Dog Training

Here's what typically happens.

You get a puppy, and think to yourself, "How hard can this be? My puppy will be perfect and doesn't need training! Besides, he's already good at sitting."

At first, he's so darn cute that you don't mind that he's jumping on people or nipping your fingers. Then he starts growing. The jumping gets worse, and now he's pulling you down the street when you go for a walk. He gets separation anxiety when you leave him alone, is starting to growl at other dogs, and you saw him eat poop at the dog park. No more licking your face!

Uh-oh. This is harder than you thought, and this is only the beginning. You're not exactly sure what to do about it, and you certainly don't want to deal with these issues for the next fifteen years!

The bottom line is that you just need to know what to do, in clear, simple steps. You've already discovered that books, websites, and talking with friends or family aren't getting you very far. That's where training class comes in.

Most people believe that puppy class is about teaching their dog to sit and stay. Because their dog may already be good at sitting and staying, they may decide against it (never mind the fact that the dog will only sit when there's a treat present and with no distractions!). 

Tucker Pup's training courses are designed differently than that. Instead of simply "training your dog," we believe in teaching the owners on how to properly handle their dogs and guide their behavior in a positive way.

This course covers the following topics:

• Loose-leash walking (walking politely at your side, without pulling)
• Listening to you the first time, without repeating yourself
• Leaving something alone, and walking away from something
• Keeping four on the floor and not on your guests, the counter, or your furniture
• Coming directly to you when called, even when highly distracted
• Greeting new people or other dogs nicely, including on walks
• Sitting, staying, lying down, giving eye contact
• Going to a place in your home, such as a mat, to await further instruction
• Accepting people handling him, such as touching his paws, clipping his nails, getting groomed, etc.
• Play-biting
• Socialization and playing nicely with other dogs
• House training
• Chewing
• Exercising
• Playing fun games and exercises with you

Even if your puppy may not be exhibiting problems with these behaviors at the moment, chances are you will run into some of them (or similar ones) over the course of time. This class will teach you how to prevent them occurring to begin with, and stop them if they start.

The critical time for a dog's learning is before the age of 4.5 months. After that, these "challenging" behaviors become harder to eliminate. The Puppy Manners course is designed to start your puppy off on the right foot so he doesn't need to "unlearn" things later on. This will set the tone for having a wonderful, positive relationship with your dog for many years to come.

Does your dog listen only half the time? Pull on the leash? Jump on people? Come to you when called? Leave items alone that are on the ground?

Having a dog that listens to you without fail is one of the greatest joys and can bring such peace into your life. Many people say "My dog doesn't need training because he knows how to sit pretty well." They don't know what they are missing! Your dog may be able to follow some basics in your house when there are no distractions and you have a treat in your hand, but what about all those life situations that make listening much harder? For example, what about when you're walking down the sidewalk and he spots a squirrel? When you're at the dog park and he jumps up on a small child? When you're at the beach and he runs away from you? What if you're outside and he runs toward the street and that oncoming car? When he approaches something on the floor that you don't want him to eat?

The primary purpose of the Adult Manners course is to teach your dog the fundamental skills so you can have her do what you want, on command without repeating yourself, time after time. In other words, we are trying to teach self-control across a variety of specific behaviors.

Instead of simply "training your dog," we believe in teaching the owners on how to properly handle their dogs and guide their behavior in a positive way.

This course covers the following topics:

• Listening to you the first time, without repeating yourself
• Leaving something alone, and walking away from something
• Loose-leash walking (walking politely at your side, without pulling)
• Coming directly to you when called, even when highly distracted
• Going to a place in your home, such as a mat, to await further instruction
• Keeping four on the floor and not on your guests, the counter, or your furniture
• Greeting new people or other dogs nicely, including on walks
• Sitting, staying, lying down, giving eye contact
• Playing fun games and exercises with you
• Accepting people handling him, such as touching his paws, clipping his nails, getting groomed, etc.

Tucker Pup's offers intermediate dog training classes in Chicago. In this class, we strengthen your dog's listening, self-control, and skills in a number of areas such as leash walking, recall, not jumping on dogs or people, and much more. 

If you have taken our Puppy or Adult Manners course, this is the perfect next step in order to help your dog reach its potential. 

Now that your dog knows the basics, it's time to make all of the exercises much more challenging. We add the three D's (distance, duration and distractions) plus introduce some new commands in order help your dog build and keep its focus. The goal continues to be for your dog to do what you say the first time, without repeating yourself.

By the end of the course, your dog should be able to excel at many foundational behaviors, even under highly challenging circumstances.

Examples include:

• Leave things alone unless given permission (even really tempting things, like a pile of treats)
• Go to a place, such as a mat or crate
• Stay for long period of time
• Automatically go to your side when coming to you
• Walk next to you politely (even without a leash)
• Come to you from a highly distracting activity.

Don't just stop at one Manners course and think you're finished - take the next step and enroll in Intermediate Manners so your dog can continue to improve and learn crucial lifelong skills.

This course helps dogs overcome their leash reactivity. It is a very small class size and uses visual barriers to help the dogs adjust to each other. The class is invaluable for helping dogs increase their tolerance of others. Please note that this class is for dogs who are reactive towards other dogs, but not towards humans.

Our Confidence Booster class is perfect for shy dogs, or dogs whose lack of confidence causes them to react poorly to other dogs. In this course, your dog will be introduced to a number of obstacles and games that will help it realize that the world is not such a bad place after all. The obstacles and games change from class to class, so your dog learns to adjust. You will get homework after each class, so you can practice navigating the world in new and interesting ways at home. Our goal is that by the final class, your dog is not fazed by its surroundings, people, or other dogs, and it will be happy entering new environments.

Agility is a wonderful canine sport, where your dog goes through an obstacle course. It is excellent for teaching your dog to listen and follow your direction. It is also great exercise, mentally stimulating, and is a lot of fun for the humans!

In our Intro to Agility class, your dog will learn to:

• Go over jumps, which can be set at any height that you want
• Go through a tunnel, which can be shortened or expanded to any distance that you want
• Go over the A-frame, which will be at a gentle angle so your dog is successful
• Go through weave poles
• Go over the teeter-totter, which will be set at a gentle angle so it doesn't slam down when reaching the end

Introducing your dog to the equipment and commands will help prepare him for more advanced agility skills.