or struggle to settle.
• First-time dog owners looking to build strong foundational skills.
• Families with rescue or adolescent dogs needing extra support with focus and manners.

LifeSkills 2 is for owners who want to take their dog’s training to the next level, helping them refine foundational skills and confidently handle more complex situations. This class builds on the foundation established in LifeSkills 1, introducing advanced exercises for greater reliability and focus.

What Will You Work On?

Using the same positive, science-backed methods as LifeSkills 1, this class focuses on advancing your dog’s ability to handle real-world distractions and challenges.

Key skills include:

• Advanced Recall: Improve your dog’s reliability when calling them back, even in high- distraction environments like parks or around other dogs.
• Polished Loose Leash Walking: Strengthen your dog’s ability to walk calmly by your side in busy or unpredictable settings, reinforcing calm behavior.
• Sustained Focus: Teach your dog to stay engaged with you for longer periods, even in demanding situations, using incremental rewards to build success.
• Enhanced Self-Control: Refine your dog’s patience and ability to manage impulses, such as waiting for permission before approaching distractions or staying calm when excited.

Training Techniques

LifeSkills 2 continues to rely on positive reinforcement for reliable results:

• Rewards like treats, toys, and praise keep learning fun and motivating for your dog.
• Games and real-world scenarios help your dog practice skills in a way that translates to everyday life.
• Training fosters emotional resilience, helping your dog stay calm and focused even in challenging environments.
• Aversive methods are never used, ensuring a safe, trust-building experience for you and your dog.

Why Is This Important?

Advancing your dog’s training builds their ability to handle increasingly complex environments with composure and confidence. Positive reinforcement strengthens their willingness to engage with you, creating a dog who is not only well-mannered but also a joyful and cooperative companion.

Who Should Join?

• Graduates of LifeSkills 1 or dogs with prior foundational training.
• Owners of dogs who need to improve reliability and focus in high-distraction environments.
• Dogs ready to develop advanced manners and greater emotional balance.

Public Neutrality Class

Does your dog struggle to relax or stay neutral in busy public environments? Public Neutrality Class is designed to help dogs build confidence and calm behavior around everyday distractions. This is a group class held in various public locations, where we focus on teaching practical skills for navigating real-world settings.

Please note: this class is not suitable for dogs who react to other dogs, as we aim to maintain a safe, controlled environment for all participants.

Each week, you’ll practice structured exercises with your dog, and after every session you’ll receive homework to help reinforce the skills at home and continue progress between classes.

If you’re looking to improve your dog’s neutrality and manners in public, this class is a great place to start!