At Happy Dog Institute, we want you to feel successful, relieved and supported. We want you to develop lifelong skills that you can use over and over again for a whole host of behaviors and issues you encounter, both now and in the future. We want you to be able to take said skills home with you, and on the road, and on vacation and wherever life with your dog takes you.
To support this goal, we have a whole host of services to help you with your dog. Our team is here to help, and our goal is to give you real-life solutions and practical, common-sense tools. We look forward to working with you!
Group Classes for Adolescent & Adult Dogs Over 23 Weeks
In-Person Orientation + Five Weeks of Class + Starter Kit
$240
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR (Age requirements)
Dogs between five months (over 23 weeks) and nine months old.
Too old for this class? Read about our Foundation Skills for Adults class 👉🏽
PREREQUISITE
None
WHEN
Schedule varies. Click here to view it.
WHERE
HDI Headquarters in Tumwater, Washington.
WHY
Is your dog behaving like a teenager? Ignoring you? Suddenly you’re not so cool anymore? Want to work on your training relationship, teach your dog to listen better, and have some fun with them in the process? Maybe they’re not QUITE ready for a super serious “obedience” class, but you still need better manners. We hear you! Puppy 3 is designed to help you survive the “terrible teens”!
This class is designed to funnel into our field trip class “About Town“, which you can take once you’ve completed this six-week class. It’s also the prerequisite for our Agility Series.
WHAT
In this class, you’ll:
- Learn how to get better, reliable behaviors
- Work on new manners and skills each week. Weekly topics include:
- Go lay down
- Come!
- Get down
- Stay with me (loose leash walking and stays)
- Leave it
- Learn new and effective ways to wear your dog out, including mental stimulation
- Get continued support with other common behavior problems during your dog’s adolescence
- Get access to PDF materials online for class
- Receive a customized Happy Dog Institute clicker and a training starter kit (food toy and starter treats).
Prerequisite: Your puppy must be under nine (9) months old at the start of class.
In-Person Orientation + Five Weeks Class + Starter Training Kit
$240
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR (Age Requirements)
Dogs OVER nine months old.
If you have a puppy younger than 23 weeks, they should join our Puppy 1 or Puppy 2 classes.
If you have an adolescent dog between 23 weeks and 9 months, you can join our Focus & Control for Teens class 👈🏽
WHEN
Schedule varies, click here to view it.
WHERE
Happy Dog Institute Headquarters
7924 Sweet Iron Ct SE, Suite 109, Olympia WA 98501
WHY
Does your dog jump on other people, bark for attention or get into things they’re not supposed to? Are they easily distracted? Do they have a hard time coming when called? Do you need better strategies to help communicate with your dog? Then this class is for you!
We’ll help you bring out the best in your dog by showing you how to use positive methods to teach them the basic manners and life skills every dog should have. Best of all, we’ll teach you HOW to train your dog so what you learn will transfer outside of the classroom!
What you’ll learn:
- Tools to help your dog focus better in the face of distractions.
- Strategies for getting rid of behaviors you don’t like (jumping on people, play biting, demand barking, running away, etc).
- Help with training manners and obedience, including: sit, down, stay, go to your bed, jumping on people, recall, loose leash walking, leave it.
- Help addressing real-world activities and events with your dog, including: meeting other people and dogs, settling at home, walking in the neighborhood, having guests over, going on an outing and kitchen and mealtime strategies.
- You’ll leave this class knowing HOW to train your dog, not just WHAT to train your dog. We know we already said this but feel it’s worth repeating!
What you get:
- An in-person orientation followed by five weeks of in-person class sessions
- Access to written materials in PDF format via our homework portal
- A customized Happy Dog Institute clicker + wrist coil
- An interactive food toy
- Starter treats
Four Weeks of Class
$175
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR (Prerequisites)
Graduates of Focus & Control for Teens (Previously Puppy 3) or Foundation Skills for Adults (previously Fun Foundation).
WHEN
Schedule varies, click here to see it.
WHERE
Olympia & Tumwater, Washington. Specific locations are TBA. Location examples include Marathon Park, Downtown Olympia’s Boardwalk, the PetWorks, Matchless Brewing, etc.
WHY
Do you want to have a dog you can successfully take everywhere? Feeling like you need some extra practice after Focus & Control for Teens (Previously Puppy 3) or Foundation Skills for Adults (previously Fun Foundation)? Still needing additional help with loose leash walking, getting that reliable recall, and working around distractions? Want to keep up your momentum and try some real-world applications? This class will help you “proof” the skills you learned in previous classes in an open-enrollment field trip context. Join anytime when there is room in class, and take four consecutive field trip classes.
