Seminars
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Seminars & Workshops
- Reining in Reactivity
- Introduction to Pup Parkour
- Intro to Cooperative Care
- Hiking with Dogs
- Learning to Love Swimming
- ‘Sharpen Up’ - a service dog special
- Foundations for Foster Dogs
- Long Line Recall Workshop
How do I Register?
- Fill out our Intake Questionnaire on Google Forms or email a copy to us at Trainer@FlexiblePet.Solutions to get started. If you choose to email it, please include the course title as the subject of the email so we know which class you'd like to attend. Be sure to complete this step even if you pay immediately online!
- For courses & seminars, payment is due in full to guarantee your spot; we accept and prefer Venmo (we will provide you with our Venmo address once we've received your intake questionnaire); or you can check out our Square store to purchase a guaranteed spot instantly. Please note our Square storefront includes a processing fee.
Current seminars:
Reining in Reactivity
Pup ages: 6mon and older
Location: Dog Bar (1650 Stoneridge Mall Rd, Pleasanton, CA 94588)
Duration: 2 hours, people-only 7/8/2023 10-12p & 2 hours (dog included for working slots only) 8/5/2023 10-12p
Cost per auditor (person-only, both dates) $80; cost per working slot (person-only 7/8, person & dog 8/5) $150
This seminar series is designed to help folks with dogs who bark/lunge/stare/fixate on other dogs when out on walks. We will begin with a people-only seminar on 7/8, where handlers will work on recognizing dog body language, human body language, practicing breathing techniques, learning management strategies, and building healthy habits when holding a leash. The teams will then have a month to practice what they’ve learned and return 8/5 for more instruction. On 8/5 auditors will return solo, and working slot participants will return with their reactive dog. On 8/5, we will focus on creating calm and focus with other dog distractions using neutral dogs, answering questions, and expanding on techniques. Check out Dog Bar for registration.
🐶 Introduction to Pup Parkour
Pup ages: 9mon and older
Location: Heather Farms Park (https://goo.gl/maps/yuEc7yMm1b3MCZ4e7)
**Duration: 8-9am Saturday 8/19/2023 **
Cost per dog-person team: $75 Prerequisite: Adv tricks/Rally/CGC prep/etc or instructor approval
The heart of parkour is to use the environment creatively to exercise your mind and body. While walks and sniffaris can be enriching, puppy parkour focuses on utilizing environmental features to challenge you and your dog. We hope to unlock your imagination so you can design your own mini courses wherever you go next. Check out a video of our rescue dog, Sequoia, doing some simple “Pup Parkour” exercises in Walnut Creek, CA.
###Intro to Cooperative Care
Pup ages: 10 weeks and older
Location: Pet Food Express, Walnut Creek, CA
**Duration: 1 hour; TBD **
Cost per dog-person team: $45
What makes a dog or puppy easy to handle? Easy to care for and groom? Easy to provide medical care? A lot of it comes down to basic handling and grooming practices at home. In this seminar, we’ll show you how to desensitize your puppy or dog to new equipment and gear. We will go over the basics of cooperative care, to help your pet opt in to essential tasks, and we will discuss what to do if your pup is really resistant without damaging your relationship. This seminar is meant for dogs who are comfortable with strangers touching them, and who can work in the presence of other dogs. For reactive or extremely fearful dogs, please book a private session to get started. Top
🐶 Hiking with Dogs
Instructor: Dr. Donnelly
Day & Time: Saturdays from 9:45am-11:45pm email for enrollment in Fall 2023
Pup ages: 6mon and older
Location: Shell Ridge Open Space
**Duration: 2-hours per week; 3 weeks **
Prerequisite: Adv Obedience/ Adv tricks/Rally/CGC prep/etc or instructor approval
Cost per dog-person team: $249 Register Instantly 
or Contact Us 
(See “How do I Register?)
Description: Hiking with your four-legged friend can be a ton of fun and can allow you both to explore and relax in nature. This course focuses on building skills in trail-specific leash etiquette, off-leash habits (including recall, distance-from-handler, check-ins, and social breaks), pacing, and safety. To attend this course, we recommend dogs graduate from an advanced obedience course first (including mastering skills such as sit/down with distractions, working around other dogs, working in new high-distraction environments, solid recall foundations, as well as having good dog-dog and human-dog social skills) - well behaved dogs can attend without proof of graduation with instructor approval.
