Jan 26, 2022

We are now offering a variety of training classes to help you get your foster dog from here to outta here! Check out the descriptions below and be sure to sign up! You can find FAQs and more information here. We’ll see you in class!

Basic Obedience:

Basic Obedience Class is designed to help foster dogs learn the basic skills needed to improve their manners and enhance adoptability. This 6-week course consists of one-hour, in-person classes where fosters and their dogs can learn foundational skills such as sit, down, recall, and more, all while building a stronger relationship with their pup before finding their homes. Fosters are highly encouraged to attend all six classes. The course is open to anyone currently fostering a dog with Austin Pets Alive! Eligible foster dogs must be fully vaccinated and 5 months or older. This course will be held on Saturdays at 9 am at The ABGB. SIGN UP HERE!

Foster dogs that exhibit behaviors that could be considered dangerous in a class setting may not attend class.

If your dog is exhibiting behaviors that would disrupt class, such as reactivity, contact Lyndsey Mosso to schedule private sessions to work with your foster pup. The maximum number of fosters who can enroll in the Basic Obedience Class is 10. Because each week’s class will build off of the previous week, we strongly encourage fosters to come to all six classes. However, if you need to miss a class, please contact Lyndsey Mosso ahead of time to work something out.

Puppy Class:

Puppy Class is offered to fosters who have puppies and want to learn more about raising a dog in the easiest, most appropriate, and most successful way. This 6-week class is focused on how to begin a puppy’s life with immediate structure and training, in an effort to mitigate behavioral issues that could occur in the future. Our goal is for a majority of APA! fosters and their puppies to have proper socialization and options for doing so.

Puppy Class is a 6-part, one-hour, drop-in class that will take place every Thursday at 10 am. It will be hosted at The Watering Bowl Dog Park and Bar. It is ideal for fosters to come to every class, but not required if unable to make it on a certain date. SIGN UP HERE!

Transitions Class:

Transitioning from the shelter to a home environment can be hard for many dogs. This virtual, 5-part class is directed toward foster dogs who are struggling to adjust from moving out of the shelter and into a home. We will focus on how to work these pups through the common issues they are facing, and prevent returns to the shelter by doing so. Fosters and their dogs will learn how to identify stress-related behaviors and use training techniques to help establish calm, collected, and comfortable behavior in the home.

This virtual, 5-part class will be held on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. Transitions Class will be an hour-long drop-in course that is hosted bi-weekly on Google Meet. This course is open to any fosters who would like to expand their education on how to reduce transitional behavior issues and stress in the home. Fosters are not required to attend each class; rather, they can sign up for the topics they’re most interested in learning about. SIGN UP HERE!

Naughty Behaviors:

This class is targeted towards our pups that are a bit more sensitive than the rest and who need a little extra help with more challenging behaviors. By offering a group class that provides personalized training and is focused on a variety of behavioral issues, we hope that it will limit the returns of animals based on these reasons. Our goal is to teach handlers to actively work through these issues confidently and safely. We will discuss what each problem behavior looks like, how to identify these issues, and how to work through them with different training exercises.

Our Naughty Behaviors Class is a 4-week class that’s open to any foster who is encountering more challenging behavioral issues or wants to learn how to be proactive on these behaviors. Each week will focus on one category of behavior and will consist of two one-hour classes: a virtual class on Wednesday at 6:30 pm and an in-person class on Saturday at 10:15 am. Fosters can attend classes for every behavior, or pick and choose behaviors that most apply to them. Any foster with a fully vaccinated dog of 5 months or older can join the class. SIGN UP HERE!

Source: Austin Pets Alive