OUR LEVEL 1 BASIC DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR ACADEMY; AND “SHOUT!”

OUR LEVEL 1 BASIC DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR ACADEMY; AND “SHOUT!”

Our Level 1 Basic Dog Training and Behavior Academy

I have been offering this 6-day hands-on trainer-training Academy for more than 20 years, starting when we were still located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Of course it has numerous updates over the years to keep up with new science about our dogs’ learning abilities. Initially it included much of what is now our Instructor Academy. Now it focuses entirely on teaching students to teach the behaviors in our Basic Good Manners Class (all force-free, of course) and an in-depth dive into the science of behavior and learning. It is now followed by our advanced academies, including Behavior Modification, Aggression, Canine Cognition (my favorite), Multi-Species and more.

It's not an easy course. Students are graded in four different areas and must score 70% or better in each section, with a final score average of 70% or better. The sections are:

1.     Class Participation – This includes arriving to class on time, participating in class discussions, and working appropriately with their dogs during group classes and practice sessions.

2.     Study Guides – Students get three take-home study guides. These have also been modified over the years. They used to be “quizzes”, as in “come into class, sit down at your table and take the test, brain dump only.” They are now take-home, open-book/open-computer – intended to help students focus on the topics that will be on their written final exam. This has at least helped to reduce some of the stress for everyone.

3.     Final Written Exam – The written final is not take home/open book. It is a sit-at-your-table and answer the questions from memory, the morning of Day 6. There are 17 questions (open-ended questions, not multiple choice!) and students have two hours to take the test.

4.     Final Practical – Afternoon of Day 6, students demonstrate, one at a time, what they have worked on with their dogs during their week here. As I advise them on Day 1, I am not grading them on how perfectly their dog is trained in just five days – I am looking at their skills. Perhaps their dog was doing a verbal Down by Day 3, but when they cue her to down in the practical, she doesn’t do it. No points off for that – I am looking to see that they react appropriately when the dog doesn’t respond to the cue – i.e. lure/prompt.

The Level 1 Curriculum

It is a busy and exhausting week for the human and canine students as well as for me. The human students arrive every morning at 8:30 to hike their dogs for 30-45 minutes – a great stress outlet for the dogs who have been kept in shelter kennels or boarding kennels nearly 24/7 prior to their arrival. Then I instruct the group training class – we cram our 7-week Basic Good Manners curriculum into 5 days – and it never ceases to amaze me how many of the Academy doings are doing at least as well, if not better, than many of our clients in our regular group classes. Of course, our dogs are getting a good two hours of training every day (no wonder we are all tired!), which is way more than lots of dogs get in a week!

The rest of each day is a mix of class lecture and discussion, study guide review, practice training, and each student gets two one-on-one training sessions with me during the week. Saturday is Graduation Day – written final, practical final, celebration, and a one-on-one feedback meeting with me before they head home.

The Academy curriculum detail is here if you want to take a look:

Meet the Dogs and Their Students

This class had a couple of challenging dogs along with some very lovely ones; four from Frederick County Animal Control (FCAC) and two from Lab Rescue LRCP (LR). They were:

1.     Roderick (FCAC) – a 1-year-old neutered male, somewhat fearful Lab/Pit mix. Roderick had been here recently for the Aggression Academy and had made good progress, so I thought he could do this, paired with Josh Greeves, an FCAC volunteer who was already familiar with him. It was more challenging for Roderick than I thought it would be at first, but he and Josh did very well together. Added bonus – Josh can keep working with Roderick now that he’s back at FCAC!

2.     Cordelia (FCAC) – a beautiful spayed female 1-year-old German Shepherd, picked up stray with her GSD companion, Cressida. She appeared to have had some prior training, and while she was somewhat stressed (as GSDs are prone to be) made excellent progress during the week with her assigned human, Catharine Franklin, of Lubbock, TX

3.     Cressida (FCAC) – Cordelia’s apparent “sister” (they were picked up stray together). Also a beautiful 1-year-old GSD girl with some prior training, and also somewhat stressed, she had a great time with her trainer for the week – Ed Henry of Burlington, NC.

