Group Classes

Puppy Club allows for off-leash supervised socialization with your puppy. This class is for puppies under six months of age.

During the class we focus on watching and learning puppy body language, we practice relaxation techniques and manners. We also allow time to discuss those nuisance puppy behaviors that drive you nuts! These topics include: chewing, puppy biting, housebreaking, crate training, the puppy crazies, and the list goes on.

We ask that puppies are considered in good health by a veterinarian, have started their course of vaccinations, and have had a negative fecal test. Please bring proof of veterinary care with you on the first night.

The fee for the class is $25 – treats, water, and trainer provided!

This class is located at 2501 Wharton St Suite F, Philadelphia, PA 19146.

In Puppy Kindergarten, we follow the American Kennel Club STAR Puppy program (https://www.akc.org/starpuppy/about_the_program.cfm). During this course, you and your puppy will learn about responsible puppy ownership, obedience, socialization to people, socialization to puppies, and polite manners! Puppies are required to be in the care of a veterinarian and maintain on the recommended course for vaccinations. Topics in class covered:

– How to sit, down, stay, and come when called

– How to walk nicely on a leash

– How to give up a toy or treat when asked

– How to leave food on the ground

– How to maintain focus on you in a distracting environment

– How to stay calm and enjoy handling for vet exams and grooming

– Appropriate social interaction with other puppies

– Appropriate social interactions with family and strangers

(To earn the AKC STAR Puppy award, puppies must attend six classes taught by an AKC CGC evaluator- Kim/Sar/Tori/Nicole/Lindsay/Cassi/Emily/Collin) 

Level 1 Obedience focuses on positive reinforcement methods of training and is geared toward all dogs who are dog and people-friendly. Dogs must be up to date on Rabies and Canine Distemper vaccines. A Bordetella vaccination is recommended, but not required. Topics covered in this class include:

– Sit

– Look

– Down

– Stay

– Recall (Come)

– Touch (Targeting)

– Leave It

– Drop It

– Polite Greeting Manners

– Loose Leash Walking

– Go to place

– Tricks like spin, bow, peekaboo

Level 2 Obedience focuses on positive reinforcement methods of training and is geared toward all dogs who are dog and people-friendly. Dogs must be up to date on Rabies and Canine Distemper vaccines. A Bordetella vaccination is recommended, but not required. In this class, we will build upon the foundations in Level 1, while adding in some new cues! Cues include:

-Advanced distance and duration stays

-Drop on recall

-Heel

-Recall past food

-Advanced place

-Polite greetings to people and other dogs

-Advanced leave its

-New tricks

We will start to wean off using treats with basic obedience behaviors and discuss alternative positive reinforcers. Be prepared to learn new games to strengthen skills! Students must test up from Level 1 before entering.

All Levels Obedience is great for dogs of all ages. Each class will teach the foundations of an exercise and modify to make it easier or harder for each of the dogs. Each class will be unique, and you will not be always running through the same six exercises in each class. This class focuses on positive reinforcement methods of training and is geared toward all dogs who are dog and people friendly. Topics covered in this class include:

– Sit

– Look

– Down

– Stay

– Recall (Come)

– Touch (Targeting)

– Leave It

– Drop It

– Polite Greeting Manners

– Loose Leash Walking

– Go to place

– Tricks like spin, bow, peekaboo

Time to hit the trails with your dog! This class meets in a different location each time. Please register for class at least two days in advance, to find out where we are headed! Blazing trails through the Philadelphia region, we will take guided hikes with our dogs, working on obedience skills along the way.

Have you ever watched dogs run through the obstacle course at dog shows or on TV and thought, “Hey, my dog would be great at that”? Or maybe you haven’t seen agility, but your crazy pup can jump over the couch and onto the countertop with the greatest of ease — either way, this class is for you!

 

In this high-energy, active class your dog will learn the foundations of agility and focus on basic obstacles including Jumps, Dog Walk, the Tunnel, the A-Frame, and the Table. This class is a lot of fun for dogs, while also reinforcing obedience training and focus on the owner’s cues. Graduates of this workshop are invited to take Agility Course Skills to build courses and practice this fun sport off-leash as their next level of training!

