Canine Culture: Hooray for Back to School!

We LOVE back to school season at Canine Craze! Everyone knows a good education is important – and that goes for our four-legged family members, too. Too often, however, people “graduate” their dogs after just one class. But there’s so much more to know than sits and downs, and we believe in lifelong learning – no matter what the age or species!

Puppies
Puppy classes at Canine Craze are specifically designed to suit the puppy’s needs at each stage of development through the first 16 weeks. Puppies can begin classes as early as 7 weeks, where they learn foundation skills for basic obedience, socialization, impulse control and coordination.

Owners learn valuable skills too – effective canine communication, potty training tips, how to deal with problem behaviors, and proper pet etiquette. Puppy classes also focus on developing a positive relationship with your puppy, while establishing appropriate rules and boundaries.

Adult Learners
Even if your dog missed out on early development classes, it’s never too late to educate! Obedience foundation courses are the next level after puppy classes or introductory coursework for first timers. These classes are designed not only for the family pet, but for dogs being trained for competition, service or therapy work. Using positive reinforcement, our training focuses on four main principles – relationship, discipline, presence control and practical work – that will prepare you and your dog for any direction you’d like to go: agility, nosework, rally, tricks, freestyle, therapy work and more!

There is nothing more gratifying than helping a dog and handler find their niche. Many people express an interest in therapy work. If that appeals to you, a recommended first step is the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Test. If your dog is already fluent in his obedience skills, Canine Craze will be offering a CGC class beginning Sept. 5.

Daycare
Learning isn’t limited to the classroom, and socialization isn’t just playing! At Canine Craze, our daycare dogs get an education, too. While in a group setting, we work with dogs throughout the day with crate games, basic obedience and recalls.

In fact, the manners we teach and skills we practice help our daycare students become welcomed members of society. Our program begins at a preschool level and increases in complexity and distractions (such as rowdy playmates!) until our students earn their canine PhDs.

Back to School Challenge
We believe that good manners and behavior are SO important, that we reward our top performing daycare students with a year’s worth of FREE DAYCARE in our annual Back to School Challenge!

The contest is simple. During the week of September 10, we will video daycare dogs coming into daycare and judge them on 3 criteria – their ability to: 1) Walk nicely on a loose leash into the building; 2) Sit or down upon their owner’s cue while daycare staff approach, and 3) Maintain their sit or down position while the leash is transferred from owner to staff and they are released. For 5 weeks prior to the Challenge, weekly “assignments” are provided to help everyone brush up on their skills. Once the Top 10 are selected by daycare staff, the public will be invited to vote online!  

So stay tuned … we can’t wait to share those with you! Meantime, if you’d like to enroll in a class, Session V classes are starting soon. Or, if you have any training questions or behavior issues, please let us know. We’re here to help!  

Ask the Trainer:  Renee Jetter, ABCTC, CPCT
* Professional dog trainer; co-owner of Canine Craze Performance Center in Urbandale – an 18,000 sq-ft. dog training, daycare, boarding and events facility. Animal Behavior College, 2006 graduate.

* Expertise: puppy development; positive reinforcement training; obedience; competition; agility; tricks; freestyle; scent detection; canine good   citizen/therapy dog testing; Paws & Effect volunteer service dog trainer.