Hello everyone!
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how best to serve my clients – both dogs and humans. I have a lot of ideas floating around and would love to hear from you. I would love to get feedback from you about the ideas I already have, but would also love to hear your ideas! Below I am going to list my current ideas and then I’ve put together a short survey to gather your thoughts on which ideas interest you the most. If you have any additional thoughts or ideas about potential new services, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Want to go straight to the survey? Please click here.
My primary goals is to provide services that make your and your dog’s life better by doing one of three things:
- Prevent behavior problems
- Reduce or eliminate existing problem behaviors (including fear, anxiety and aggression, but also less serious issues such as mouthing and jumping)
- Deepen the relationship between dogs and humans and improve quality of life for both
I have divided the potential services into several different categories:
- Short lectures/webinars (online)
- Interactive lecture/discussion courses (online)
- Interactive skills training courses (online)
- In person services
Short lectures/webinars (online)
These would be short one time lectures (probably 45-60 minutes) that would be available on demand. These lectures would be aimed at dog owners. Possible topics include:
- Before You Get Your Dog
- Dogs and Kids
- Dogs and Cats
- Common problems/problem prevention (eg barking, counter surfing, attention seeking, etc.)
Interactive lecture/discussion courses (online)
These are courses that would take place over a few weeks (most likely 3 – 4) and would likely include live (online) lectures (you would also have the option to watch the videos later if you can’t attend the live session). They would include an option to ask questions during the live lecture and/or a discussion board where students can interact with me and other students in discussions about course-related content (or both). There may be a “full” student option that would include homework assignments that would receive feedback from me. These courses will be more in depth and would be aimed at dog owners interested in learning more about dog behavior as well as professional trainers/behaviorists. Continuing education credits would be available for those who would like them.
Possible topics include:
- Monthly research summaries – for example, we could focus on current research on emotion in dogs or how dogs think
- In depth look at various dog behavior topics – for example, co-evolution of humans and dogs, the biology of aggression, impacts of stress on early development, etc.
Interactive skills training courses (online)
These classes are specifically focused on improving your dog training skills. These classes are aimed at dog owners who have specific needs, would like to improve their relationship with their dogs or cannot take group classes because their dogs have issues with other dogs or people. Like the interactive/discussion courses, they will include lectures as well as discussions via online forums. They will also include video demonstrations and, likely, the ability to submit videos of students training dogs for instructor feedback. This option is also likely to have “full” and “observer only” options for class. Full students would be able to submit video for feedback. Observer students would be able to view all lectures but would not be able to receive feedback on videos or other submitted materials.
Possible topics include:
- Greeting behavior
- Enrichment for aggressive/shy dogs
- Confidence building for shy dogs
- Year of the Dog – class focused on relationship building with your dog and taking your training to the next level (may not actually be a year, but this would be an extended program, likely repeatable. You can take it again with new goals in mind each time)
- Project Dogs – ongoing support for owners of challenging dogs
- Starting of on the Right Paw – for puppies and adolescent dogs
In person services
We are already planning on adding a number of classes to our offerings including:
- Advanced
- Tricks and Games
- C.L.A.S.S. preparation (offered through APDT, similar to the CGC test, but three levels instead of one)
- Impulse Control
- Therapy dog training
Other possible classes include:
- Agility – introduction to obstacles
- Agility – keeping your dog under control on course (handling)
- Rally Obedience
- Scent Games (including nose work)
- Reactive dog class
We are also considering offering dog walking services, including the possibility of dog walking specifically for reactive dogs.
Tell us what you think!
That’s what we have in mind so far! We would love to hear from you about your thoughts on the ideas listed above as well as any other services you would like to see. Please consider filling out our quick survey – it would mean so much to us! It’s only a few questions and should only take you a few minutes to complete. If surveys are just not your thing, please consider leaving your comments. A big thanks to all of our clients – you are the ones we work for and the reason we’re able to do what we do!
Please click here to access the survey.
