Courses for you
and your dog

In these course, you are not going to "hide in the crowd" among 10-15 other students. In the small classes of 3-6 students, you will get 1-on-1 attention, and we will work on your training methods till your dog shows that you get it right! In the small classes, we will work as a team and help each other create the environment you need in order to learn to deal with the challenges your dog is giving you. You have to adjust your training to the needs of your dog in the specific circumstances we are working in - as does everybody else. (That's why the old-fashioned "sergeant-major" type of drills you might have experienced in standard obedience classes are completely out of the question...)

Because I build all the training on your ability to understand the dog’s instincts and fundamental nature, the first step is to give you the skills to act as a good pack leader for your dog. I do that in the Introduction and Basic Courses that are mandatory for any further training.

Once a pack leader, you can choose from several lines of training at Intermediate and Advanced levels, aiming at making the dog’s performance skills practically useful in real life - or simply at having good fun with your dog.

Where you fit in...

The courses are generally organized at five levels (more details will be made available soon through links from the bolded headlines):

1. Introduction Course - which is a short mandatory start for all students, presenting the fundamental training principles. The main purpose is to get the bonding process with the dog started well. This course is also meant as an "appetizer" for you to see if my training makes sense to you. The focus of the practical exercises is to have you combine teaching with fun - and, at the same token, aim at obtaining practically useful goals for yourself in your daily life with your dog.

2. Basic Course - which is a 6 week course that will give you an all-around understanding of the principles of dog training and how to apply them in the real world for your own dog. This is the "work horse" of the program. It will make you feel competent as pack leader for your dog. The "big thing" for most students is the "banning" - how you establish taboos for the dog to stop it from doing things you don't want it to do - not at all a simple task to accomplish effectively and without intimidating the dog! The focus of the practical exercises is on General Manners and your choice of Tracking (following footprints in terrain) or Article Indication (leading to either Small-Area Search or Scent Identification later).

3. Intermediate Courses - which are a series of individual courses that aim at assisting you going into depth with any of your chosen main disciplines:

   • Tracking (following human footprints in vegetated terrain)
   • Small-Area Search (finding small articles with human scent on, lost in terrain of any kind)
   • Extensive Search/People Indication (Search & Rescue-type of work, finding hidden people)
   • Scent Identification (indicate things touched by you or a person you introduce)
   • Retrieving/Carrying (bringing you or carrying specific objects of your choice)
   • Trick Training (anything that could be fun to train! Nothing is too crazy...)
   • Obedience (standard exercises trained to ensure compliance with the standard of your choice)
   • General Manners ("real-world" control of your dog that is practically useful).

   These courses allow you to specialize in the fields you and you dog enjoy the most. The courses are "semester courses" that run over 4-5 months. At this level, we get into detail with your training techniques.

4. Advanced Courses - which are building on your fundamental skills from Intermediate, and bringing them to the point of being practically useful, also under circumstances where you need to rely on your dog's performance. This is where you truly will experience team-work with your dog! The time frame is "two-semester" courses, running over two periods of 4-5 months, first part aiming at teaching you the techniques you need in order to work together with others, second part practicing your skills working together with your dog on tasks where your success depends on its performance and your ability to trust it...

5. Elite Courses - which are special "performance" training sessions for those who like to use their dog for professional or semi-professional purposes - or at least qualify for doing so...

How you join...

All courses are currently scheduled directly as Special Assignments" or as Private Lessons, and they can be run anywhere in North America where you have a reasonable pack of students and some reasonable terrain and/or facilities available. Please check those possibilities and see if you can make things fit with what you want. We can be very flexible, as long as I know what exactly you wish to accomplish - and I can agree that it is possible to do it! The rest is a financial issue we can negotiate.