Green Acres Kennel Shop

We bring dogs into our families as companions to share our lives. How much of our lives they can fully share is ultimately determined by their level of training and their habituation to different situations and environments. The American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and the APDT C.L.A.S.S. certifications are solid baselines of a “good-mannered” dog that is able to join us in most aspects of family life. Even if you do not aspire to take either test, we encourage you to train yourself and your dog to this level so that you can both enjoy your relationship to its fullest.

Canine Good Citizen Workshop

This five week workshop focuses on preparing you and your dog for the AKC CGC test (http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/). It will also help prepare your dog for the Therapy Dogs International (http://www.tdi-dog.org/) evaluation. Key behaviors practiced in class include sit and down stays, polite greeting, acceptance of strangers and other dogs, recall, walking politely, handling, and supervised separation.

To enroll in a CGC workshop, dogs and handlers must have completed Green Acres Basic Manners course, at least one Level 2 workshop and have been successfully evaluated by the Green Acres Training staff as being able to consistently perform the following behaviors:

• Remain focused and under control in distracting environments
• Sit and down on a single cue
• Perform 20 second sit-stays and 60 second down-stays in low levels of distraction
• Leave food/objects on the floor upon request
• Recall from 20 feet with minimal distractions
• Walk politely for 40 feet while performing right, left, and 180 degree turns 

If you have not previously attended a Green Acres Kennel Shop training class but believe that you and your dog can perform the aforementioned behaviors, please call us at 945-6841 and ask to talk to our training staff for class entry details.

The fee for this class is $65.

APDT Canine Life and Social Skills (C.L.A.S.S.)

This five week workshop is a new offering this year at Green Acres and focuses on preparing you and your dog for the C.L.A.S.S. evaluation through the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) (http://www.apdt.com). There are three levels of certification for dog/handler teams in the C.L.A.S.S. program. The primary goal of C.L.A.S.S. is to promote caring relationships between dogs and their owners through the use of reward based training. This program allows for the demonstration of real life skills of dogs as well as the owner’s understanding of basic dog handling and care. Key behaviors practiced in class include loose leash walking, recall, meeting and greeting, leaving items upon request, giving and taking, settling on cue, and staying and waiting patiently. As the dogs advance, they will practice stand, handling, targeting, and backing up. Learn more about APD C.L.A.S.S. and Don's C.L.A.S.S. challenge at: - http://www.greenacreskennel.com/dog-behavior-and-training/apdt-class.html

To enroll in a C.L.A.S.S. workshop, dogs and handlers must have completed Green Acres Basic Manners course, at least one Level 2 workshop and have been successfully evaluated by the Green Acres’ Training Staff as being able to consistently perform the following behaviors:

• Remain focused and under control in distracting environments
• Sit and down on a single cue
• Perform 30 second sit or down stay in low levels of distraction
• Leave food/objects on the floor upon request
• Recall from 10 feet with minimal distractions
• Walk politely for 20 feet while performing 180 degree turns

If you have not previously attended a Green Acres Kennel Shop training class but believe that you and your dog can perform the aforementioned behaviors, please call us at 945-6841 and ask to talk to our training staff for class entry details.

The fee for this class is $65.

Level 3 Class Schedule

* Sign up for both CGC and C.L.A.S.S. at the same time for $120, a $10 discount.