 

Prerequisite- Completing our Level 1 class or a basic obedience class. 

For graduates of Intro to Agility looking to further their agility training, Agility Course Skills will help teams build 5-15 obstacle courses through tricky sets, practice handling skills off-leash, introduce footwork and increase focus and speed through obstacles. We will also introduce the weave poles and the teeter at this level to be used in courses later in training.

 

*Evaluation for placement into this level available to those with previous Agility training – please email us for more information!

These classes will prepare you and your dog to take the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen Evaluation, as well as work on skills needed to prepare for the Comfort Caring Canines Therapy Dog evaluation.

The Canine Good Citizen Program is an evaluation sanctioned by the American Kennel Club that proves that your dog has proper training, manners, and can maintain training even through distracting situations. This is a great next step in training for dogs who have passed basic obedience and is the first step towards achieving a Therapy Dog certification. Therapy Dogs are eligible to visit hospitals, nursing homes, and other organized Therapy Dog groups to provide comfort and company to those in need.

During this class, we will be preparing your dog for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test and the Comfort Caring Canines Therapy Dog evaluation by teaching and practicing all of the exercises on both evaluations. The class will run for 6 consecutive weeks. Following the six-week preparation course, we will offer the Canine Good Citizen Evaluation. The six-week course and CGC test are included in the class fee. The Comfort Caring Canines Therapy Dog certification is organized and administered by Comfort Caring Canines.  CCC will communicate dates and times for the evaluation, necessary documentation needed, and fees associated with the certification directly with our Philly Unleashed students. 

Dogs entering class should have previous obedience training and experience working in a group situation. Dogs looking to pass the CCC Therapy evaluation need to be at least one year of age to qualify.

$300 (price includes the Canine Good Citizen test, additional fees apply for the Comfort Caring Canines Therapy Dog evaluation) The CCC evaluation will be scheduled after the conclusion of the class.  CGC Test only – $30

Our Dogs With Attitude class is for dogs who are reactive towards other dogs while on a leash. In this class, we teach how to cope with the stress of being around other dogs, management techniques for what to do when you see other dogs on walks, and a plan to work through it. The class starts in a low-stress way where your dog has limited to no visibility of the other dogs in the room and works to the point where they are comfortable in a room with other dogs. This class runs as a 7-week workshop.

 

The first night of class is for humans only. We do this to go over safety, rules, and expectations for the class, as well as assigning some exercises to practice at home before starting. Pricing for the 7-week workshop is $300. There are no prerequisites.

You and your reactive dog have mastered working around other dogs in class. Now it's time to take it to the next level! DWA 2 builds upon the foundations that you have learned in the Dogs With Attitude class and teaches you and your dog to work through 'real life' situations. This class will work through some more difficult situations involving “surprise" dog sightings, movement, and noise. DWA 2 class enrollment is by invite only, so check with your instructor to see if this class is right for you and your dog! This class is 4-weeks long and the fee is $200. 

Have you found yourself running down the street in your slippers in a futile chase to get your dog back in the house? Are you known to plead with your dog at the dog park to stop dancing around you and just let you put his leash on? Does your dog listen better to the word ‘Cookie’ than he does ‘Come’? Then this class is for you! Recall Bootcamp is a special, 4-week class which will show you how to effectively teach and enforce a strong recall in your dog. In this class, several different techniques will be taught and practiced, and we will teach recalls through many distractions like other dogs, squirrels, and other people. The fee for this workshop is $185. 

Do you have a shy dog that needs help learning to overcome the fear of new objects, situations, or people? If so, you might find our new Shy Dog class helpful. This 6-week workshop does not focus on obedience, rather students will learn to read visual cues from their dog, understand how human touch and sound impacts a dog, introducing to new objects, and engage in gameplay to build confidence.

Since some dogs might be fearful of people, we ask that only one handler attends with their dog. Instructors will reevaluate as the classes progress to determine if additional handlers can attend. Dogs in this class should have no history of aggressive behavior. The fee for this class is $250.