What are Life Skills?

Life Skills are the skills and behaviours that you need to teach your dogs to help them develop into well mannered, happy, safe and friendly dogs, dogs that you can take proudly anywhere! The courses run for 5 weeks and cover a multitude of both exciting and life exercises. They are skills such as:

• a really reliable recall
• a solid stay
• communicating and socialising with other dogs
• not jumping up on people
• food manners and not stealing
• being comfortable being handled and groomed
• not pulling on the lead
• and so much more!

This is just a small example of the skills covered but they are all taught using positive, reward-based training methods. The main underlying theme of all of the classes, regardless of the level, is building a happy, positive relationship between you and your dog. We also encourage you to ask questions at every level.

To ensure success we always suggest that you work with your dog in small steps, to give them the best possible chance of getting the behaviour right, and therefore gaining a reward. If we set them too difficult a challenge, and they fail, and continue to fail, they will become de-motivated and lose all interest in us and our attempts to work with them. Because of this, we always suggest that you set yourself and your dog small and achievable tasks.

You will work in a small class no larger than six with one of our experienced trainers who can give you the best advice specific to your goals. This is a great opportunity for you to socialize with other like-minded dog-owners who want to get the most out of their relationships with their dogs. And of course it’s a super time for your dog to meet other dogs in a controlled environment. Many classes at other clubs are much larger than this but we feel this number will allow you maximum time for progress.

If this is your first ever weekly training class with Devon Dogs, you will receive a copy of our very own Pup2Perfection DVD (value £35), a perfect start for your dog training which we thoroughly recommend for you and your dog. You will find it will give you an extra boost to your training, and something you can refer to throughout your course and beyond.

Life Skills Classes

Here at Vale Dog Training we offer a range of Life Skills classes:

• Starters
• Improvers and Adolescents

To begin your Life Skills training you will join a block of starter classes, held on various days and times. Once you have completed your starters course, your trainer will recommend which class to progress into.