Basic Obedience I – Dog Training and Behavior Modification

BASIC OBEDIENCE DOG TRAINING – Dog Trainer; Dog Training; Puppy; Lesson Class School

Call Today!
Sam Basso
PHOENIX , AZ AREA: (602) 708-4531
OR, if you are out of this area, inquire about a telephone or e-Lesson
Email: Sam@SamTheDogTrainer.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Classes Cover:
Basic Commands: (Sit, Down, Heel, Come, etc.)
Manners (No biting, destructive chewing, nuisance barking, jumping, mounting, overly friendly greetings, etc.)
Handler Skills (Read about Being A Dog’s Pack Leader)
Maintenance Program
Motivation

(Read About: How I trained Bunker The Dog to win “America’s Cutest Puppy” for a nationally televised contest)

Locations Serviced: Ahwatukee, Anthem, Avondale, Buckeye, Cave Creek, Chandler, Chandler Heights, DC Ranch, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun City, Sun Lakes, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson

You want your dog to obey your commands, right? Basic Obedience is the Foundation for all other skills: living with humans in their homes and being in public… as well as therapy dog, herding, agility, protection, search and rescue, bed bug detection, tracking, or hunting dog work.

In Basic Obedience I, we will have completed the following exercises:
a.) House Training and Manners
b.) Barrier Training
c.) Sit/ Stay
d.) Down/ Stay
e.) Sit Out Of Motion
f.) Down Out Of Motion
g.) Come When Called
h.) Heeling: straight, turns, automatic Sit
i.) Handler Skills (too many to list here)
j.) Management Program I

Thinking Ahead: My training program is also designed to PREVENT problems, not just to solve your dog’s immediate behavioral problems. My students become aware this from the very beginning of lessons. It’s kind of like practicing good health habits today to prevent cancer instead of having to visit the doctor later to treat the cancer with chemo-therapy. So, I’ll demonstrate seemingly small and insignificant techniques like how to put on a leash, or how to pet your dog, or how to introduce your dog to strangers, which will pay off big time over the life of your dog.

Basic Obedience I is 18 private lessons (Why 18 Lessons?). This is the place to start if you have an untrained dog. I come to your house, every day, Monday through Friday, for 3 ½ weeks (we can work in Saturdays or Sundays, if necessary… or if you have a weird schedule… let’s work out a plan… ). Lessons are up to an hour long. There is daily homework and some reading, and lots of personal attention and instruction… I’m here to make sure your dog succeeds. I am training your dog. I am training you, and your family. At a certain point, once I see that your dog has all the skills, we do what I call “I do it, you do it.” I then walk you through every exercise again to make sure that you have all the skills necessary to manage, train and motivate your dog.

There is so much that is NOT in dog training books… and I teach you those kinds of things… skills and techniques I’ve created and learned by years and years of experience and observation. For example, I read animal behavior research studies at least 3 hours every week, and I’ve been doing that, and more, since I started training dogs professionally in 1997. All that research pays off for my students. And so does all the hours I’ve spent working with dogs of all kinds over all those years. (Read: Dog Training Myths) There are things that you can only learn by seeing and doing through working with an experienced professional. I then put you on a Maintenance Program to show you what to do after the lessons are completed. I also tell you how to stay motivated so that you don’t quit working with your dog after the lessons are completed.

AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS ISN’T SOME QUICK FIX PROGRAM WHERE I TAKE YOUR MONEY, AND DON’T DO ANY WORK. NO… we won’t be finished in 5 lessons… how can I expect 100% effort from you if you aren’t getting 100% effort from me, right? WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO A QUICK FIX PROGRAM… WE AREN’T GOING TO BE ROUGH ON YOUR DOG… WE ARE GOING TO BE THOROUGH AND YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN A TON… AND SO IS YOUR DOG! It’s not acceptable to skip all the important details and rush you out the door. You are paying to be trained, and to have your dog trained… and that is what you will get!!

