uLevel One uLevel Two uLevel Three uLevel Four

uRally Obedience uClass Requirements uPrivate Training

uLife Skills Level One

All classes will book on a first come basis and are for dog friendly animals of all sizes.

Exercises will be demonstrated for you with our dogs and we will work with you in class time to help you accomplish these.    Written hand outs will be provided.   Although we have a structured curriculum, our concepts are flexible.  We may from time to time modify how an exercise is taught to suit the needs of each dog and owner.
Level One:   A eight week course designed for puppies 12 weeks and older. This course provides the foundation for owners to have a well behaved family pet. Your puppy will start learning with you in week one and attend all eight weeks.

Exercises will include sit, down, come when called, leash respect, stay, and basic attention.

We are firm believers that behaviour and basic commands are not mutually exclusive. Each week will cover behaviour topics to ensure your puppy is well mannered and respects your home, family and visitors.

Topics will include (but are not limited to)

• jumping problems

• chewing issues

• barrier respect

• nipping and mouthing

• barking

• impulse control

This course will also be offered for dog friendly adult dogs with no previous training.

Level Two:

• This course will build on the foundation formed in Level One and add distractions to such basic exercises as stay and come.
• Heeling exercises will become more detailed.
• Training games .
• Leash free will be introduced.
• Out of sight stays will be started in a manner that will boost your dog’s confidence.
• A stand command will be taught as basis for the stand for exam exercise or for the practicality of grooming and wiping your dog’s paws.
• Distance hand signals will be introduced for down and sit.
• Teach your dog to jump on command (an introduction to the broad jump).

Level Three:

• Distractions will be added to all exercises.
• Learn new skills to improve your dog’s focus in all basic exercises.
• Additional jumps will be introduced.
• Teach your dog a command to touch – this can now be used to target your dog while heeling and to expand his trick repertoire.
• Each week you will be challenged with a new “thinking dog” exercise.
• Insure that the command stay means anytime anywhere.
• Come  exercises to test your dogs understanding of this important command.

Level Four:

• An introduction to retrieving and formal obedience jumps.
• Continued work on heeling on and off leash
• Break down of the drop on recall exercise.
• Maintaining fast fun recalls.

• Out of sight stays.

Further advanced courses are available

Rally Obedience – Novice and Advanced – six week courses

Get in on this fast growing sport that will challenge you and your dog while enhancing basic obedience skills.  Two obedience levels are recommended before enrolling

Class Requirements:

• Six foot leather or nylon leash
• Flat nylon adjustable collar or head halter (the instructor will check these for you)
• proof of vaccination must be presented by the first class
• for puppies under four months of age a twelve week booster will be required, rabies after four months
• we recommend the Bordatella vaccine, but please verify the vaccine protocol with your veterinarian
• soft food treats
• a stuffed kong to settle with
• we recommend you start the first few weeks of training with a family member that the puppy is starting to respect.
• family members are encouraged to attend so they may help in the daily training process
• another family member may take over part way through the program

Private Training

We understand that all schedules may not allow for a structured nine week course. Trimark offers one on one training, in home or at our facility.  We offer consultations for crate training, house training and any puppy issues you may encounter before starting a formal training program.  Please call us with your training and behaviour questions.

Life Skills and Obedience Course

Course Description:

A 9 week course designed for owners looking to develop a better relationship and more control with their dogs. This course is aimed at teaching you, the pet owner, how to turn your unruly Fido into a well adjusted family pet and model canine citizen. This course uses the powerful science of marker based training to develop desirable behaviours. This type of training has been used successfully in marine parks and zoo’s world wide and is equally effective with companion canines. Clickers will be available for purchase on night one of class for those wishing to use one.

What is Marker Based Training?: Marker based training is a system of teaching which uses a marker signal ( “Yes” is a popular marker or a click noise emitted from a noise maker known as a “clicker”) followed up with a reinforcer desired by the animal (play and food are most commonly used by trainers). This allows for fast acquisition of new behaviors and takes a lot of the guess work out of the process for our dogs. Marker based training has the additional benefit of training behaviours without force, fear or intimidation. Regardless of your dog’s breed, age or background, marker based training is not only effective, it’s fun!

What will be covered in this course?  When it comes to raising and training dogs we believe that life skills are just as important as basic obedience skills. For this reason a dual focus is placed equally on both throughout this course. The following skills are taught in this course:

Basic Obedience Skills: Come when called; leash respect; sit; down; attention to name; leave it; stay.

Life Skills: Greeting visitors nicely rather than jumping on every person who enters the home; mouthing appropriate toys rather than pant legs, your hands, the kids or the family cat; curbing undesirable digging; tackling excessive barking; creating self control around food; acceptance of body handling (for successful trips to the vets and groomers).

Older dogs with no previous training are also welcome to participate in this course pending a screening.