Welcome to the foundational stage of your dog’s training journey! 

By following the steps outlined here, you will set yourself and your dog up for success in future private lessons. Completing these steps beforehand ensures that our private sessions focus on advanced training rather than basic groundwork.

This Foundation Lesson Plan saves you time and money while maximizing the value of our sessions. It also ensures I work with clients who are dedicated to the process. Whether you’re addressing behavioral challenges or striving for specific goals, these foundational skills are non-negotiable.

The good news? This is not as time-consuming as it might seem! The main focus is pairing words with states of mind your dog already exhibits. If this level of dedication feels overwhelming, I may not be the trainer for you.

A printout of this lesson plan can be found here.

1. Understand the Layered Stress Model

2. Understand the Window Concept

3. Master Solo Leash Skills

4. Teach the Windows

  • Play With Me Window
    • Train Play with Food
      • Learn about the Prey/Play sequence:
      • If you have time…. Get lots of reps. If you’re low on time… Jackpot (one mark gets the whole meal)
      • Teach the Collar Tap:
      • “Puzzle Bowls”: If you want to…. You can put in a “puzzle” type bowl and feed in their crate. This is a great option if someone is feeding your dog that doesn’t know how the system works, or you just never had a chance to this window that day. This will teach the dog how to overcome resistance for their food. That is a REALLY IMPORTANT part of rewards based training.It will also keep their crate tolerance solid which is important for all dogs. And…. It’s just fun and biologically fulfilling!!!
    • Training Play with Toys:
    • Training Play with Personal Play or rough-housing:
  • Find Your Own Fun Window
    • They don’t HAVE to go crazy. But in this window they CAN if they WANT to.
    • Remember….. They think walking is about finding their fun. So…. for now….. use a padded, comfortable, back attachment harness to get around outside the house until collar trained. For right now….. Do not attach the line to the collar during the Find Your Own Fun Window. Collars are for cooperating.
      • You may use an improvised harness if caught without one:
  • Calm Liberty Window
    • Teach Leash Pressure Skill
    • Teach “Up” and “Watch Out”
    • They MAY have free access to “non interactive” “low arousal” chewing implements such as bones, antlers, kongs, as long as they are mellow. Ideally…. Put these items in their crate to maintain crate tolerance. Be aware of possession issues in untrained/unknown dogs. This may be a privilege that is earned.
  • Work Window
    • Teach “Stay”

4. Teach the "No" Command