Six weekly classes for dogs from five to eighteen months, on the park, £130
Adolescent classes
Six weekly classes on Heath Park for dogs between five and eighteen months, the age when a good puppy goes deaf, pulls, jumps up and forgets their name. Recall with distractions, loose-lead walking past other dogs, impulse control and settling in public, six dogs at most with two trainers. £130 for the six.
Adolescence in dogs is real, it starts at about five months and it can last until two. The puppy who came every time now runs off, the polite walker now drags, and the friendly greeter now leaps at every jogger. This course is for exactly that, on the park where it happens.
Classes are an hour on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (in the pavilion from November to February when it is dark) and on Sunday mornings on the field by the Heath Park pitch-and-putt. Six dogs, two trainers, and plenty of space between dogs that find each other too exciting.
The course rebuilds the basics under distraction: recall when another dog is playing, the sit when a jogger goes past, walking on a loose lead past squirrels. The method is the same as the puppy course but the bar is higher, and much of it is teaching the owner to set the dog up to succeed: distance, timing, the right reward, and knowing when to give up and try again tomorrow.
Impulse control is the theme: waiting for the food bowl, the door, the lead going on, the ball being thrown. Dogs who learn to wait in small things wait in big ones. Week six is a group walk round the lake with the class practising everything in the real world.
Dogs who did our puppy course and dogs who did not are equally welcome; a home visit beforehand (£65) is suggested for any dog who cannot yet be in a field with other dogs without lunging or barking, and the reactivity programme may suit them better.
What is included
- Dogs from five to eighteen months, six at most, two trainers
- On Heath Park, the pavilion on dark winter evenings
- Recall and the basics with distractions
- Loose-lead walking past dogs, joggers and squirrels
- Impulse control: doors, bowls, leads, balls, people
- A group walk round the lake in week six
What it costs
£130 for six weekly classes of an hour on the park. A drop-in class afterwards £15. No membership and nothing added. The timetable has every class with its spaces and every price side by side; the problem finder says which course or visit fits.
Questions about adolescent classes
My dog was perfect at four months and is a nightmare at eight. What happened?
Adolescence. Hormones, a brain rewiring and a new confidence all arrive together, and the training that worked at four months needs rebuilding with distractions. It is normal, it passes, and this course is for exactly this.
Does neutering fix it?
Not on its own, and for some dogs early neutering can make nervousness worse. It is a conversation for your vet; the training is needed either way.
My dog lunges at other dogs on the lead. Can we join?
Possibly not straight away. Book a home visit first; if the lunging is excitement we can usually manage it in class with extra space, and if it is fear the reactivity programme is the better start.
Tell us about your dog. We will say what fits, and what it costs.
Two minutes on the form: your dog, their age, what is going wrong. We reply the same working day with the course or visit that fits and the next date, or book a free ten-minute call if you would rather talk first. Or ring Ffion in the office.