Flex Class Program Updates

Our instructor team has been hard at work over the past week making changes to our Flex Class program. Our goal is to teach classes that are fun, informative, and build your’s dog manners. We want you and your dog to leave each class with a smile on your faces and a clear idea of what you need to practice going forward.

Part of achieving that is making sure the difficulty level of each class reflects the listed prerequisites, if any. That way, more experienced teams are continuing to be challenged while new students are getting the foundation they need. Most of the changes we’re making are to advanced classes, but we’ve got other tweaks to announce, too.

These changes go into effect immediately for all new registrations. If you’ve already registered for one of these classes prior to today, we recommend, but do not require, that you switch into a class you are eligible for.

Core Manners & Elective Dog Training Classes

Polite in Public, one of our four Core Manners classes, will no longer include matwork as part of the curriculum. We already address matwork in Settle & Stay Put and Self-Control. This change gives us more time to work on loose leash walking and polite greetings. Those behaviors are high priority for a lot of you, so we think you’ll like this change!

Intro to Dog Tricks, an elective class, now has a prerequisite of four Core Manners classes. We want to make sure all of the dogs attending have learned some basic training skills. Additionally, their owners need to be comfortable teaching new behaviors with the clicker and food rewards before joining us there.

Advanced Manners Classes

We’re increasing the prerequisite classes for all of our Advanced Manners classes. CGC Prep now requires 2 of each Core Manners class (Come This Way, Settle & Stay Put, Self-Control, and Polite in Public).

Recall Mastery now requires 4 Come This Way classes, 4 Settle & Stay Put classes, and 4 Self-Control classes. The exercises in this class really depend on your dog having solid foundation skills. The dog behavior requirements have not changed. To take this class, your dog must also have self-control around food on the floor and in containers, a 10’+ stay (either sit or down), solid name recognition, accept collar grabs, and take multiple steps for a hand target.

Power Walking now requires 6 Polite in Public classes. Your dog’s loose leash walking in low- to moderate-distraction level environments needs to be pretty darn solid before you move up to this class. In Power Walking, we focus on reducing treats, crisper turns without getting tangled up, and walking in close proximity to other dogs and people.

A New Class!

We’re thrilled to announce a brand new Flex Class: Distraction Action! In this class, you’ll learn how to use your dog’s distractions to make their manners training even stronger. All distraction types welcome… people, other dogs, critters, toys, skateboards, smells – you name it, and we’ll help you work through it. This prerequisites for this class are the same as for CGC Prep: each Core Manners class (Polite in Public, Come This Way, Settle & Stay Put, Self-Control) taken twice.

We look forward to seeing you and your dog in a Flex Class soon! View the calendar to see what is offered when, and then head to the class roster to make a selection.

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About the author : Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP CPDT-KA

Katherine Ostiguy is the co-owner of Crossbones Dog Academy in Providence, RI. She has over twenty years of experience training dogs and raising puppies. Katherine is a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Program, a rigorous certification program that requires continuing education and a pledge to train using force-free methods and techniques. She uses clicker training and positive reinforcement to solve problems and train dogs to a high level of reliability.