Electives

Learn all of the Foundation Exercises in a small group of your peers! The class covers the commands Heel, Sit, Stand, Down, Come, Stay, Place, and teaches you how to use these skills to redirect and replace bad behaviors.

During this six week course, we will practice and perfect all test items in the Canine Good Citizen test, and introduce and practice all test items in the Community Canine test (next level of CGC). The class is designed to use the basic obedience established in 100 level training to master manners, like sitting politely for petting, walking on a loose leash through a crowd, etc. This is great class for any dog looking to improve their social skills and obedience in public places.

During this six week course, we will use the obedience skills established in the 100 and 200 level training to turn your dog into the ultimate companion. Dogs will learn off-leash obedience, long distance obedience, new ways to move smoothly through crowded environments and refine impulse control.

These elective classes cover various topics, with behaviors from Agility, Nosework, Rally, Trick Dog, etc. These classes and workshops are for owners who are looking for more than basic obedience and want some mental stimulation, confidence building and bonding opportunities with their dog.  Topics rotate, so keep checking the schedule for new training opportunities!

Join us throughout the week for guided obedience practice with your peers.

Tuesdays (ANNAPOLIS location, outdoors) – Group neighborhood walk that begins and ends at Leash Free Living to work on those leash walking skills.

Thursdays (MILLERSVILLE location, indoors) – We will give you exercises to complete, with variations to adjust for your dogs skill level. Great opportunity to give your dog a mental workout, maintain your skills, and motivate you to keep practicing and socialize with like-minded dog owners.

A weekly training club for advanced training students. Level Up will meet every Monday from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at our Millersville location. The first hour of the meeting will focus on rotating structured topics (Obedience Run-Throughs, Rally Run-Throughs, Trick Training, Distraction Training, Training Challenges, etc). The second hour of the session will focus on each team’s specific needs.

Club meetings will begin on the first Monday in April (4/5/21).

Let’s get creative with your dogs, and knock some tricks off of their wish list. Work on new tricks, perfect less than perfect tricks, and prepare for the Trick Dog Trials at the end of the month. We will be there to offer new trick suggestions, get you started teaching them, coach you along the way and anything else you might need. We will loosely follow the AKC Trick Dog List, but are not limited to those tricks. If you have something specific in mind that you’d like your dog to learn, let us know!

See if your dog has what it takes to earn their Trick Dog Titles! We will be testing dog and handler teams for the AKC Trick Dog Titles. We can evaluate dogs at any and all levels, so if you know more than the minimum required tricks, you could earn multiple titles at one shot! We will also be evaluating dogs for the CGC at that time, by request.

ANY dog can participate and earn titles, as long as they have an AKC number (and ANY dog can apply for a number). If you need help figuring out if your dog has a number or not, let us know and we can help sort it out. We will be testing Leash Free Living dogs for free at this event, but there is an application fee that has to be mailed in to earn the certificate.

Join us at LFL to practice polite greeting with some of your peers. If your dog is too excited when meeting new dogs or people, nervous around new people or dogs? This workshop is for you! We will go through exercise meant to teach emotional self control, so you can feel confident when you approach distractions our in public, or even at your front door.

Introduce your dog to the electronic collar. Teach them to come when called, go to place, heel and stop unnecessary behaviors. Dogs should be graduates of our basic obedience program, or get permission to enroll in this class. E-collars are not included in this course. E-mail us for brand recommendations prior to the start of class. This class will meet every Wednesday for 4 weeks.

Practice keeping your dogs attention in a group setting, teach skills needed to interrupt and referee dog play interactions and help with proper dog to dog greeting techniques. This workshop is geared towards friendly, dog social dogs.

This workshop is designed to teach owners how to properly handle the leash during heeling exercises.

Perfect for dogs who already know how to heel, but whose owners need a refresher, dogs that have covered heeling during a beginner level course and would like a refresher, or dogs who are new to Leash Free Living from other training programs and need to learn some leash handling before jumping into an advanced or elective class.

We will set up Course #4 of the AKC Virtual Rally Novice options. You can use this as practice, with feedback, or you can use these runs to take your video submission for AKC.

This workshop is open to dogs of all levels, whether it is your first time trying the sport, or you are a seasoned competitor. We will go over the rules and instructions then coach each dog through the appropriate level hides. If your dog is searching for odor, bring your odor kits with you.

Nosework is designed to take the skills used in working detection dogs and turn it into a fun sport for people to do with their pets. In this workshop, learn how to introduce your dog to the search, build confidence and teamwork.

Learn the skills needed to complete the AKC Rally Novice course. We will cover fronts, finish to the right, finish to the left, stay, down from a sit and down from a stand. We will also review associated signs, how to recognize them, read them, and perform them properly. This is a four week class, that meets virtually through Zoom.

Learn, practice and perfect tricks from the AKC Novice Trick Dog list. Dog will be able to earn the Novice Trick Dog title at the end of this course. This is a great way to build your relationship with your dog, keep them mentally engaged, and improve their mental stamina and focus.  These tricks serve as a solid foundation for more complex and advanced tricks taught in the following classes. This is a four week class, that meets virtually through Zoom.