At FORTIS Canine LLC, James Halstead leads our basic obedience classes. This course focuses on building a well-mannered and confident canine companion. Through positive reinforcement techniques, your dog will learn essential obedience skills, creating a strong foundation for a positive relationship with you. This class meets weekly.

Education:
Sit: let’s start with a bait and lure technique setting the foundation for the handler to start training their dog with positive reinforcement. This helps the owner learn that every training session is a game and it needs to be fun.

Down: This is the second most important position for a puppy to learn. A down is a submissive position for a dog. So, by teaching a down stay you dog will learn that this position means to calm down and listen. It is also the foundation for teaching good home manners and place.

Come or recall: This is the most important skill in my opinion. This is a safety fundamental that keeps the puppy out of harm like the road or away from dangers like other dogs or grills that smell so good to the unknowing and hungry dog.

Heel: This is a position. The puppy should learn this a position not a movement when you start to walk. The heel position should not change during sitting, walking running or making turns.

Place: Place is a command used to put you puppy into a down stay or extended sit stay. You can place the dog in a crate on a dog bed, and they should do so happily and wait for further instructions. This is critical in for hyper dogs when guest come over, or just to keep them from getting under your feet in the kitchen. It has many useful applications.

Door manners: Does your UPS or Amazon delivery driver know you dog to well because they bolt out of the house when you open the door? I can fix that. This is also a big safety tool to teach your dog.

Loose Leash Walking: Does you dog pull you on walks? We will teach you and your dog how to walk without the pulling.