CONFIDENCE BUILDING COURSE: - Creating the 'Whatever Dog'
Our Confidence Building Course is strongly recommended for ALL clients; regardless of age or previous training. Open to all ages. You can repeat our Confidence Building Course as many times as you like; we have clients repeat our CBC multiple times to continue supporting their dog through developmental changes and continuing their skills.ย
CBC's Aim:
- Preventing negative assosciations developing.
- Exposing dogs to new and sometimes spooky stimulus in a positive manner.
- Early identification of dogs with sensitivities.
- Building confidence through fun and activities.
Class Structure:
10 x 45mins classes, 5 dogs per course.
Each week will focus on the core topics:
People: Recognizing how our dogs see, smell and hear differently and exposing our dogs to people who may look or move differently in a dog perception.
Substrates: Working with textures to expose your dogs to different surfaces and build confidence moving on and around them.
Tricks: Learning to move their bodies in sometimes foreign ways to build confidence that “I can do this” and increase spatial awareness.
Separation: Often we see dogs unable to settle when physically separated from their human, this component teaches owners how to help their dogs build independence and tolerance to separation and tethering.
Objects: Recognising our dogs may find objects visually challenging and helping them explore and build trust by interacting with a variety of objects.
Handling: Vet visits, grooming, bathing and administering medication can be difficult for dogs, this component is to help owner understand how to desensitise their dogs to handling.
Noises: Desensitisation too common human noises but possibly confusing noises for dogs.
Smells: Introduction to possibly unfamiliar smells they may encounter in future
Prerequisites :
- Dogs must be conditioned to be a reward marker.
- Dogs must be calm and comfortable within 2m of other dogs.
- Dogs must be able to follow a lure or target.
- Owners must understand the phrases: โincrease rate payโ, โincrease distanceโ, โbody block".
- Owners must agree to be force free.
What is the ‘Whatever Dog’?
You have probably all seen the body language poster in our manuals.
The ‘whatever’ dog is a dog who is relaxed and happy in many real-life situations such as the cafe, vet, walking through crowds, the dog park, walking upstairs, over grates, past baloons etc, a dog who encounters new stimulus and shurgs to himself and thinks “whatever”. Our Confidence Building Course is an integral part of developing the Whatever Dog and giving owners the skills to understand how to coach their dogs through new and unfamiliar environments or stimuli.ย
Locations:
CALMING CANINES COURSE
Designed For:
- Worried dogs to build confidence and practice relaxing around new dogs, noises, movement and people.
- Over aroused dogs to learn to relax in the company of another dog and control their impulse to engage.
Open To:
It is open to dogs and owners who have completed a course of private training sessions with Sit Happens or our basic training course.
Due to the nature of this class we have a maximum of 3 dogs per class and request only two family members present at each class.
Class Structure:
10 x 30mins classes, 3 dogs per course.
Each week we will focus on:
- Identifying and keeping dogs below their thresholds
- Maintaining a regular, calm heart rate to avoid reactivity/arousal
- Rewarding and acknowledging and reinforcing calm, no reactivity to an introduced stimulus
- Calm entering and exiting of the car to reduce over-reaction and anticipation
- Understanding your dogs criteria and how to continue building on their skills and how to keep them successful
Prerequisites:
- Dogs must be conditioned to be a reward marker.
- Dogs must be calm and comfortable within 2-5m of other dogs.
- Owner must understand positive reinforcement training theory, reward marking and have practical experience in these techniques.
- Owners must understand the phrases: โincrease rate payโ, โincrease distanceโ, โbody block".
Locations:
PLAY TRAIN
What is Play Train?
Sit Happens play train is allowing our Sit Happens trainers to help teach your dogs to feel safe and secure in the company of dogs through appropriate play and training with familiar dogs!ย
This is our socialisation course and is ideal of puppies and dogs under two years of age whose brains are still developing and the need the vital practice of feeling safe with other dogs in their space. By having the same dogs each week, we build predicability and stability and therefore build their confidence and skills.ย
You can re-enrol any time and repeat Play Train as many times as you’d like with many of our clients coming back more than 5 times!
Course Aim:
- To allow your dogs to practice approprate socialisation through training in a safe and controlled environment
- To expose your dog to the same dog/s for 10+ weeks for them to develop trusting and familiar canine 'friendships'
- To avoid the unpredictability and overwhelmingness a dog park can be
- Building confidence through calm, observation, fun activities and training
Locations
ADDITIONAL TRAINING OPTIONS
Private TRAINING
Our private support sessions are available to those Basic Training clients who wish to have some 1:1 time with our trainers or for those Behavioural Therapy clients who wish to practice their therapy techniques with the security of trainers present and advising you in a safe and controlled environment.
Prerequisites:
- A condition reward maker and have a training history with Sit Happens.
Phone Support
A chat with our trainers can be helpful in supporting your training. Phone calls can be booked between 9am-2pm and are charged 15 minute increments.
