Step Up Your Training with NEDTC
Steps 1-4 & AKC Canine Good Citizen
Steps is our basic obedience program for dogs older than 20 weeks.
In our program you pay for 6 or 10 classes — These classes are freely transferable between Puppy and Steps classes. If you buy 6 classes and you spend two weeks in Step 1 and three weeks in Step 2 you will have one more class to spend in Step 3!
Work with your Dog, meet the Steps Criteria, & graduate to the next level!
Our program lets you work at your own pace, and ensures that you get good training every step of the way! Homework for each Step is given at orientation and when you graduate each Step.
You may spend 6 weeks in one level and 3 in the next, or the other way around. It is very dependent on the human, the dog, and the environment.
Remember that we’re here for you!
Every Dog/Handler team is expected to begin
in Step 1 -with a few exceptions-
Very few venues where you will take beginner obedience put focus on attention games and skills the way we do in Step 1.
Step 1 provides the human end of the leash with the skills to teach and maintain great attention throughout the dogs' life, and we like to see everyone spend at least 1-2 weeks in Step 1, even if their dog has other training. It doesn't matter if your dog can sit or down or come already... does your dog pay attention in class? If you and your dog have attended other training classes AND your dog has GREAT attention (with distractions, not just at home), let us know and we are happy to pay extra attention the first week of class and pass you along to Step 2.
NEDTC Steps training is a fun way for you and your dog to learn to communicate and build foundational skills for excellent manners. We began with the AKC Canine Good Citizen Exam, and then broke each exercise down into their component parts, which are taught in 4 levels. Each level has set skills and goals for you to meet, and you and your dog do so at your own pace. For example, in Step1, skills such as sit, stay, loose leash walking and recall are broken down into small steps, allowing you to practice how your dog thinks and learns, while incrementally increasing duration, time and distraction for a strong solid behavior. In Step 1, we want your dog to walk by your side for half of the ring, by Step 4, your dog is walking around other dogs, through a crowd of people, on a relaxed leash!
Classes for Continuing Students
New Students Click Here
Classes for continuing students are a weekly-sign up, drop in format. If you have not trained with us before, please wait for an orientation.
Continuing students purchase a class card every 6 classes. We will tell you when your classes are low.
Sign up for your class every week. Signing up for your slot allows us to keep our class sizes consistent. This allows us to email you if the weather is uncooperative or we need to cancel class for any reason.
Weekly sign-ups are $0.00, Class cards are where you actually pay!
Note: June 4, 11, 18, 25 July 9, 16, 23, 30
Sign up every week so we know who to email when the weather does not smile upon us!
Classes are held on the CFS soccer field. Sign up for your time! We will break you up into groups based on level and skill, we’ll be outside so expect lots of working on loose leash walking, recalls, and everything with distractions! Sign up every week so that we can monitor class sizes, but we’ll have work for every level!
Join Claire to work on getting your dog to come back to you with alacrity, joy, and drive! Bring a long line if you have one!
For dogs that are already on odor, work with Donna on your outdoor search skills!
Steps 1 - 4:
What do you learn?
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Prompted eye contact for 2 seconds, handler smiling!
Unprompted eye contact 4 times in 2 minutes
Sit 5 times on verbal and/or hand signals, no lure, first cue
Down 2 times on verbal and/or hand signals, no lure, first cue
Respond to name from across the ring
Recall from center of room on long line
Back up and focus with food/toy distraction
Loose leash walk across ring with minimal distractions
Touch
These Exercises may be performed with continuous rewards
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Down and sit on one cue, no lure
Puppy pushup (sit-down-sit) no lure, mark/treat after 3 behaviors
Doggie Zen ~ leave a treat in the hand alone for 5 seconds
Sit/stay 15 seconds with moderate distractions (person or dog moving within 6 feet)
Down/stay for 15 seconds with moderate distractions (person or dog moving within 6 feet)
Recall from across the room on long line
Loose leash walk across room and back past a person
Touch
Settle
Side Sit
Exercises are performed with intermittent food rewards
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Sit/stay for 40 seconds with handler at end of leash and more distraction
(person or dog circling)Down/stay for 40 seconds with handler at end of leash and more distraction
(person or dog circling)Doggie Zen Leave it 5 seconds with treat on floor
Loose leash walking past a dog and/or treat/toy
Recalls with multiple dogs
Automatic sit when a person approaches
Touch games
Settle
Exercises are performed with varied, random rewards
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Perform all Canine Good Citizen exercises
Stays
Polite greetings
Come when called
Loose Leash Walking
Go to your mat
On-lead heeling across ring in groups
Exercises are performed with variable and real-life rewards