Group classes allow you to practice new skills or improve existing ones in a controlled environment and utilize a wide variety of distractions. We offer classes ranging from puppy, basic obedience, manners, fun and games to performance classes like rally obedience and agility. We also offer specialty courses including a loose leash walking course, topics and a class for individuals who enjoy trick training.
Training takes place primarily in our spacious indoor daycare rooms under A/C. However, we often hold classes in different environments like our parking lot and our back play yards. Agility classes which are held at the Sarasota location only, are run on a grass field that is fully fenced. Our equipment meets AKC regulations for competition. For safety, we went the extra mile by providing you with rubberized contacts and a break away tire.
Not sure where to start?
FREE Training Assessment
A training assessment is the first step in developing your pet’s individual education plan. Our experienced staff of certified dog trainers will develop a plan specific to your pet’s needs and your goals.
For your convenience the assessment can be done three ways. By phone, email or you can set up an appointment that will take place at the Bayside Pet Resort location nearest you and will last 20-30 minutes.
Fill out this form to get started!
Obedience Classes
(6 Week Courses)
Eligibility: All breeds and puppies ages 3 – 10 months
Kindergarten is a well thought out and carefully conducted development and enrichment program, designed to help your pup develop into a confident pet. You’ll be taught how to positively handle your puppy through a series of activities that include grooming exercises, mock veterinary exams, obstacle navigation, and basic behaviors including come, sit, down, stay and polite leash walking. You will also have an opportunity to earn the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Certification.
Download Full Course Description for Puppy Kindergarten (PDF)
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Real World Etiquette involves canine obedience and is highly focused on the human learners, by contrast, is built around problem solving and decision making applied to real-life scenarios. Basic obedience behaviors you can expect to learn are: sit, down, stay, come, loose leash walking, leave it, and more. You will learn how to use these basic behaviors to eliminate most problem behaviors (e.g. leash pulling, jumping on guests, door dashing, car chasing, etc.). What’s most important about this class is you will be able to apply what you’ve learned and be successful at home or in public. You will also be able to earn your CGC title at the end of the course.
Here is a breakdown of our weekly class curriculum.
Meet & Greet – Learn how to teach your dog to not jump to say hello to people, but to sit politely instead. You will have a chance to work with each other in class.
Home Office Environment – Learn how a down stay on a mat can help keep your dog safe and out of trouble. Discover how and when to use mentally stimulating toys and canine enrichment. The first challenge, you will work at your home office computer while practicing keeping your dog in a down stay. In the second challenge you will learn how to handle additional distractions as fellow students play co-workers or house guests and pass by your desk.
Neighborhood Walk – Today you will learn the basics of teaching your dogs to walk nicely on leash. Behaviors learned includes leash walking, leave it and coming when called. Learn how to deal with distractions and overcome most obstacles faced on a daily walk. This challenge will take place either in the classroom or outside dependent upon weather.
Company Over for Coffee – Teach your dog proper greeting at the door and enjoy a relaxed dog while chatting with friends. You’ll utilize the sit, down and proper greeting behaviors to complete this week’s challenge. The scenario will consist of a visitor entering your home followed by sitting down for coffee and conversation
Trip to Park – Learn how a leave it, loose leash walking and reliable recall can help keep your dog safe and out of trouble while at the park. Teach your dog not to pick things up from the ground and as a way to ask dogs to break focus from and move away from things, people, other animals, etc. Your challenge this week will be to go on a mock trip to the park.
Cooperative Care – Teach your dog down, stand still and cooperative handling to help them become more comfortable with procedures they’re likely to face in real life. Help eliminate fear and anxiety when visiting the vet or groomer. Challenges will include time on a grooming table and relaxing in a mock veterinarian waiting or exam room. Learn how to give your dog a voice and teach them to cooperate in their own care.
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
CGCA Fee: Testing is free for students enrolled in the full course / $20 testing fee for non-students
Dogs will learn more advanced life skills geared for both in the home and in public. Just imagine how nice it will be to attend events with your dog and not have them pull you the whole time or be able to walk nicely through a door rather than being dragged through. In Obedience II, the behaviors learned in Obedience I will be brought to a whole new level. Your dog will develop a full understanding of each behavior as we do what is called proofing. Proofing simply means to test a dog’s comprehension through means like using distractions, adding distance and increasing duration. The dogs will be tested in ways that are fun and engaging. You will also have an opportunity to earn the AKC CGCA (Advanced Community Canine) Certification.
Download Full Course Description for Basic Obedience II (PDF)
Is a Basic Obedience I or Real World Etiquette a prerequisite for this class?
Though it is strongly advised the answer is no. However, it’s to your benefit that when choosing to enroll in this class, that your dog already know the basic behaviors such as sit, down, stay, come and loose leash walking. Otherwise you may struggle with the advanced curriculum.
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Fun & Games class is unique in that it combines what you love about obedience, agility, nose work, rally, and tricks classes all into one! Each week we use an array of obstacles, training techniques and have a ton of fun. This is a class you can enroll in over and over again. We routinely add or change up games keeping things new and exciting for those looking to have fun with their dogs on a regular basis. Our goals are to help you develop a working relationship with your dog while having so much fun you don’t even realize your training. Here is a breakdown of our weekly class curriculum.
Bravery Day – We introduce your dogs to various obstacles that wobble, make noise, are elevated off the ground. Interesting items/smells will be available for your dogs to investigate, touch and interact with. Dogs will also have a chance to enjoy a variety of canine fitness equipment such as the peanut, balance ball, inflatable pods and discs. Create a more confident dog with these fun interactive games.
