Dog Training Classes

Is your dog ready to learn basic manners?

Start your pet off on the right paw with a basic training class that encourages and reinforces the right behavior. We will learn sit, down, stay, come, leave it, and to focus as well as not jump on people.

This class is for dogs of all ages.

If your dog reacts to other dogs, Reactive Rover Foundations should be taken before Basics or contact us for a class recommendation.

Does your dog already have the basic obedience commands down?

This class covers: go to your bed, out of sight stays, loose leash walking with distractions, come when called with distractions and works to gain reliability in the real world.

Prerequisites: Basics or similar training program or trainer approval.

Do you want your dog to be a Good Citizen?

Our four-week course taught by our certified American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen trainer will prepare and test your pup to become a recognized Canine Good Citizen. To enroll, your dog must first have completed any basic training course, either through AHS or another training facility.

The first three weeks of class will focus on learning the skills necessary to pass the test, including basic commands, a strong recall, loose-leash walking, and more. On the fourth and final class session, our trainer will conduct the 10 tests required for Canine Good Citizen certification! Dogs who pass the test will be awarded with the certification paperwork to be submitted to the American Kennel Club (additional fees may apply).

Is your dog ready to learn some impressive new tricks?

Dog tricks are not only fun games with your pup, but also help improve our communication and bond with our dogs! We will learn over 10 tricks throughout the course and work towards a Novice Trick Dog title.

No prerequisites for this course, however sit and down are helpful.

Does your dog bark or jump at other dogs while on walks?

This 5-week-class is designed to give you tools and techniques to get your dog focused on you rather than barking, pulling or lunging at other dogs. We will be working in a distraction-free environment to focus on getting the behaviors we want in our dogs. Dogs and handlers will learn loose leash walking, focus and attention techniques, tricks, settle techniques, and more. This is a prerequisite class to Reactive Rover Advanced.

Please note that the first class session is for humans only. This class is not appropriate for dogs who only exhibit aggression toward other dogs only while off-leash. All family members are encouraged to attend.

Is your reactive dog ready for the next level of training?

Capitalize on the foundation skills you learned in Reactive Rover Foundation to sample some fun activities for you and your dog in a more distracting outdoor environment. Reactive Rover Advanced continues creating relaxed, focused dogs in the face of their triggers. Skills will be reinforced through challenging, fun exercises while working in a highly distracting environment. We will be improving you and your dog’s skills by working around other dogs outdoors!

This class requires pet owners to bring a mat/bed, water for you and your pup, high-value treats (hot dogs, chicken, cheese), treat bag, clicker, front-clip harness or head halter.

Prerequisites: Reactive Rover Foundation

Have you completed our Reactive Rover Foundation or Advanced class and are wondering what to do next? Are you looking for a safe and controlled environment to continue working on the skills you’ve already learned?

Our 4-week Reactive Rover Games class is the perfect option!

In this class, you’ll continue working on the skills you’ve previously learned from the safe and controlled environment of your training pod. You will also receive some individualized coaching where your instructor will have 1 student at a time come to the center of the room to work on “Let’s Go” games, mat work, nose work, long-line handling, mini-agility and other fun games. You can choose to play a round or simply stay in your pod and practice.

To enroll in the class you must have completed our Reactive Rover Foundation or Reactive Rover Advanced class.

Calling all AHS Reactive Rovers!

In this class you can practice your Reactive Rover skills along with your trainer and get some fun exercise with your pup. The Reactive Rover Walk will consist of a group of dogs that have taken the AHS Reactive Rover class and the trainer and assistants will be providing support during your walk. Trainers will be leading the walk and monitoring the dogs while you practice your skills that you have learned in class. The walk will last approximately 60 minutes round trip.

Location: Offsite Location – click register link for details

Prerequisites: Reactive Rover Foundation or trainer approval.

Want to learn agility for fun?

Agility for Fun is perfect for those looking to have some fun and exercise with their dog without competing. In this 4 week class we will introduce and run courses with a variety of equipment such as jumps, weave poles, A-frame, pause table, dog walk, small teeter equipment and tunnels.

This class is not appropriate for dogs that are reactive or aggressive towards people or other dogs.

Prerequisites: Dogs should have basic knowledge of sit, down and stay.

Ready to build and strengthen your relationship with your new puppy, as well as get a good start on the basics and socialization? Puppy Preschool is a combination of fun, supervised playtime with other puppies and learning skills such as sit, down and coming when called. You will also learn about life skills such as body/food handling, crate training, house training and much more. This class is for puppies 4 months of age and younger.

Want to raise your rambunctious puppy into a happy, well-behaved dog? Puppy Parties are the easiest way to socialize your puppy so they can grow up feeling comfortable around other dogs, people and new situations!

AHS’ Puppy Parties provide a safe, secure and clean environment for your puppy to practice important social skills. For the first half of class, puppies will play together with trainers supervising and providing insights into their behaviors. You’ll begin to learn your puppy’s body language, and your puppy will have a grand time having positive interactions with the other pups. For the remaining half of class, you and your puppy will work together on specific exercises that focus on building skills that will help them grow into a well-rounded dog. These include exercises such as introducing novel sights and sounds, body handling exercises, confidence building exercises, and other socialization skills. Each week will introduce a new skill for you and your puppy to work on together.

Arizona has the highest diversity of rattlesnakes in the United States – with 23 different species found throughout the region. Rattlesnakes can be encountered almost anywhere – even your own backyard. Arizona Humane Society’s Snake Avoidance training course is positive reinforcement based and does not use shock collars, choke collars or prong collars to achieve reliable results. In this 6-week long course you will learn about snake safety and behavior, teaching an alert behavior and turning the sight, scent and sound of a rattlesnake into a reliable “leave it” and recall behavior.

Dogs should have a strong understanding of “leave it” and “come when called” to get the most out of this course. If your dog does not have these behaviors, please consider joining our Basics and Intermediate training courses first.

Interested in the activity Nose Work? Marvel in and learn to work with the extraordinary power of the canine nose! This 30-mintue class provides an opportunity and outlet for the natural hunting and scenting abilities of all dogs, whether puppies or adults. It will help build your dog’s confidence and burn tons of mental and physical energy.

In this class we’ll teach you and your dog skills for fun scent detection! You’ll learn how to observe and read your dog’s body language and behavior for better communication, teamwork, and a strengthening of the bond between you and your dog.

Have you and your dog completed our Basics Obedience class are now thinking about what’s next? Are you looking for a fun and different way to add reliability to the basics your dog has already learned?

Ready, Set, Play is a class that utilizes fun training games to teach your dog a few new behaviors and improve upon the basics like sit, stay, come and more.

You and your dog must have completed a Basics Obedience class at Arizona Humane Society to enroll in our Ready, Set, Play class. If you have not taken our Basics class, please email us at pettraining@azhumane.org prior to registering.

** This workshop is HUMANS ONLY – please do not bring your dog/puppy **

This workshop is designed for dog and puppy parents that need assistance with solving behavior problems such as excessive barking, destructiveness, counter surfing, jumping on guests, biting, resource guarding, reactivity, separation anxiety, aggression and fear.

In this workshop we will discuss how a professional behavior specialist would investigate the issue and determine the best course of action for mitigating the problem.

The workshop meets for 1 hour for 3 weeks to give you opportunities to apply and practice what you’ve learned in class at home.

This class is excellent for combining with our Puppy Basics and Basics obedience classes on the same day, however anyone can join.