Please bring the following to class:
- Proof of vaccinations
- Hungry pups - don’t feed a full breakfast before class; this helps increase your pup’s motivation to work for food
- Your pup’s breakfast
- Pup’s favorite, high-value treats (cut into small pieces to prolong the fun)
- A treat pouch or sufficient snack storage pockets
- A safe, fun, interactive toy (like a tug)
- A tab or 1ft leash
- A long line 15-30ft (cotton or biothane)
- A ‘light line’
- A 6 foot leash with secure snap or clip
- A flat collar with identification tags
- Any other collar you prefer to work in, so long as it is safely fitted, age-appropriate, and removable for play time
- A high-value chew for breaks and high stakes distractions
- Sufficient water for you and your pup
- Human comfort items (hiking boots, trekking poles, hats, sunscreen, jackets, etc, etc.)
Frequently asked questions:
- My adult dog is older but active, can we join?
- Absolutely; so long as your dog is cleared for hiking, you’re welcome to attend.
- I am a slow hiker, can I join?
- Absolutely! This isn’t a conditioning class for people or dogs - the pace is moderate with lots of breaks for the dogs to socialize and work on skills.
- My pup is dog-reactive (jumps, lunges, barks, etc. for more than 10sec when seeing another dog), can we join?
- Maybe; while dog-reactive dogs often need a more structured environment to learn how to be calm in the presence of other dogs before joining a group class, hiking and spending time on trails can help with rehabilitation - email us to see if a ‘reactive’ spot is open.
- My pup is nervous around new people, can we join?
- Absolutely; hiking with other more confident dogs is a great confidence booster for nervous dogs.
- What about the weather?
- This course is a rain-or-shine class; we will only reschedule if conditions are unsafe for outdoor exercise (smoke, wildfire, excessive winds, closed trails), but not for rain or cooler temperatures.
🐶 Learning Loving to Swim
Pup ages: 6mon and older
Location: TBD
Duration: 4-hours
Prerequisite: Puppy socailization / basic obedience or instructor approval
One of the best ways to introduce a dog to water is to find a nice, gently sloping shore into a natural body of water and provide lots of confident swimmers to encourage your dog to wade in and play. There are no guarantees that a dog will love swimming, but offering your dog the best chance to be confident and comfortable around water ensures they get the best possible start!
🐕🦺 ‘Sharpen Up’ - a service dog special
Pup ages: 4mon and older
Location: TBD
Duration: 1-4 hours, depending on group
Cost per dog-person team: $25-100 depending on duration
It can be tough to start or continue to train a service dog alone during a pandemic. Plenty of teams struggle with new situations, extra stressors, and mask-related cue adaptability. In this seminar, we pick a location to meet and work together to improve general service dog skills. These usually include handler focus, planned distractions, core cues (sit, down, stay/wait, come, tuck, heel, etc..), and role playing to strengthen handler confidence. It’s a great way to explore the local area with a group of folks who are also shaping complicated and life-saving behaviors in their dogs. Each adventure is tailored to the group, with subgroups possible to allow complete accessibility to all teams.
Foundations for Foster Dogs
Pup ages: NA
Location: TBD
Duration: 1 hour, person-only
Cost per foster $10-25 depending on group size
In this people-only seminar, we go over the foundations of training that can help a foster dog most. Dogs who have recently been disrupted by changing homes and who will hopefully be adopted to another home require special considerations. Helping the dog learn transferable skills and polite manners in a home are key to keeping dogs in forever homes. We emphasize body language, decompression, and rewarding calmness.
Long Line Recall Workshop
Pup ages / Prerequisite: 6mon+ / basic obedience or instructor approval+
Location: Heather Farms Park (https://goo.gl/maps/yuEc7yMm1b3MCZ4e7)
Duration: 2 hours
Cost per dog & handler team $75
Recall is one of the most valuable skills you can teach your dog, but it is tricky to teach! Using a long line can help you shape a reliable recall safely and responsibly. While recall can be started at any age, we will be practicing in public so all dogs must be fully vaccinated and we recommend attending a basic course or series before attempting this workshop to make the most out of your experience.