03/04/2025
April Dog Training Classes at Horses and Hounds in Granby will be here before we know it! Daylight Savings time will be such a treat! Come play and learn with us on Sunday mornings or Thursday afternoons.
Five weeks of clicker training and positive reinforcement taught by Mary Fish Arango MA MEd CPDT-KA
Sundays
4/6 thru 5/4
Younger Puppies (3-6 mos) 10:15 to 11:15
Older Puppies (7 mos and up) 11:30 to 12:30
Thursdays
4/3 thru 5/1
Younger Puppies (3-6 mos) 4:15 to 5:15
Polite Manners (by permission) 5:30 to 6:30
Cost for a series of five weekly classes is $265.88
Scholarships sometimes available
Mary has 30 years’ experience teaching obedience skills and manners at all levels and has been a therapy dog evaluator since 1997. Seven of her family dogs have worked as therapy dogs in hospitals, critical care units, assisted living facilities, and schools. She has competed in AKC obedience, rally, and agility with eight of her dogs; her border collie Satch earned MACH2 and was a certified Disaster Stress Relief Dog.
All classes use clicker training and positive reinforcement as the primary tool; it is exceptionally effective and transferable to teaching new behaviors independently. Classes focus on polite greetings of people and dogs, impulse control, basic skills for family living, and solutions for common challenges. As puppy skills increase and maturity grows, we introduce greater distractions and more complex tasks.
Payment for the series holds a spot in the class.
If you don’t see a class that fits your needs or your schedule, please inquire about private lessons. Mary’s schedule is flexible, and she travels a wide radius to meet with clients and families.
Younger Puppies
We start younger puppies off with basic skills and shaping of positive behaviors: sit, down, wait, follow on leash, hand touch, and recall. We practice shaping behaviors with clicker training, helping handlers with timing and treat delivery and helping puppies learn how much fun it is to play and learn with their humans. We discuss common challenges that often come with young dogs and brainstorm solutions. We work on impulse control, learning to do nothing, and learning to be polite and appropriate with other dogs and people.
Older Puppies
Puppies and young dogs come to this class with a variety of backgrounds. We work on developmentally appropriate skills and behaviors and start to refine loose leash walking. We add “leave it,” “walk away,” and “stay” to their repertoire and practice shaping and rewarding with clicker training, one of the most powerful tools for helping a dog learn what is expected and what will be rewarded. We work on “place” and add duration, distance, and distraction to the stay command with practice for dog and handler. We continue to talk about common goals and challenges and possible training solutions.
Polite Manners
This class will take the basic skills of sit, stay, recall, leave it, and walk away to the next level. We will practice with greater duration, distance, and distraction and will work on politely ignoring other dogs and people. We will work on impulse control and appropriate greetings. Dogs joining the class will need requisite skills to be approved for this level. We will practice rally obedience signs and short courses to refine heeling skills and handler distractions.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are always available and are tailored to the specific needs of the dog and its living situation. Sessions typically last one hour and can be held virtually, at home, or at Horses and Hounds. Cost for a simple private lesson is $130 per hour (includes CT sales tax). For complex training cases, the fee is $160. For locations more than 25 minutes from Mary’s West Simsbury home, there is an added travel fee dependent on time and mileage.
Send a message if I can help with more information or answer questions.
