Bond with and learn about your new puppy! This 4-week course for puppies between 8 and 16 weeks old is designed to teach handling skills to you and socialization skills to your puppy.
Lessons/Exercises include:
Sit; Down Come; Focus
Bite inhibition; Chewing and Teething
Husbandry skills such as nail trimming, body handling and stress free vet exams.
Supervised play – What’s appropriate and when to intervene.
You can find a list of upcoming classes at the bottom of this page if on a mobile device or to the right on larger screens. Please contact Family Dog School at +1 (413) 447-7878, ext. 139 for registration requirements.
Class Schedule: Thursday
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Prequisite: None
Cost: $120 for session
Head Instructor: Haylie Gernert-Dott, CPDT-KA
A great opportunity to teach and play with your dog! This 7-week beginner course for dogs four months and older introduces basic behaviors, such as sit, down, walk nicely, come, polite greetings, and impulse control. Several agility obstacles are included to build confidence, coordination and team work.
Level 1 will start to prepare your dog to take the Canine Good Citizen test offered by the American Kennel Club.
To reserve your place, email familydogschool@berkshirehumane.org or call 413-447-7878 ext 139. Payment is due at time of reservation.
An email confirming the date and time of the first class will be sent to you two weeks before the class.
Class enrollment is first come first served. Plan ahead – classes fill quickly!
Class Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday
Time: Check the website for updated times for each session
Prequisite: None
Cost: $225 includes a training bait bag and either a Gentle Leader head collar or an Easy Walk Front-Clip Harness. (Classes occasionally run over the hour.)
Instructors: Sydney, Tricia, Kim, and Kelsey
Please Note: Dogs with reactivity or aggression problems towards people or dogs are not suitable to attend Level 1 Manners – Please refer to Reactive Rover class, Behavioral Consultations or Private Lessons instead.
This 7-week advanced course for dogs of all ages builds on Level 1 skills by introducing distraction training as well as hand signals – an easy and enjoyable way to communicate silently with your dog. Participants must have completed Manners Level 1.
The Canine Good Citizen exercises are built on from Level 1 and will include a crowd scene as well as the dog/dog greetings test.
Class Schedule: Monday & Wednesdays
Prerequisite: Level 1
Cost: $200
Head Instructors: Tricia, Kim, Kelsey
Nose work is a great sport that taps into your dog’s natural scenting ability to hunt and scavenge for food. This six week course is suitable for every dog regardless of age or skill set. All we need is a working nose! We begin by encouraging the dog to find food in simple low distraction environments, and systematically create more and more challenges for your dog to work through. As the dogs natural scenting ability begins to evolve, we the “handler” begin to identify our dogs search style and how to read and understand their body language and help support our dogs throughout the search. With one session you and your dog will have the knowledge to go off on your own and use nose work as a great enrichment game. If you wish to continue on with classes you will explore a multitude of search areas interior and exterior as we build up to your dog searching independently for a target odor.
Benefits of Nose work
Great for all dogs!
Low impact activity you and your dog can enjoy anytime and anywhere
Builds confidence in shy and fearful dogs
A great mental workout that can exhaust even the most energetic dogs
Builds and strengthens you and your dog’s relationship
Allows the dog to take control
Builds a better understanding on reading your dog’s body language.
Allows your dog to let loose and have fun
Only one dog in the class at a time so reactive dogs are welcome
Classes Offered
Introduction to Nose Work
The foundation of scent work begins here! We begin in a small enclosed area with little distractions. Week by week the challenges become progressively harder and the search space begins to grow larger. We work on building a strong desire to search that allows our dogs to work through an assortment of odor puzzles with little stress and frustration. You the handler will learn how to read your dog’s body language so that you can become a great team member and support your dog throughout the search!
Limited to a max number of 5 dogs per class. Classes time varies depending on the number of dogs enrolled in the session. Each dog is given 15 minutes of search time total.
Class Day of the Week /Time: TBD
Cost: $200 for the six week session
Registration: Contact Family Dog School for more information – +1 (413) 447-7878 x. 139
Instructors: Haylie, Sydney
Does your dog struggle with reactivity (barking or lunging at dogs, people bicycles, vehicles, etc.) while on walks or out in public? If so, our Reactive Rover class will give you tools to address these problem behaviors and help your dog feel calmer, safer and more secure on walks in the presence of their triggers.
This is a 6-week hybrid course: Classes 1-3 are online via Microsoft Teams, classes 4-6 are in person. The first three classes will be held online where you will meet your instructor and class members and get personalized instruction and “homework” assignments each week to be completed with your dog. Weeks 4-6 will be in-person at Berkshire Humane Society, integrating the skills you learned online into a group class setting. This class is SMALL (4 dogs maximum).
Class Schedule: Saturday
Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm
Cost: $250 for 6-week session
Instructor: Haylie Gernert-Dott, CPDT-KA
This 5-week class will take your pup to a new level of obedience. Here they learn the tricks required to obtain the AKC Novice Trick Dog Title. Testing is offered at the last class.
Appropriate for any level of dog and handler!
*To take this course your dog must be 6 months or older, and non-reactive towards unknown dogs and people.
Class Schedule: Tuesday
Time: 5 pm
Prerequisite: Level 1 Manners recommended but not required.
Cost: $150 for 5-week session
Instructor: Kim and Kelsey
Therapy dogs are trained to comfort people who, for a variety of reasons, need a lift in spirits that sometimes only a dog can provide.
This class will help prepare you and your dog to be comfortable and pass an evaluation to become certified from a Pet Therapy Organization of your choice. This is a preparation class only; you and your dog will not be certified at the end of the course. Instructors will explain next steps on how to become a registered/certified therapy team.
Requirements:
- Dog must be 1 year old or older and have lived with the handler for at least 6 months.
- Dog must NOT be trained in bite work training of any kind.
- Dog must be willing to engage with other people besides their handler.
- Animal must NOT be on a raw diet, and up-to-date with immunizations.
- Dog must be on a buckle collar, harness, or martingale collar with a leash.
Class Schedule: As interest grows! Email familydogschool@berkshirehumane.org to be put on contact list for next start date.
Time: 2 pm
Instructors: Terry Cormier and Sydney
Cost: $200 for 6-week program
For dogs who aren’t ready to train in a group setting or for owners who can’t attend a group class, Family Dog School offers private, one-on-one sessions.
Aggression, reactivity, and fear-related behaviors are just some examples of problems best addressed in private consultations. In an individually tailored session, you and your dog will meet with an instructor who will help you interpret canine body language and stress signals and develop a training and behavior modification program for your dog.
Please contact Haylie to discuss if a private lesson or consultation would be right for you and your dog.
Class Schedule: By Appointment
Time: Times Vary
Instructor: Haylie Gernert-Dott, CPDT-KA
Cost: $75 per hour