Advanced Puppy Training Class

"Puppy College" - Off Leash! 4 weeks. (Age: 6-12 months, Prerequisite is completion of Intermediate Puppy class or permission of instructor.)

Grete, Penny, and Sophie in an
off leash group down stay in
Advanced Puppy Training Class.
Photo by Jason Page.

Puppy college is a manners class for adolescent dogs, run almost entirely off leash. In order to maintain control, classes will be limited to 6 puppies/adolescents that get along well with other dogs.

Your dog is not expected to be an angel at the beginning of Advanced Puppy class, but is expected to have a fairly good response to you, be social, and have group training class experience.

But don't worry - there will be a lot of goofball puppies running around at first, with more and more control as the weeks go by! If you're not sure whether you're ready for this class, ask your Intermediate Puppy class instructor, or email Grisha.

Yes, you still need to stay! Photo by Jason Page.

You will learn how to improve your dog's responses for sit, down, stay, come, leave it, and walking politely, in the context of being off leash, among other distractions. We will also discuss fading the use of food, teach tricks, and teach the dogs to go to a rug and stay there with big distractions.

While we do not recommend walking your dog around Seattle off leash, being able to respond in an off leash setting will make your dog able to listen to you, not just the leash.

Down MORE?

You will need to make sure your dog is interested in your treats or toys in this class, and we'll be using a LOT of treats, so bring a variety of treats/food/toys and do not feed your dog the meal before class. It may also be helpful to get them a good amount of exercise before class.

If your puppy can enroll in Advanced Puppy Class, this is the best class to take after Intermediate Puppy. Otherwise, you should take Better Manners. If you want to continue your puppy's education after puppy college, then you could take the Fluency Field Trip (for real-world training in Seattle) or Rally Obedience.

NOTE: Dogs who do not play well with others should take an on leash manners class or if there really is a problem, think about taking the Growly Dog Class.

NOTE: If Advanced Puppy will be your first class at Ahimsa, we require that you attend the first class of Basic Manners BEFORE the first day of your Advanced Puppy class to learn about the dog training methods used at Ahimsa. Please bring your receipt for Advanced Puppy, but NOT your dog, to the first session of a Basic Manners class.

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