Happy New Year! :) It's the sixth annual National Train Your Dog Month hosted by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT). This year the APDT is focusing on everyday manners all family dogs should acquire. And hey that's a great a focus! :)
The APDT has a great program called C.L.A.S.S. (Canine Life and Social Skills) that covers all those everyday, basic manners companion dogs should have. C.L.A.S.S. is a three-level evaluation for dog owners to demonstrate the real-life skills of their dogs, as well as a knowledge assessment of their own understanding of basic dog handling and care. I have actually modeled my group manners classes after the C.L.A.S.S. program because I think it's a great comprehensive list of behaviors dog owners should strive to achieve. They have a general webinar giving an overview of each Evaluation test item and covers the Rules and Guidlines, you can check it out here.
I LOVE National Train Your Dog Month, but then again that's my world every month :). But this event does help promote the importance and benefits of training dogs to become happy and healthy companions. Again, pretty much my ambition every day! But too many dogs are turned into animal shelters each year for behavior and training issues that could be easily solved with proper socialization and positive, gentle, science-based methods of training. So hopefully this helps get the word out about training to more people! :)
The APDT will be offering a variety of free webinars with tips and tricks for teaching the 'basics' - sit, down, stay, wait, coming when called and walking on a loose leash.
Let me know if you find any of them helpful! If there are any training topics you'd like me to cover, please post below! :)
About the Association of Professional Dog Trainers
The APDT is a professional educational organization of trainers who are committed to becoming better trainers through using positive, dog friendly methods based on sound scientific principles. With over 6,000 members worldwide, the APDT provides professional dog trainers with a respected and concerted voice. The APDT promotes caring relationships between dogs and people and works to increase public awareness of dog-friendly training techniques. For more information, visit the website at apdt.com.
