Simsbury Culture, Parks and Recreation Department
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Dog Training Classes at Simsbury Farms!

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Dog sitting on leash for handler
Preparation for Canine Good Citizen Certification
This class is appropriate for dogs who have positive social skills with humans and dogs and for teams who wish to work on CGC certification from the American Kennel Club. It is a useful stepping stone for eventual therapy dog certification and will involve practicing scenarios for CGC testing. Specific skills include sitting politely for petting, recall with distractions, stay, leave it, walking on a loose leash, allowing grooming and handling by a stranger, and ignoring other dogs while working.

Class on 5/4 is cancelled, a make-up class will take place on 5/18.

About the Instructor:
Mary Fish Arango, MA MEd CPDT-KA, certified professional dog trainer, lives in West Simsbury. She teaches clicker training skills to help dog owners capture a dog's desire to learn and connect. When an animal learns with positive rewards, it builds a vocabulary of positive skills to offer, and it learns how to learn enthusiastically. Mary has worked extensively with all kinds of breeds in shelter settings, training classes, and competition. She has been an evaluator for Therapy Dogs International since 1997 and a therapy dog volunteer in hospitals with seven dogs since 1994.
 
Canine organizations have lists of basic skills that are considered good manners in a well behaved family dog. Those lists include greeting people politely, sitting quietly for petting, calmly allowing grooming and daily care, walking responsively on a loose leash, walking politely through crowds of people, obedience commands sit, down, stay, come, calmly reacting or ignoring other dogs, reacting calmly to distractions such as loud noises, machinery, or surprising activities, and tolerating temporary separation from family members. This class is designed to work on those skills in a new environment with the distraction of other dogs. AKC Canine Good Citizen testing will happen separately at a future date.
 
As a prerequisite, dogs enrolled in the class should be well socialized with humans and dogs and should have skills of sit, stay, and recall well begun. For teams wishing to eventually pursue therapy dog certification for volunteering with their dog, this experience is a good stepping stone. Questions regarding this class can be directed to Mary at storybookfarmdogs@gmail.com.

During the registration process you will be asked a number of questions about your pet.  Your answers will be used to determine your pet's suitability for the desired class.  Your payment will be quickly refunded if your pet is not yet ready for the program.

Please email Mary Fish Arango at storybookfarmdogs@gmail.com if you ahve any questions or need additional information.
 

* Adjustments and discounts will be applied during checkout if applicable. *

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