Group Game Day – Lets play a group game of tic tac toe utilizing our dog’s ability to sit stay and down stay. Other favorites are lassie says, musical pups, cavaletti races, red light green light, Olympic Games and more!
Tricks Day – Lets find out what your dog’s individual strengths are and turn them into fun tricks you can show off to your family and friends. Learn how to achieve almost anything using a clicker to shape behavior.
Obstacle Course Day – We review behaviors already known and learn some new and fun ones involving obedience, tricks and agility. We then set a course with signs similar to rally. Each dog and owner team will have fun attempting the fun yet challenging course.
Hide & Seek Day – We will perform two scent exercises. Using a variety of scent obstacles and articles we will teach them to search for their treats. Recall games are a favorite where you hide and your dog finds you to make coming when called more fun!
Skills Day – Want your dog to cooperate and pose for pictures? Attempt a performance skill like agility or retrieve a dumbbell? Perhaps there’s a fun game or trick we covered previously that you want to continue to work on with your dog? This day is all about you and your dog. Let’s explore new, interesting and useful skills.
Specialty Classes
(4 Week Courses)
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
This course is designed to teach you how to take control. We will arm you with the knowledge and hands on experience needed to successfully train your dog to walk politely and not pull while on leash. You may find pulling to be manageable and just settle for a harness but keep in mind, over time leash pulling can manifest into more problematic behaviors like aggression or lead to serious health problems. Learn what type of equipment to use and more importantly how to use it. Dogs that learn not to pull when on leash are a pleasure to take out and as a result, they enjoy exercise, freedom, socialization and much needed mental stimulation.
Download Full Course Description for Loose Leash Walking (PDF)
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Topics class is designed to cover the most common sought after training lessons and give Basic Obedience and Real World Etiquette graduates another opportunity to improve on their skills. Here is a breakdown of our weekly class curriculum.
Impulse Control Workshop – This week we will cover a variety of exercises geared towards improving your dog’s self-control. Dogs by nature are impulsive creatures and it takes a good deal of training to overcome some of them. Learn how to utilize the dog’s desires and show them the appropriate behavior needed to acquire it.
Reliable Recall – Let’s play a series of games designed to maximize your dog’s willingness to come when called. This is hands down the most beneficial behavior you can teach your dog. For safety purposes dogs should learn to respond quickly to a recall. It may just save their life someday.
Heeling and Loose Leash Walking – Learn the basics of polite leash walking. You will learn about the different training gear and find what works best for your individual needs. We also teach our dogs to defer to you for direction, the basics of heeling at our left side, develop an automatic sit when you stop and discuss how to deal with distractions.
Skills in Public – We will meet either at a designated dog friendly park, restaurant or at a local Pet Supermarket. Together we will tackle common problems one faces in public with their dog include greeting strangers, handling human interactions, leash pulling, high levels of distraction, impulse control, sniffing and/or inappropriate urination. You’ll also learn how to get your dog to be calm and polite while you are making a purchase, eating or conversing with other people.
Is a Basic Obedience I or Real World Etiquette a prerequisite for this class?
Though it is strongly advised the answer is no. However, it’s to your benefit that when choosing to enroll in this class, that your dog already knows the basic behaviors such as sit, down and stay.
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Our Sports Sampler class is unique in that it introduces you to 5 fun performance activities: competition obedience, scent work, tricks, rally obedience and agility. Let’s discover what activity you and your canine partner find enjoyable together. Each session starts with a demonstration. Afterward you will have an opportunity to give it a try.
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Do you love to play with your dog? Do you want to learn how to teach your dog to do all those amazing tricks you see on T.V. or online? Then this is the class for you! The class curriculum is designed to be enjoyed again and again. There’s always something new to try and many titling levels to work towards. You will also have an opportunity to earn the AKC Trick Dog titles.
Dog Sport Classes
(6 Week Rally & Agility Courses)
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Think of an AKC Rally® event as a team sport: You and your dog navigate a course, side-by-side, as you steer your dog through a course of 10-20 different signs. Each of these signs provides instructions regarding the next skill that is to be performed. The dog and handler move continuously throughout the course with the dog under control at the handler’s left side. Runs are timed and winners are chosen based on the highest score. When teams earn the same score, time will be the deciding factor for placement. Some of the challenges include 360° turns, serpentine weaves, jumps, signal exercises at a distance, figure 8 with distractions and so much more. There are a grand total of 111 different signs and five competition levels in Rally. This is known for being a highly addictive sport due to its fun upbeat nature. Rally will be taught using only highly motivating games and reward based methods.
Eligibility: All breeds and puppies ages 3-10months
Puppies will have a chance to experience safe ground level equipment such as the wobble board, ladder, mini teeter, ground table, tunnel and more. Equipment is designed to bild bravery, rear end awareness, and get the pups accustomed to unstable surfaces. They will also learn the power of play, self-control and basic obedience for agility.
Drop-In: YES
Eligibility: All ages and all breeds welcome
Foundation agility is designed to make the introduction to the sport as enjoyable and safe as possible. You’ll start by teaching your dog the basic ground work such as target training, start-line stays, impulse control, foundation jumping, flat work, focused attention and recall. Wobble boards and plank boards will be used to start before introducing your pup to the actual obstacles.
Download a Full Class Description
Eligibility: Ages 10 months and up. All breeds welcome.
You have the foundation work, now it’s time to start stringing obstacles together to create a course. Each week you will have the chance to practice on a newly designed course that targets different strategies and techniques to succeed.
Is there a prerequisite for this class?
Though we do not have prerequisites for any of our classes, it is to your benefit and for your dog’s safety that you and your dog already know the foundation skills necessary to be successful when choosing to enroll. Consult with your trainer as to the best route for your current level and goals.
Download a Full Class Description