Hello Paw-lite Manners 201 Pet Degree Class!

Here is your continued practice Homework for Week 7 of Paw-lite Manners 201.

  • Reaction to Another Dog (please see the video and instructions below)
    Goal for this week: Your dog will be able to remain focused on you while you pass another dog on leash.
    Advanced Goal: You and your dog will approach another dog/handler team from 20 feet away, stop, shake hands, and exchange pleasantries before walking past them. Your dog should be able to do this without greeting the other dog.
    Working with other dogs on walks is not the easiest training exercise because in order for your dog to be successful, the other dog in the scenario should be neutral. That is not normally what you will find on walks. In fact, in most cases when you see another dog on walk, more often than not that other dog will be pulling toward you and your dog and that is not the set up we are striving for when teaching our dogs to walk calmly past other dogs.
    Instead of working with strangers on walks, contact a few of your friends with dogs and see if you can practice some parallel walking with them where you are moving past them from 5 to 20 feet away. Start with 20 feet and slowly move the walking closer to the other dog.
    Another exercise you can try is walking near a dog park and just working on your LLW with distractions. Dogs will be coming and going. It is your job to keep your dog far enough away that he or she can be successful. If being close to a dog park is way too stimulating for your dog, then move as far away from the park as you need to to obtain successful criteria with your dog. The more you work on this, the better your dog will be able to walk past dogs on leash.

  • Loose Leash Walking (LLW)/Heel Proofing (please see the video and Note below)
    Goal for this week: Have fun challenging your dog with walking on leash this week.
    Video: Loose Leash Walking & Heelwork (Pam’s Dog Academy)
    We will not be assessing you on a long duration Heel at your graduation next week, but we will be looking for solid Loose Leash Walking skills. We will be assessing you on the fundamentals of getting close to you in a Heel set up with minor steps in the Heel position. Practice your Left Turns, Right Turns, and Figure 8s. Reward your dog for their attention and focus on you. Remember, we are building a reinforcement history for walking with you so that your dog seeks less reinforcement in the environment. Last but not least, make sure you have fun!

  • Greeting a Friendly Stranger Recap (please see the video and instructions below)
    Goal for this week: Your dog will be able to practice keeping Four on the Floor with every person in the house and/or at least 3 neighbors or friends. Try to lessen the amount of treats you are giving.
    Video: Four Feet on the Floor (by Chirag Patel)
    At this point, your dog should already be checking in with you after every interactive greeting with a person. If your dog is not checking in with you, then please continue to reinforce during introductions until this happens. You may need to increase the value of the reinforcement in order for the Check In to become a habitual and consistent behavior. Once this happens, you can start to lower the value of reinforcement and lessen the rate of reinforcement.

  • Practice Everything! (Please refer to your Report Card to review all the skills you will be assessed on next week!)

Ready for the next level? Our Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Pet Degree class is an 8 week class that covers the following 10 tasks:

  • Accepting a Friendly Stranger
  • Sitting Politely for Petting
  • Appearance and Grooming
  • Walking on a Loose Lead
  • Walking Through a Crowd

  • Sit and Down on Cue and Staying in Place
  • Come When Called
  • Reaction to Other Dog
  • Reaction to Distraction
  • Supervised Separation

  • Accepting a Friendly Stranger
  • Sitting Politely for Petting
  • Appearance and Grooming
  • Walking on a Loose Lead
  • Walking Through a Crowd
  • Sit and Down on Cue and Staying in Place
  • Come When Called
  • Reaction to Other Dog
  • Reaction to Distraction
  • Supervised Separation

The first 7 weeks of this class will prepare your dog for the 10-part test. On week 8, a representative of the AKC will come in to administer the test and present the dogs who pass with paperwork that you can then send in to the AKC to request your CGC certificate. The cost of the AKC Evaluation is included in the total.

Cost: $305

Registration: Check out our Dog Group Training page to enroll for future classes! Not seeing the class you’re looking for? Email us to be placed on the Wait List.

Try to set aside 15 minutes a day (or 3 five minute sessions a day) to set your dog up for success and meet your homework goals for this week.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything you need more clarification on.

See you in class next week!

Happy Training!