Personal Coaching: I also am the one doing the lessons with you, not some “assistant”. You work directly with me. That’s why this is “Sam The Dog Trainer”, not “Acme Dog Training School”… it’s about you hiring an expert to personally work with you. Any time the owner’s name isn’t part of the school, it is highly likely you are dealing with an employee, not the person who devised the program. Yet, even a couple of the larger franchises have someone’s name on the door, but it isn’t really them. Remember the “Fred Astaire Dance Schools”? Was Fred Astaire teaching those classes or was it someone who purchased a franchise? Obviously it wasn’t him. Always make sure you are dealing with the owner, not some employee who is only there to get a paycheck.

The Law Requires That You Control Your Dog: And let’s face it. Some people you know or will meet hate dogs. They may be family members, your guests, your neighbors, strangers, or that animal control guy who is at your door because of a complaint. Training is not teaching a bunch of useless tricks. It can affect you legally and socially. You have a responsibility to do things correctly and legally. And if you don’t, there are people out there who will go after you, especially if you own certain breeds (pit bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans, etc.). (Read: The Problem With The Untrained Dog; Is It Ethical For People To Train Their Dogs; ). If your dog gets loose, the laws in your community hold you responsible for what your dog does.

I Want You And Your Dog To Succeed And Be Happy: No one fails this class (unless, of course, you don’t do any of the homework). Let’s keep going until your dog is trained. Unlike other programs where you can take the class, yet you or the dog fails, I am coming every day, TO MAKE SURE that you are trained. Some dogs are slow to train, for a variety of reasons. I have had several customers that did the homework, but the dog was a very slow learner. In those cases, I have given away, free lessons to make sure the dog was trained properly. As long as (a.) I see that you are doing your homework diligently and with a good attitude, as I instruct, (b.) you don’t keep missing or rescheduling lessons, (c.) the issue is that the dog is going slowly (I won’t push your dog faster than your dog can learn), and (d.) that you have paid for the entire program up front (and not chosen a payment plan), then any extra lessons to get your dog trained are at my cost and are free to you.

I define Basic Obedience from a perspective of accomplishment. (First off, we are not going to train your dog to be a ‘robot’, meaning that we won’t bear down on your dog beyond your dog’s genetic capability to do the work with a good spirit. Harsh training scares a dog into obeying, fearful of what is going to happen to them if they don’t immediately respond to commands. This is abusive training, and I don’t train dogs that way.) I feel that a dog and owner have completed Basic Obedience when the dog is mostly well mannered, the dog is mostly reliable and obeys on (and off leash, with moderate distractions) with the basic commands (Sit, Down, Heel and Here), and the owner knows how to work with their dog. [REMEMBER: THIS IS "BASIC" OBEDIENCE... FOR MORE CONTROL YOU NEED "ADVANCED" OBEDIENCE"] In other words, if your dog can’t obey the basics, then your dog hasn’t yet completed Basic Obedience. That’s why I say that in my classes, my Basic Obedience course is the equivalent of a dog taking about 1 1/2 to 2 years of weekly group lessons (approximately 50 to 100 group lessons). So, that’s why other trainers shouldn’t say that a dog has completed Puppy, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced obedience if the dog hasn’t obtained the necessary skills at that level. To me, Basic Obedience has been completed when the dog OBEYS the basic commands in the real world, as best as that individual dog is capable of.

We cover Manners and Command Oriented Behaviors. Manners are those things that you expect your dog to do without having to tell them, such as staying off the furniture, not running out the front door, how to greet guests without jumping, etc. Command oriented behaviors (obedience commands) are things like Sit, Down, Heel and Here. We do the lessons in the real world. Usually, that means we are working at your home, in the street or along the sidewalk, or we’ll even meet at a park or public location. I want to simulate the real world as much as possible to get your dog ready to obey when it really counts. Sometimes, before training commences, I will want to do an Evaluation. I will let you know if that is the case. I want to make a good recommendation. Not all dog problems require an obedience program, and I won’t recommend one if it isn’t needed.

