Come join us with your 10 week to 6 month old puppy for a meet 'n greet with other puppies and owners.  See the Class Schedule for the next event.

Please make sure that your puppy is current on their vaccinations as appropriate for their age.

This is an open play social session. The class fee is $10 per puppy.

A training instructor will be your host to help monitor and educate. 

*** Special Offer ***

Sign-up for a KinderPuppy, Basic Obedience or Starting Off Right class during the social hour and your $10 can be used towards the full class.

As stated before, the workshop is 3 weeks. We will meet three times for 1-2 hours each time. Workbook and lesson guides are provided. Each session consists of discussions  and hands-on exercises that will teach you how to manage, alter, understand, work with and gain control of your's dog's reactivity issues.

Week One Outline

Discussions:

• How to move and use your body as a powerful communication tool.
• Learn how to channel your own inner calm through your dog.
• Learn how to use your voice and touch to influence your dog’s energy level.
• Reading your dog’s body language to get an insight into their emotional state of mind.
• Predicting dog’s behavior by watching subtle body clues.

Exercises:

• “Follow the Leader” to build you role as leader.
• “Temptation” to teach impulse control. 

Week Two Outline

Discussions:

• Understanding how our behavior influences our dogs at critical times.
• Why you must create a ‘Calm Zone”.
• Difference between “what you expect” and “what they can give”.
• How to clearly define  your expectations of your dog’s behavior.

Exercises:

• “Home Base”, a quick way to “shut-off” a dog by creating a “calm zone” during play.
• “Toy Block & Play” highly effective and non-confrontational way to: teach “pushy dogs” boundaries and to correct toy/food possessive and guarding tendencies.

Week Three Outline

Discussions:

• Understanding tolerance levels, gaining behavioral plateaus and knowing when to stop an activity or remove a dog from a situation.
• Incorporating calm into the dog’s daily life.
• Dealing with “problem situations” such as attending dog events, going out in public or dog parks.

Exercises:

• “Set Them Up” is a fast paced game played as a group that incorporates lessons from entire workshop.

Mary Kay's philosophy regarding Behavior modification focuses on positive reinforcement. All behavior modification programs at SmartyPaws include the use of treats, toys and even clickers to motivate each dog to perform a desired behavior. Shock collars are never used at SmartyPaws. Appropriate training tools are used for each case -- from housetraining to fear aggression to chewing, etc.

Because of Mary Kay's Veterinary Technician education with a focus in Behavior, she is able to work with your veterinarian in the instance that your dog's behavior problem is caused by an underlying medical problem. Her pursuit of required continuing education in this field keeps her current with the latest modification techniques as well as pharmacological advances currently used in the clinical veterinary behavior setting. She works closely with several local veterinarians, in a team effort, to develop protocols for those dogs that may benefit from medications along with their behavior modification.

Each Behavior Modification program is based on the particular needs of the family and their dog. Written instructions are provided, to compliment what is taught in each session. Some tests by your veterinarian may be needed before beginning a program. Nutritional counseling is also provided, as diet is becoming more of an issue in some behavior problems. All information regarding a family's behavior modification is confidential and only to include the family Veterinarian as needed.

At Smarty Paws Canine Coaching we are committed to helping you teach your dog what you would like them to know, while making training fun and enjoyable for both of you. We understand that the major reason pets are given up to animal shelters is because of behavior problems. Our training and behavior services help you address the concerns you have about your pet’s behavior so that you never make that trip to an animal shelter.

It’s much more effective and easier for you to prevent behavior problems than it is to correct them. That’s why our puppy classes and basic training classes are so important. In addition to what you learn from us, feel confident in knowing that we trust the behavior information you’ll find at HelpingFido.com and HelpingKitty.com and we encourage you to follow through and purchase the behavior education products we recommend. We would like your dog - and your cat too - to be behaviorally healthy!

As dog trainers, even though we don’t work with cat behavior, we know that many dog owners share their lives with cats as well. Behavior resources for cats are more difficult to come by, and we are thrilled to have found a source for effective, sensible and scientifically based information about cat behavior and problems at HelpingKitty.com. From litterbox problems to destructive behavior helping cats get along with each other and with family members, you’ll find the information you need.

We welcome your feedback on these products and resources. Feel free to contact us and give us a report after you’ve viewed, listened to or read them.