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Training

Does your dog bark, whine, chew, get into the trash, or dig holes in the yard? These problems are common signs of being under-stimulated. Dogs are very social animals, which need regular mental and physical stimulation. The Ruff Life offers solutions for today’s "urban dog" and their busy families, by providing clients with a unique approach to dog obedience and behaviour modification.

Adaptive, simple, and clear, is our personal style and professional approach to dog training. We strongly believe that having fun while training will motivate your dog to learn quicker and much more efficiently!

 

Your dog will learn both voice and hand signals, with our open-minded and versatile training methods. Our goal is to make training a positive and enjoyable experience, while enhancing the relationship between you and your dog. 

 

Remember, the investment you make in the training of your dog today, will bring rewards for the rest of your life together.

Once you are done The Ruff Life Group Training, you will have access to our Drop-In Sessions where you can work on advanced training, fun get togethers, working with problem behaviour, and positive socialization.

Group Training- Beginner to Intermediate
(
Including puppies)

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Our groups are puppy, beginner and intermediate all put into one set of group lessons. During these classes, if any problem behaviour is displayed we deal with it immediately. If anything happens at home/out and about (like the mouthing, jumping up and biting, barking, digging, aggression, sensitivities…etc.) we teach you how to set it up so you can correct for it/deal with it. Your dog will learn to walk nicely on leash- without pulling, and every time you stop- they will automatically sit.... on the first session. 

The group consists of Five-1.5 hour sessions. When training is done we offer unlimited sessions for the rest of your dogs life for free. During these sessions we schedule: Advancing Training, Positive Socialization, Down-town Drop-In's, Horse Drop-In's, Hikes, Fun get togethers...etc. Tricks, Tracking and Seminars will also be available at a reasonable price.

**PLEASE NOTE** All of our classes are held outdoors and the first 3 classes of any group are mandatory.


Group session overview:   Click Here

  • Dogs must be at least 12 weeks of age, and have minimum their 2nd set of shots

  • You must be able to hold back your dog on a leash

  • All aggression issues must be disclosed before hand

  • We do NOT take female dogs that are in heat (All swelling needs to be back to normal)

 

 

What is included: 

  • Pre-Course Online Training

  • Five 1.5 hour Group Sessions

  • One on one help after each class if needed

  • Access to our Online Content for 6 months

  • Long Leash

  • Access to our Drop-in Sessions for the life of your dog

To Book

  • You will need to complete a personal & pet profile- Please click on the "Book Now" button to the right

Price: (Payment Plans Available)
One Dog Family  $400+tax ($420)
Two Dog Family  $700+tax ($735)

This calendar is continually updated!
Please check back soon.

Group Training- Advanced

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Happy Dog

Once you have completed our initial group training and are looking for more of a challenge, we are now offering Advanced Group Training. 

This group is more intense and will require doing a good amount of homework!

You will follow an online guide to help keep you on track and apply more things at home and out and about. This group is now FOUR classes, but is a 5 week course.

We do require you to upload small videos for this course. So some cell phone/internet knowledge is required.

Here is some of the things we will work on in this group:


Learning about Opposition Reflex and how to re-train your dogs brain (and yours)
Long distance Sits/Downs 

Sits/Downs from movement
Stand command
Recalls out of distractions
Come command with automatic sit at arrival
Leave it/Drop it/ Take it
Confidence Boosting & Focus Drills
Heeling Drills
Place Command and Send Outs
Walking on Lead with focus (Past dogs/people)

Working on getting off a lead

Tricks (Yuk, Jumping over legs/through arms(beginning), back up, spin, bow,  crawl, more may be added on the participants knowledge)
Learning how to read body language & working on manners with dogs and humans

More things will be added to this list depending on participants 

**PLEASE NOTE** All of our classes are held outdoors.

To Book: 

  • PREREQUISITE: You need too have completed The Ruff Life initial group classes. (Beginner to Intermediate) 

  • You will need to have been to 6 drop-in sessions in the last 4 months

  • Dogs must be at least 9 months of age.  (Some exceptions may apply)

  • All aggression issues must be disclosed before hand

  • We do NOT take female dogs that are in heat (All swelling needs to be back to normal)

  • Put EFFORT into your training, at home and at classes. (This does not mean perfection)

Price: 

One Dog Family  $325+tax ($341.25)

Two Dog Family  $600+tax ($630)

Detection Dog Seminar~ Foundations

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DO YOU WANT TO DO DETECTION WORK WITH YOUR DOG?