Of course, Basic Obedience should also teach Sit, Down, Heel and Come. I am sort of kidding, but also serious, when I explain to my students that “the lessons are over when I say that they are.” In other words, I am saying that we’ll stick with the lessons, no one fails the class and no one gets left behind. You see, in a group class, even if you don’t do the homework, or if you do but your dog isn’t getting it right, the class marches on without you. To me, and for my students, that’s totally unacceptable. There have been a few instances when I have given away a whole summer of free lessons to a customer that was diligently doing their homework, but the dogs were coming along much slower than expected. As I explained earlier, there are some exceptions to me giving away free lessons, such as when they can’t do their homework, such as some of my very wealthy customers that have multiple businesses and lots of obligations. For those cases, I do charge extra to get the dog trained, since I have to do it all, but even then, my objective will still be to get the dog and owner completely trained before we finish up. In some cases, I have to schedule weekend lessons to make sure that the whole family is competent in the necessary skills. This is also why I don’t recommend people just doing a handful of lessons with me, since I always know how much more I want to accomplish with their dogs to make sure everything is doing really well.

A good Basic Obedience course should also include lessons on how to continue the training at home once the formal lessons are over. With each customer, I describe a specific Maintenance Program on how they can do just that. Training is never over, since the dog can forget all we have taught if we never use it or we forget how to use it. We also will go over topics that could involved a variety of topics, such as boarding your dog when you have to leave town; never playing with a laser pointer; choosing a veterinarian; choosing to get another dog; breed characteristics; Let’s Talk About Electric Collars; Using A Dog Groomer; What About Prong and Chain Collars; and so forth. I can be a good resource, and love to discuss ideas and look for solutions.

Finally, I offer follow up for my customers, to ensure that they have all their questions answered, even after we have completed the lessons. Most of the time, the follow up is free. In some instances, however, the situation requires additional lessons. That’s why I offer Maintenance Lessons, so that customers can go beyond Basic Obedience, and also why I offer a One Week Tune Up, so that if the owners or dogs skills get rusty, that we can polish them up.

It is important to go beyond just Basic Obedience: To get more off leash control at greater distances and in more difficult situations, it is worth considering continuing your lessons. So, once you have completed Basic Obedience I, I would recommend enrolling your dog in continuing classes for further control.

USE YOUR OBEDIENCE: I also encourage all my students to USE what they have learned. Once you have finished, take your dog to be qualified as a Therapy Dog. Or join an agility club, herding dog class, protection dog program, or herding dog class. You will see that the foundation we do will prepare your dog for these other skills. Many of my students have taken their dogs into these other directions, and I fully support them in doing so. I’m not the endpoint of your dog’s journey. I’m the foundation. Once the foundation is in place, you can then more easily do other activities that use your dog’s special talents. I’ve even had a number of students that were having trouble in these fields, that came to me to put the necessary foundation into their dogs because their dogs were having trouble doing the agility, therapy dog work, etc. They didn’t do the foundation work first, so their dogs were having trouble in these other programs, and we had to go back and fill in the gaps that should have been done in the first place.

OUR GOAL: A TRAINED DOG AND A TRAINED OWNER

Private, in home dog training lessons are conducted throughout Phoenix, Arizona (AZ) and surrounding communities; 8 am to 9 pm, Monday through Friday; Saturday and Sunday lessons also available. Group lessons conducted seasonally, call for specifics.

PLEASE READ:

Why Should You Choose Sam Basso To Train Your Dog? (What To Expect)
Customer Testimonials (Please call me if you’d like to talk to my references)
My Prices (Complete description of prices for each program)
My Rules (Policies, Payment, Cancellations, Rules, Disclosures, etc.)
Tension In The Home (A Stressful Home Environment And How It Affects Your Dog)
I Hate Retractable Leashes

Sometimes a student CAN’T or WON’T do the homework. What is my policy regarding homework?

PLEASE ALSO READ: What If I Can’t Do The Homework?
PLEASE ALSO READ: What If I Won’t Do The Homework?