At Lifestyle Dog Training is it my goal to create and provide training courses that address a variety of canine disciplines, from attention, to recall training, to basic obedience, to sports.
The following programs/courses are offered by Lifestyle Dog Training:
The Real Life Skills Series: These 6wk courses (levels white belt through black belt) teach obedience skills for everyday life, but also lay the foundation for future dog sport activities should you choose to persue them. Each level builds on the previous level so that by the time your dog earns his Black Belt in Obedience, he will have a well rounded education.
Real Life Skills 101 .... beginner obedience training for "real life"
Real Life Skills 201 ..... level 2 adds more challenges & begins to introduce sports foundation exercises
Real Life Skills 301 .... advanced training
Shelter & Rescue Dog Program
Focusing on ... Relationship Building, Social Skills, Attention, and Trust
This unique dog training program is designed to help owners of newly adopted dogs to:
- Develop a bond and relationship with their new dogs
- Learn about basic learning theory
- Learn about calming signals & canine body language
- Teach their new dogs basic obedience skills & manners
This course is designed to help newly adopted shelter/rescue dogs to: - Bond with their new owners
- Develop Trust
- Eliminate problem behaviours acquired through being kenneled (such as movement fixation and barrier frustration)
- How to be handled for grooming, vet visits etc.
- Impulse control
- Attention
- Basic obedience skills
This course was designed as a result of working with many dog owners with newly adopted shelter & rescue dogs, and seeing a need for a program developed specifically to meet their needs. This program focuses on teaching dogs basic life skills & social skills through relationship building and positive reinforcement. Special attention is given to behaviours such as barrier frustration and it’s related behaviours. Many owners of newly adopted shelter/rescue dogs are not prepared for some of the ‘baggage’ that these dogs bring with them, and they expect too much from these dogs too soon. This program is designed to help these dogs and owners form a bond that will last a lifetime.
*the reference to ADHD is not intended as a light-hearted joke or marketing ploy. It is a serious reference to a real condition ....... attention deficit ...... with or without hyperactivity. Some dogs display behaviour that owners describe as hyperactive & lacking in focus .... adopting term ADHD & using this reference has helped many dog owners to better understand their dogs and help them.
The Reliable Recall: Does Fido do a perfect recall in obedience class, only to totally forget the meaning of the word "come" when out in real life? Learn WHY dogs dont come when called. Learn HOW to change that. Positively and without force. This 4wk program is designed to teach you and your dog the skills you need to build a reliable recall. Coming when called is one of the most important skills a dog needs to learn, and is often one of the weakest skills they master. WHY? The answer is simple and this course will answer that question and show you HOW to help your dog get the answer right.
Fetch! Building A Reliable Retrieve: Is your dog dropping the ball in flyball? Failing to retrieve the frisbee in disc sport? Dropping the dumbbell in obedience? Or making you hike across the dog park to get the ball you just threw?? The problem is most likely that the retrieve behaviour was never actually "taught". It happened on the fly or was just a natural behaviour for your dog. Then when the behaviour starts to fall apart, you have no foundation to fall back on to help your dog through the rough patches. Would you like your dog to be able to bring you the newspaper, or your slippers, or other household items? This 4wk course is designed to teach your dog a formal retrieve cue in easy to learn steps from delivery, to acquisition of the object to be retrieved. All in a positive, no force tutorial.
Hup! Jump Training: Jumping forms the foundation of many dog sports and is a skill required in many other dog activities. There are many kinds of jumps presented to dogs > straight line jumps; run by jumping; bar jumps; solid jumps; wide jumps; narrow jumps; off angle jumping; directed jumping; jumps with wide wing stanchions, low stanchions, tall stanchions; broad jumps; high jumps ..... and the list goes on. The key to having a reliable jumping dog is having a dog that fully understands the jump cue. This 4wk course is designed to teach the dog the jump cue and to teach him how to find and take any obstacle that is indicated. The dog will learn what jump means and also learn a variety of jump presentations.
Reel Dog Training: this course teaches popular skills required by dogs working in the film and advertising industries. If youve ever thought that you might like your dog to be in the biz, this course will give you insight about the business and teach your dog the skills he needs to be a good audition candidate. Dogs coming into Reel Dog Training should already have basic obedience skills.
Canine Musical Freestyle: Canine Musical Freestyle is an extention of obedience training. It combines traditional obedience exercises such as heeling, with equine dressage like moves such as half passes & marching, and fancy trick moves. Freestyle is performed to music and routines give the impression of dog and handler as dance partners, each sharing an equal role in the presentation of moves. Freestyle classes are divided into three categories: (1) The Parallel Moves; (2) The Circular Moves; and (3) The Trick Moves. In order to be fluent in musical freestyle it is necessary to learn the moves in all three categories. The sessions are broken into categories in order to make it easier to learn the various standard freestyle moves. Each of these sessions is 6wks
Heelwork To Music: This 4wk course is related to Canine Musical Freestyle, but focuses on heeling and heeling variations. Heeling is an important discipline for both traditional obedience training and musical freestyle. This course will teach you how to get focused precision with an animated attitude from the dog. You will learn pattern heeling on both sides of the handler, left and right turns, about turns, pivots, and more. You will learn techniques for keeping the dog at a nice trot rather than fall into pacing. This course is valualbe for both the musical freestyle enthusiast and the obedience competitor.