4.     Mikey (FCAC) – A sweetheart of a 6-year-old Hound mix (neutered male) – he rocked the week with his trainer, Bobbie Ambruzs from Fort Collins, CO. They were second-high score on their practical final. Mikey was an adoption return after one month in the home due to resource guarding with the other home dogs. We all loved him… a great scent work candidate!

5.     Chloe (LR) – A classic chocolate Lab, Chloe (8-year-old spayed female) was a bit of a high-energy handful and a bit vocal, but she and her trainer, Katie Koutsouradis also rocked the week – they were high scoring on their practical final.

6.     Mia (LR) – Yellow Lab , also 8-year-old spayed female, surrendered along with Chloe to Lab Rescue when their human had to go into a care facility. Both well-loved and well-cared for, Mia was noticeably calmer than Chloe, and also did extremely well during the academy with her trainer Jonah Schreffler from Brooklyn, NY. Jonah has a thriving dog-walking business in Brooklyn and wants to add training to his services. It was interesting to watch him develop a new skill set – from dog walking to dog training.

7.     Lylah (LR) – Black Lab mix, 2-year-old spayed female, very intelligent and very high energy with a very strong interest in tennis balls. Excellent candidate for canine sports – she will thrive in the hands of a dog-competent human who can direct her energy to appropriate outlets. Erin Fitzgerald or Alexandria, VA. did a fantastic job of managing Lylah’s energy (and training her) during her week here. LR suggested she might be a candidate for one of the many agencies who utilize working dogs for various tasks. We wholeheartedly agreed!!

8.     Finnegan (LR) – Last but not least, Fin is more of a Doodle than a Lab, and an adorable one at that as well as a big cuddle-bug when he was comfortable. A 1-year-old neutered male, Finn was originally stray at a shelter before going to LR. Sadly, he was too stressed to participate in class most of the week – in fact too stressed and shut down to do much more than just go for walks on the farm. His wonderful trainer, Sara-Sun Cangelosi, also of Brooklyn, NY, ended up working with Bobbie and Mikey. In her “spare” time, she did an amazing job of helping Finnegan acclimate to the Peaceable Paws world, and on Friday we were able to lure him into a sit a few times – the pinnacle of is training accomplishment for the week. (For those of you who haven’t been to this academy, “spare time” is hard to come by – major kudos to Sara-Sun for her work with Finnegan and her great attitude!)

The shelter and rescue agencies who work with us are invariably pleased with the results, knowing (as do we) that the likelihood of their dogs' success in their new forever homes will be greatly enhanced by their experiences here.

If any of our recent Academy dogs appeal to you - contact their agency:

Frederick County Animal Control - https://frederickcountymd.gov/15/Animal-Control

Lab Rescue LRCP - https://www.lab-rescue.org/

And if you think you might be interested in attending our Academies and becoming a PMCT (Pay Miller Certified Trainer), you can go to our website for more information: https://peaceablepaws.com/peaceable-paws-intern-academies/

We also have some interesting workshops coming up... you can find them here: https://peaceablepaws.com/workshops/

Shout!

Okay – this is a brief and totally non-dog-related side-trip. I just had to include it because I found it amusing. I was at the grocery store one day last week, with a long shopping list. As I was wrapping up and getting ready to head to check-out, I was scrutinizing my list to make sure IO had gotten everything. Just then, on the store’s music-playing PA, the Tears for Fears song “Shout!” came on:

"Shout, shout, let it all out

These are the things I can do without

Come on

I'm talking to you, come on

Shout, shout, let it all out

These are the things I can do without

Come on

I'm talking to you, come on"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7FKc1JQe4

And guess what? The one thing on my list that I hadn’t gotten yet was, yes: Shout – the laundry detergent stain remover. Thank you, Tears for Fears!!!

Life At Peaceable Paws

Life at Peaceable Paws isn’t just about dogs (in case you hadn’t realized that yet). We also board horses (Peaceable Pastures) and just enjoy life on our peaceful 80-acre setting. We got a new boarder this week – a 16-year-old registered Paint (but a solid-colored one) named Arris. Our current horse population is at 11 – 9 boarders and 2 of our own horses. Arris is settling in quite well, with a low-drama introduction to his new pasture Pals, Prince and Star.

Yes Paint horse are supposed to have patches of white, but if a solid-colored foal is born to registered Paint parents they still get to be registered as a Paint. Go figure…

Warm Woofs,

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420