WHAT
This four-week class will solidify the skills you learned in the above classes. You’ll work on the following skills (field trip locations will depend on the season): loose leash walking, stays, coming when called, meeting other people and dogs appropriately, relaxing in public spaces, handling distractions with ease, and more.
In this class, we will:
- Learn about the rules of recall and other strategies for helping your dog come to you in the face of temptation
- Practice working around numerous distractions (think: other dogs, yummy smells, food, etc.).
- Boost your confidence – and your success rate – in getting your dog to respond to you
- Help you learn to take your dog for a walk without them walking you
- Discuss the ins and outs of using – of course! – reward-based training, including reward removal and environmental reinforcers.
- You’ll also get written class materials in PDF format.
Online Orientation & Materials + Six Weeks of Class
$350
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR (Age Requirements)
Dogs OVER six months old.
If you have a puppy 23 weeks or younger, they should join our Puppy Primer or Puppy Life Skills Class.
WHEN
Fridays. Click here to see the schedule.
WHERE
Happy Dog Institute Headquarters
7924 Sweet Iron Ct SE, Suite 109, Olympia WA 98501
WHY
Do you have an overly exuberant dog that sometimes gets “stuck” on different distractions? Often impulsive or a bit hyperactive, these dogs have a difficult time focusing on their handler and seem to act without thinking. Labeled willful, stubborn, or “dominant”, these dogs seem to struggle in new environments and perform simple behaviors around specific distractions like new people, dogs, critters, or traffic.
This class is a precursor to our other classes, specifically geared for these excitable dogs, and distracted dogs. We will focus on skills to help these dogs be successful by channeling this energy for good with impulse games, building focus, and confidence. This class is designed to promote confidence, teamwork and problem solving skills to help you and you be more successful out and about with your pup, and have a stronger bond to move forward.
OTHER DETAILS
This first class will be 90 minutes long. The first 45 minutes will be HUMAN ONLY so please have a safe area in your car that your dog is comfortable hanging out in. This might require bringing a helper to sit with your dog. The second half of the first class class will include implementing some simple skills and rotating the dogs into the building so they have a short time to acclimate to the space without others present.
This 6-week class has a fixed start and end date. In this class, we will build upon the skills learned the prior week. There may be occasional skip week(s) due to holidays, or special events – outlined in the schedule. Attending the first class session is mandatory in order to continue the program.
**Please note:** Dogs with a bite history are not appropriate for this class. Dogs who are fearful of people, generally very anxious and/or have lots of environmental triggers are also not a good fit for class – private training is better. Please contact us with any questions.
Packages for Adolescent & Adult Dogs Over 23 Weeks
Focus & Control for Teens OR Foundation Skills for Adults + About Town Field Trip Class
$400
Whether you’re at home, on a walk, at the park or at the vet, it feels great to have a happy, well-mannered pup who listens and responds to you. This package ensures that you and your canine companion will have the important skills you can use no matter where you go.
What’s included:
- Focus & Control for Teens OR Foundation Skills for Adults Class: Learn how to teach your dog basic manners and build problem-solving skills.
- About Town Class: Proof your skills in real-world contexts with our four-week intermediate manners class.
- Homework portal & PDF materials for both classes
- A customized Happy Dog Institute clicker + Starter Kit
Please note: once you purchase this package, you’ll have credits on your account to use for each class. You’ll get an email with details.
Focus & Control for Teens OR Foundation Skills for Adults + Agility Fundamentals 1
$400
If you’re hoping to get your adult dog into our Agility Program, save some money by purchasing the prerequisite – Focus & Control for Teens OR Foundation Skills for Adults – in conjunction with our Agility Fundamentals classes.
What’s included:
- Focus & Control for Teens OR Foundation Skills for Adults Class: learn about positive reinforcement and clicker training to prepare for your Agility program. Also, develop the skills you’ll need to keep your dog engaged with you in a distracting environment.
- Agility Fundamentals 1
- Homework portals & PDF materials for both classes
- A customized Happy Dog Institute clicker + Starter Kit
Please note: once you purchase this package, you’ll have credits on your account to use for each class. You’ll get an email with details.
“We now can go into stores without any issues. He LOVES Home Depot, mainly b/c everyone there gives him cookies. But he does so, so well, walking right with us and not pulling on his leash or jumping at everyone….Thank you, thank you for all of your help and tips and tricks!! I always recommend you to everyone I meet.”
— Shannon & Zeus