Graduation Month: Advanced Dog Training in Rancho Santa Fe

Before: a five-year-old Golden Retriever that knew sit, down and come, and was good enough for a neighborhood walk. After: the same dog holding a heel on uneven ground as a mobility assist dog for an owner with a seizure disorder. That is advanced dog training: obedience you can rely on, built for Rancho Santa Fe families every spring.

May is graduation month, and the dogs on the Covenant trails show the gap between a dog that has passed the basics and one that has finished school. Here is one program, as the owner described it in his own review, and what it says about advanced work anywhere in North County.

What did the dog already have?

A lot. This Golden was five, well behaved, and trained in most basic commands. She was already fairly good at ignoring other dogs. The owner did not need a reset. He needed a specific job done: a dog that could walk beside him and help prevent a fall when his right leg went wrong on uneven ground.

"My Golden is 5 and very well behaved and trained in most basic commands ... I wanted to take her to another level as a Service Dog-specifically Mobility Assist ... She gives appropriate homework between lessons and training is going very well."

Where did the trainer start?

At the free consultation, in the owner's home, by watching the dog rather than taking a description over the phone. The honest verdict was that they were part of the way there already. So the program skipped the kindergarten and went straight to the next step: perfecting the heel, a reliable come, and a sit and relax on command at a specified place, which in this case was a thirty-by-thirty-inch dog cot.

That is the shape of advanced training. We test the foundation first. A dog that cannot hold a stay while the front door opens, or come the first time with a dog across the street, goes back to that level. A dog that can starts here.

Why does a heel matter more than a trick?

For this owner the heel was the whole point. A dog pressed steadily against his left knee on a slope or a gravel path is a brace. A dog that drifts a foot ahead is a hazard. So the heel was not "walks nicely." It was a fixed position held under distraction, on sidewalks, on the trails, in a store aisle, with the owner's balance depending on it.

Rancho Santa Fe is a good place to proof that kind of heel. The Covenant trails are uneven, horses come around corners, driveways are long and coyotes cross at dusk. A dog that holds position there holds it anywhere.

How did place become a working command?

Place, in a basic program, is "go lie on your mat." In an advanced program it is "go there and stay relaxed for as long as I need you to, no matter what happens in the room." The cot was the target. The dog learned to go to it on one word, settle, and wait through a doorbell, a dropped pan, a visitor. For a service dog that means it can be parked calmly at a restaurant on Paseo Delicias or in a waiting room for an hour.

What held the program together between lessons?

Homework and texting. The owner described homework that was appropriate, which is the right word: enough to move the dog forward in a week, not so much that it did not get done. His trainer checked in by text between lessons and answered questions. The owner also noted that the trainer pushed both him and the dog within limits. Advanced work is where owners most often stall, because the dog already looks good and the last ten percent is dull. The check-ins are what get it finished.

Where does a remote collar fit in advanced work?

For some dogs, in recall and off-leash reliability, we may add a remote training collar. It delivers a low-level tap, paired with praise, and your trainer sets the level on your own hand before the dog wears it, so you feel it first. Some dogs finish the advanced program without one. A Golden with a foundation like the one above often does.

See what advanced dog training in Rancho Santa Fe covers, how the advanced training program is built, and the other North County areas we drive to.

Questions Rancho Santa Fe owners ask about advanced training

My dog finished a basic program. Does advanced training start right away?

It can, but the trainer tests the basics first at the free consultation. Advanced work builds on a stay that holds through an open door and a recall that works with a distraction present. If those are solid, you start at this level; if not, a few lessons of review come first. The test is honest and quick.

Can you train a service dog or a therapy dog?

We train the obedience those roles depend on: a heel that holds, a place that lasts, a recall that works off leash, calm around people and dogs. Task training for a specific disability and any certification requirements are separate questions, and your trainer will tell you at the consultation what we can build and what needs another specialist.

How long does advanced training take?

Usually the same weekly rhythm as every program: lessons of about an hour, most programs six or seven of them, with homework between. A dog with a strong foundation may finish sooner. Off-leash reliability on open ground, which many Rancho Santa Fe families want, is the part that takes the longest to proof properly.

If this sounds like your dog, call (619) 704-9178. The free consultation happens at your Rancho Santa Fe home.