Harmony Acres Personalized Dog Training
Socialization/ obedience course, the dog should be about 5 mos. and under 2 years old. If you have not yet gone through my puppy private home training, we can catch them up in the first lesson. They will learn the importance of participating in life manners and the basics of structure in public and basic skills of obedience. (Such as, sit, sit stay, auto sit, down, down stay, and auto down, the essence of heal, place, recall at 10 to 20 feet with distractions of the class watching them.)
Tools needed will be a 4- or 5-foot leash, treats, a small fleece blanket for bedding, and a 20’ simple dog lead, NO RETRACTABLES Please.
Young dog obedience/ handlers’ class, the dog should be at least 5 mos. old, and can be new to our training classes due to a new ownership, rescue, etc. This class will cover the basics of being a dog owner, for those that its been a while, a refresher is always good (whether it is the first time for our humans, or for the dog). We will be covering proper handling, dogs cycle development, and how they learn through movement, verbal communication, and body language. We will cover the importance of your dog learning how to engage with you, get the bond and respect to have a great relationship, along with the obedience basics of Sit, Down, Recall, Heal, and some other basic obedience and socialization skills that will benefit you in the new life with other dogs and humans.
Tools needed will be a 4- or 5-foot leash, treats, a small fleece blanket for bedding, and a 20’ simple dog lead, NO RETRACTABLES Please.
Obedience 101 for you and your dog.
It will cover a Walking Focus, Sit, Down, Heel, Park, Place and Recall. All of these are basic commands used in your home, as well as on your daily walks and everyday adventures. They will be instructed in proximity to others as well as with your area of your training. You will also be instructed to becoming a great handler/leader for gaining your dogs’ performance and social abilities. Handling your dog with confidence and leadership is an important skill to have a great bond with your dog. Your dog to be at least 20 weeks of age. It would be good if the dog has had some exposure to other dogs within an area, not necessarily a play group, and had some leash experience. At the end of this five-week class, we will be expected to be able to perform these abilities with your dog in both a large room, and as well as outside with moderate distractions. Looking forward to seeing you and your dog advancing your skills as you develop your bond together. You will be needing a 4’ and a 15’ lead (no retractable leashes please) and great treats that are super scented and desired for great learning.
Canine Good Citizen
AKC Canine Good Citizen course is a certificated course that at the end of this course, your dog is certified through the American Kennel Club as a good citizen and will receive a certificate as well as a badge for its harness or your jacket, to sport the efforts of being a good citizen. The tasks taught will be: Accepting a friendly stranger; Sitting politely for pets; Appearance and grooming; Out for a walk; Walking through a crowd; Sit and down on cue and staying in place; Recall; Reaction to another dog; Reaction to noises and distractions; and Supervised separation. This course will be 5 weeks long, and on the 6th week there will be an evaluation by a certified evaluator to sign your certification of completion upon successful completion. Your dog must be at least 6 months of age. Your dog should be good on a leash, and able to be in a room with several other dogs and humans. You will need a 10’ leash and a 4’ to 5’ leash also, no retractable leashes please.
Once this course is successfully completed, a certificate will be rewarded and the option to continue to the three other levels of AKC CGC will be offered to you to further your dogs’ abilities to perform at other levels of being a Canine Good Citizen.
..All the dogs will need proof of valid vaccinations, i.e. Parvo, Lepto/Lyme, and Rabies before participating in any group class.
..Any dogs with a behavior/bite history, will need to be seen privately prior to attending a group session.
..If the dog comes into heat, or is intact at the time of the session, we will reschedule or discuss with the owners.
..I would also reserve the choice to disqualify a human or report a human for abuse, or neglect on any dog(s) attending classes with me.
Registration Deadline
- 10 days before the session begins
- A $10.00 late charge applied after the deadline
Instructor
- Denise Cook, a resident of Belchertown. Previous owner of Adorable Bouquets Flower shop, or Carriage House Jewelers. Denise has a Masters in Dog Training, with a sub major in behavior. She is a member of International Association Animal Behavior Consultants, She is a Certified AKC Trainer. Denise is a member of the Association for Professional Dog Trainers, International Association of Canine Professionals while continuing her education to receive a certificate in Canine Animal Behavior Consultant. She has been training professionally since 2015. Denise offers private training as well as group training. She has three dogs of her own.
- She is also working with the Belchertown Police Department dog, Oliver and Pathfinder Regional High School dog, Scout, for their training to become comfort dogs.