Street Manners November 14 - January 9, 2020 (Skips November 28 & December 26)

Street Manners

November 14 – January 9, 2020 (Skips: November 28 & December 26)
Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Instructor: Alisha Fritz

Street Manners is an intermediate-level course with a focus on developing the skills dogs need to take on the world—especially during outdoor walks! There will be a heavy emphasis on overcoming leash pulling and dealing with distractions. We will cover the following:

The proper use of a head harness such as a Halti or Gentle Leader
Getting and maintaining your dog’s attention in increasingly distracting environments
Effective leash handling
Teaching your dog to walk without pulling using a variety of exercises
Using what the dog wants in the environment to reward good behavior
Walking past and leaving distracting items on the ground
Generalizing basic manners for real-world environments
Focusing on distance, duration, and difficulty of distractions
Teaching your dog that distractions don’t pay, even the dreaded squirrel!

Dogs should have been introduced to the following before attending this class: sit, down, stay, come, and leave it (behaviors need not be perfect). Guardians should understand the basics of clicker training. Prerequisites: Canine Manners or the equivalent.

This class does not address reactivity (dogs who frantically bark and lunge at other dogs, people or objects such as bicycles and trucks). Reactive dogs are welcome to attend this class with permission from the instructor after the dogs have received training, such as in our Managing a Reactive Dog class, which is specifically designed to better manage reactivity. Guardians with unprepared reactive dogs may not be able to complete Street Manners.

All dogs must be 6 months or older, spayed or neutered and current on vaccinations.

Seven-week, one-hour class in Smoky’s Training Center

BACK TO CLASSES

PET VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS

All dogs must be current on the following vaccinations at least three days prior to their first class (protective titers also accepted):

Rabies: for all dogs ages 16 weeks and older, updated annually or every three years (per your veterinarian’s recommendation)
Distemper/Parvo: updated annually or every three years (per your veterinarian’s recommendation); puppies must have had at least two sets prior to class and by 16 weeks of age
Bordetella: updated every six months or annually (per your veterinarian's recommendation)

You or your veterinarian must provide proof of current vaccinations or protective titers on or before your pet’s first training class.

Send your veterinary records by email to gbirdnecklace@richmondspca.org, fax them to 804-521-0540 or bring printed copies to our humane center’s front desk. Please mark them to the attention of Gail Bird Necklace.

Vaccination waivers from your veterinarian should be sent by email to eholst-grubbe@richmondspca.org or faxed to 804-521-0540. Please mark them to the attention of Eileen Holst-Grubbe.

All waivers must be approved by our veterinarian and management team.

INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY

We rarely cancel class due to inclement weather. If we're experiencing a significant weather event (snow, ice, etc.), we will make every effort to contact participants at least an hour and a half prior to class start time in the event that we have to cancel class.

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY

Registrations that are cancelled seven or more days prior to the start of class will be refunded in full. Registrations cancelled with fewer than seven days notice will not be refunded and we will not offer credit toward future sessions for missed classes.

Questions about your training class? Check out our Training Class FAQs and Policies. See you in class!

Street Manners

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