This is where you start! This hands-on seminar will teach the foundation of Detection work. This hands-on seminar will run on Saturday and Sunday. (Approx hours 9am-5pm on Sat & 9am-4pm on Sun).

This seminar will establish a clear foundation for detection work. You will get to choose what type of source you are interested in working with. This is air scenting, like what Rogue (My Human Remains Detection dog) does for her "Job".

There will be both an indoor element and an outdoor element.

(Outdoor is somewhat weather dependent)
 

WHAT WE WILL BE DOING/LEARNING IN THIS SEMINAR

**Odour Recognition

**Commitment to odour

**Foundational skills to build drive to hunt for the source

**Establish a clear indication (Trained final response)

**Establish some duration of TFR

**Handler timing & proofing

**Odour Problem-solving
 

SOURCE CHOICES TO CHOOSE FROM

**HR (Human blood, tissue, or teeth)- I will decide on the source if you choose this option.

**Drugs (Marijuana)

**Essential Oil (No birch will be used)
 

PREREQUISITES

**Your dog must have food or toy drive

**Aggression towards humans needs to be pre-approved

COST: $400 Per Dog
 

INCLUDES:
**ONE GETXENT TUBE (With Vile) that is incubated with odour/per dog 
**Lunch on the Saturday, SNACKS & DRINKS


 

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: This seminar is a foundational seminar. Having a Drug Detection Dog or HRD (Human Remains Detection Dog) takes YEARS of training.

More details to be given to the participants.

DATES: Saturday. Oct. 21 & Sunday. Oct. 22

E-Collar Group Training

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Image by Ethan Richardson

Safe, Reliable and Effective is the best way to explain E-collar training. 


Whether training obedience or working on problem behaviour, we all want a happy and willing worker that responds quickly to commands at a distance and under distraction.

 

E-Collars are versatile training tools that can help you reach your goal. We do all of our e-collar work with low-stimulation. 

**We ONLY use specific hunting dog brand collars. Such as Dogtra, Tritronic & Garmin** 

To Book: 

  • PREREQUISITE: You need too have completed The Ruff Life initial group classes. (Beginner to Intermediate) 

  • Dogs must have been to at least 6 drop in sessions in the last 6 months. (Some exceptions may apply)

  • You must have your own E-Collar. (Only pre-approved brands can be used)

  • Dogs must be at least 6 months of age.

  • All aggression issues must be disclosed before hand

  • We do NOT take female dogs that are in heat (All swelling needs to be back to normal)

  • You will need to complete a personal & pet profile- Please click on the "Book Now" button to the right

Price:

One Dog Family:  $260+tax ($273)

 E-Collar Group Class Dates:
TO BE ANNOUNCED!

Small Group Advanced Adventures

Once you have completed our Beginner to Intermediate group training and are looking for more of a challenge, we are now offering Small Group Advanced Adventures. 

This small group structure will allow us to go into places like: Pet Stores, Historic O'Keefe Ranch, Davison Orchards, Rona, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Staples, Okanagan College, Coffee Shop Patio's and more. (All with Covid protocols)

You will learn and be able to practice advanced techniques, desensitize and socialize the dogs to exciting locations and stimulation, work on getting calm behaviours in public areas, work on specific behaviours, and have a great time.

THIS GROUP HAS A 4 DOG MAXIMUM~ NOT INCLUDING TRAINERS.

Prerequisites:

        ★ You need too have completed The Ruff Life initial group classes. (Beginner to Intermediate) 

        ★ Dogs with reactivity need to be pre-approved. Some temperaments will not be a good fit for                                              specific locations

         ★ You must have brought your dog to at least 5 drop in sessions in the last 12 months

         ★ One dog per person

  • You will need to complete a personal & pet profile- Please click on the "Book Now" button and sign up online. 

Private Training

Private personalized lessons for your individual needs. Our mission is to assist owners in keeping their dogs happy, healthy and behaviourally sound.  We teach YOU the skills and knowledge needed to make this relationship possible.

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  • Private sessions are approx. 90 minutes long 

  • All aggression issues must be disclosed before hand

  • This service is only available in the Vernon area

At this time, we are not able to do Private Classes. We hope we can re-visit Private Classes in the winter. 

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