Puppy Einstein > Awaken the Genius In Your Puppy!: This 6wk course teaches puppies basic life skills obedience. Puppies will learn the obedience basics of attention, sits, downs, polite leash walking, come when called, go to your mat, leave it, targeting, stays, and a few tricks.
Puppy Gym & Games > Senior Kindergarten: This 6wk course uses fun games to reinforce the basic obedience skills your puppy learned in Puppy Einstein. Puppy Games include Seek & Find; Musical Mats; Rubber Duckie Retrieval; Recall Races; Simon Says; Disc-0-mania; Barrell Racing; Puppy Rally-O Racing, and more.
They will also be introduced to jumping (2" hurdles), walking the plank, going through tunnels, the wobble board, and going over the hill. These are all baby sized versions of agility equipment and will give puppies a safe environment to gain confidence around new and novel obstacles.
Puppy Gym uses baby sized safe obstacles for the puppies to go over, through, and around. This lays the foundation for future agility training should you decide to persue that, & gives puppies confidence around new and novel things in their environment.
Trick n Treat! (Clicker Tricks): In this 6wk trick training course you will learn the theory of clicker training, and will combine lure/reward and operant conditioning techniques to teach your dog a variety of fun parlour tricks.
Steeplechase/Fun-gility: This 4wk course is non-competitive agility. It does not teach competition handling skills. This course is pure fun. You will have the opportunity to learn various obstacles and put together steeplechase courses with your dog. Dogs should be at least ONE YEAR of age before taking this course. It is a great way to learn and practice obstacle courses for dogs sport demos should you wish to participate in such events.
Beginner Disc Dog Training: Aka ...... frisbee dog training. This 6wk course will introduce you to the sport of canine disc. Learn proper throwing techniques, and how to teach your dog to safely track and catch a disc. You will learn a basic toss/fetch game, as well as a variety of throws/catches, and some basic canine freestyle disc moves. For more information about the sport of canine disc go to http://southernontariodischoundz.blogspot.com/
Freestyle Disc Training: In this course you will learn the standard freestyle disc moves used in competition > zig/zags; unders/overs; back flips; catapults; back stalls; vaults; and more.
Flyball Training: Occassionally we offer flyball training. In order to participate in flyball classes dogs should have a thorough understanding of the retrieve and should have good off leash control. Flyball courses are 6wks in duration.
Fiesty Fidos! Dealing With On Leash Aggression: Does your dog lunge and bark at other dogs (or people) when out on his daily walks. Are you a member of the "Midnight Walkers" club? Learn the skills to help your dog manage his behaviour and gain the confidence he needs to be a polite leash walker. Help your Fiesty Fido to become a model citizen
Fiesty Fidos! No Chase/Boundary Training: Do you have a door dasher; cat chaser; car chaser; dog chaser?? Dogs have a natural instinct to chase things that move, but this natural tendency can get them into trouble in our human world. Dogs generally also have poor impulse control which also gets them into trouble. Teach your dog the skills he needs to develop self imposed self control, and refrain from chasing everything that moves.
Difficult Dogs Workshops: Is your dog lunging and barking at other dogs? Fearful or shy? Or over stimulated by his environment? These 4wk sessions are designed to teach you the skills you need to help your difficult dog become a well mannered canine citizen. We will discuss safety, management, and training tools to give you confidence (eg: head halters). You will learn about your dogs comfort zone, triggers, how to reward alternatives, handling techniques, and about perception modification. Is your dog choosing his responses or reacting to his environment. These workshops will not CURE your dog in 4wks, but will teach you the skills you need in order to affect a positive change. Dogs that are highly aggressive or who need training attention beyond the scope of these sessions, will be referred to a behaviourist. Our main concern is for the welfare of you and your dog, and if we feel that your dog needs more than this course can offer, we will refer you out.
Difficult Dogs Support Group: Often when dealing with a difficult dog, you will be told to get people or other dogs to help you. For example, you have a fearful dog around people & you will be told to "have people toss food to him" etc. Well thats all very well and fine if you "have people" to do that :-)) But its not always possible to get people to help and this is why many rehabilitation programs fail. In order to become confident and happy around people or other dogs, your dog needs to be exposed to them ....... at a level &/or distance that is appropriate for his current comfort zone. And everyday life just doesnt offer that opportunity. And each inappropriate confrontation is a set back that sabotages your efforts. The Difficult Dogs Support Group is a place to meet up with other owners of difficult dogs and help eachother (under trainer supervision) to set up training exercises to help your dogs.
The Country Canine Sunday Afternoon Social: Do you live in a rural area and find it difficult to get your dog out for regular socialization? If the answer is yes, then the Country Canine Sunday Afternoon Social is for you! One of the downfalls to living in a rural area, or having a very busy work schedule, is that your dogs dont get out enough around new people and dogs, to become adequately socialized. As long as they are at home you dont notice that there is a problem, but one day you take them for a visit somewhere and WHOA! the dog is terrified or shy. What happened to your perfect puppy?? He didnt get socialized. Lack of socialization is probably the single biggest factor leading to canine aggression issues. The Country Canine Sunday Afternoon Social is a place to get together with other dog owners and dogs in an environment away from home. Its not a training course per se. In other words, there is no "instruction" being given. But it is a place to train your dog in an unfamiliar environment and have your dog meet other people and dogs ....... to become socialized.
