Dog Training Classes With STABLE
STABLE offers mixed-level group classes designed to help dogs and their owners build practical, real-world skills around other dogs, people, movement, distractions, and everyday situations.
Our Mixed-Level Group Classes are $30 per dog for a one-hour class and are open to both new and returning STABLE clients. Classes are designed so each dog and handler can work at an appropriate level, whether they are building foundations or adding greater difficulty to skills they already know.
We also offer Advanced Classes, specialty classes, workshops, and occasional pop-ups throughout the year.
Check the schedule below for current class dates, times, locations, and availability.
What We Work On in Class
STABLE classes focus on practical skills that carry over into everyday life. What we work on changes from class to class based on the dogs attending, the environment, and what will give each team useful practice that day.
Classes may include leash handling, heel work, U-turns and direction changes, marker words, sit and down stays, place work, recalls, impulse control, neutrality around dogs and people, confidence building, duration, distance, and working through real-world distractions.
We also regularly incorporate exercises, obstacles, movement, public spaces, and different environmental challenges so dogs and handlers learn how to use those skills outside of a controlled training setting.
The goal is not simply to get through a list of obedience commands. It is to help you communicate more clearly with your dog, handle them more confidently, and build skills you can actually use in everyday life.
Training the Dog in Front of You
We do not expect every dog in class to need the same thing, learn at the same speed, or perform an exercise at the same level.
A puppy may be learning how to focus around other dogs while an experienced team works on greater distance, duration, or distractions. A dog that struggles around other dogs may practice calm neutrality from farther away while another dog works on impulse control, confidence, or more reliable obedience.
That variety is intentional. Group class gives dogs and handlers the opportunity to train around different breeds, sizes, ages, energy levels, people, movement, noises, and real-world distractions while still working toward goals that make sense for the individual team.
We also do not use class as an opportunity to make every dog interact with every other dog. Calm neutrality matters. Dogs do not need to greet everyone they see, and owners should be able to advocate for their dog’s space when needed.
Our job is to meet each team where they are, challenge them appropriately, and help them build skills they can actually use outside of class.
Work with the dog in front of you.
Not Sure If a Class Is the Right Place to Start?
Not every dog needs to start with an evaluation, and plenty of new clients join us directly in group class. If you are unsure whether a group setting is appropriate for your dog, however, an evaluation gives us a chance to meet you both, talk through what you are seeing, and figure out the best place to begin.
Evaluations are especially useful when there are behavioral concerns, difficulty managing your dog around people or other dogs, a bite history, or simply questions about which STABLE service would be the best fit.
We will work with the dog in front of us and recommend the starting point that makes the most sense for you and your dog.