Working Dog Beginner Obedience & Manners

Start your dog’s training journey with practical, real-life skills taught through positive, reward-based methods. 

Instructors:  This course is taught by our senior-level, highly experienced service dog trainers.  

Skills Taught:  For dogs that are already familiar with some of these commands, students are taught how to eliminate the verbal cue, add distractions, distance, and or duration.  Skills include:

• Attention - Name and Watch Me
• Look at that
• Sit
• Down
• Stand
• Leave it
• Loose leash walking, including go left and go right
• Stay
• Controlled exits and entrances at doorways
• Recall
• Settle on a mat
• Introduction to tug
• Introduction to retrieving, take it, bring and drop it
• Introduction to touch and targeting

Additional Topics: 

• Strategies for working around a variety of people and dogs
• Sight distractions – out in public and setting up your home environment for practicing with distractions.  This includes utilizing family members and props. 
• Sound distractions
• Service dog laws and etiquette
• Thresholds, stress, and dog body language
• Stages of dog growth
• Jumping
• Teething
• Potty training
• Mouthing
• Grooming - ears, nails, brushing, giving medications
• Crating

Working Dog Classes include:

• Smaller class sizes for more individualized instruction
• Longer class sessions to allow additional training and handler education
• Specialized curriculum designed around the expectations of Service and Therapy Dog work
• More individual coaching for each dog-and-handler team
• Additional instruction on public behavior, distractions, handler awareness, and public-access skills

Age of Dog: 6 months and older

Prerequisite:  attendance of group training prior to this course.

Working Dog Classes are designed primarily for dogs preparing for Service Dog or Therapy Dog work. Pet dogs are welcome to participate, but the curriculum is more intensive and places greater emphasis on the skills handlers need when working with a dog in public environments. You will need to practice outside of class.

Please Contact Us if you have any questions.

Successfully attending and completing this course or the entire series of service dog courses does not qualify you as a service/assistance dog trainer qualified to train dogs for others.  The purpose of our program is to guide you as you train your own dog to be your service dog.  The Dog Alliance is a fully accredited member of Assistance Dogs International.