| Puppy & Levels Program Schedule | Mondays
7:30pm Level 1
8:30pm Level 3
Tuesdays
6:30pm Puppy
7:30pm Level 4
Wednesdays
6:30pm Level 1
7:30pm Level 2
8:30pm Levels 3 & 4 (every other week 1/9, 1/23, 2/6, 2/20, 3/6, 3/20, 4/3)
Thursdays
6:30pm Level 2
7:30pm Puppy
Saturdays
9:00am Puppy Social
10:00am Tween Social
11:00am Level 2
|
| Your Feedback... | Toaster has responded beautifully to Name Game, Touch and Sit, but we are most encouraged by how well Find It and Look are working when walking on leash. We have had multiple opportunities to incorporate these lessons. As soon as she hears the clicker for Look, she immediately turns to get her treat. Find It has been equally effective. Additionally, we had an unexpected house guest this past weekend, and by using the tools we worked on for your visit, Toaster was able to accept another person in the house, without becoming frantic or overly upset. Finally, this past Sunday, we were able to take her with us for a day's outing. She had a few moments, but overall, she behaved wonderfully. We still have some work to do with loose leash walking and the two step game, but she is doing so much better with the pulling and heeling. We are very grateful for the training you [Roz] provided. I am confident we, and Toaster, will continue to progress. I suspect we will be participating in Levels training after the holidays. Thanks, again!
Cheryl B.
|
| Your Feedback... | Thank you for all the tools that you have given us [in Reactive Dog Class] and the time you spent with us during class. We will continue to work with Jackson using those tools to improve his social skills. I've also improved with him during our walks!! You guys did a great job!!! Thank you!
Kori T.
|
|
|
Greetings!
It's been two months since our last newsletter and much has been happening since then. The 2013 Winter schedule is now available online and registrations are trickling in. Come January we will have 21 classes a week for you to choose from, the most we have ever offered on a weekly basis! Among some of the newcomers are Nosework II, Impulse Control II, and a Maintenance Reactive Dog Class that will provide more practice for graduates of our Reactive Dog Class. Also the return of our Life Skills with C.L.A.S.S.
Also in recent news, Jackie Maffucci earned her CPDT-KA certification and we welcome a new Assistant Trainer: Karen Baragona. See below for more details on these exciting announcements.
We'd also like to congratulate our trainers, Roz Ferber and Heidi Meinzer who competed and placed in the K9 Nose Work 1 trials this past weekend.
Lastly, a reminder that the Training School is on a 3 week break with classes resuming again on Monday, January 7. We hope that you and your family enjoy the holidays and that your dogs have plenty of opportunities to practice what you've been teaching them in our classes and private sessions.
Happy Holidays!
Tammy & Vivian
|
|
|
Closed For the Holidays and Inauguration Day
|  The Dog Training School will be on winter break beginning Sunday, December 16 through Sunday, January 6, 2013.
Also in January, Fur-Get Me Not's offices, dog daycare, and training school will be closed for Inauguration Day on Monday, January 21, 2013.
|
|
Congratulations to Trainers in Recent K9 Nose Work® Competition
| |
 This past weekend marked the very first K9 Nose Work® competition in Virginia! Dog and handler teams competed for NW1 titles on Friday and Saturday, and for NW2 titles on Saturday. Fur-Get Me Not trainers Roz Ferber with Sam and Heidi Meinzer with Boomer competed at the NW1 levels.
K9 Nose Work® is an activity designed to create a fun outlet for our dogs' incredible sense of smell. Dogs build hunt drive, initially for food and later for Q-tips exposed to birch, anise or clove oils. The NW1 level has one hide with birch in each of four search elements - containers, an interior space, an exterior space and vehicles. Each element search is timed, and each search generally must be completed in two and a half to three minutes. To achieve the NW1 title, the dogs must complete all four searches successfully and within the allotted time for each search.
On Friday, Roz and Sam competed with 33 other dogs for their NW1 title. Roz and Sam successfully completed all four searches in 3 minutes and 8.44 seconds, winning their NW1 title along with 14 other dogs. And Sam's times were so good that they won third place overall! This means that out of the 15 dog and handler teams who titled, Roz and Sam successfully completed all four searches with the third best overall time - only two of the other titled dog and handler teams were faster than them!
On Saturday, Heidi and Boomer competed with 47 other dogs in a second NW1 trial. Boomer located the hide in the interior search in only 19.41 seconds! Boomer's time in that search earned him second place out of all of the dogs for the interior element. Heidi and Boomer just missed the NW1 title. Heidi concedes handler error during the container search that was no fault of Boomer's. But the trial taught her a great deal about what she'll need to do to keep up with Boomer's incredible Nose Work skills!
Fur-Get Me Not is offering Introduction K9 Nose Work® classes starting in January. Part 1 will introduce the dogs to the game by hunting for food with boxes, other containers and interior searches. Part 2 will continue the hunt for food with more challenging container and interior searches, and will introduce exterior and vehicle searches. Because dogs work one-on-one in a safe, secure environment, it is an ideal activity for dogs struggling with confidence issues and reactivity.
Join us in congratulating Roz, Sam, Heidi and Boomer! And if you would like to learn more about K9 Nose Work®, visit the National Association of Canine Scent Work's website at http://nacsw.net or contact us at Fur-Get Me Not!
|
|
Congratulations to Jackie Maffucci, Earns CPDT-KA
|  We'd like to congratulate Jackie Maffucci for passing the CPDT-KA certification exam. Many of you that have taken our dog training classes know Jackie who has been an Assistant Trainer with us for the past 2 years. She has put in many teaching hours during that time instructing our Levels classes, workshops, and running the increasing popular puppy socials on Saturday mornings. Jackie sat for the examination in September and passed, earning her Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) certification.
Now that Jackie has passed the examination, she has met the requirements to become a Fur-Get Me Not Lead Trainer. We require our Lead Trainers to have this certification and while our Assistants are working towards this certification, we pair them with Lead Trainers in the classroom. This allows our Assistants to earn practice hours towards qualification to take the examination.
To qualify to take the examination, trainers have to have at least 300 hours experience in dog training within the last five (5) years. Two hundred twenty-five (225) hours (75%) of experience must be actual teaching hours (group class, private lessons) as a Head Trainer or Instructor. Seventy-five (75) hours (25%) of experience can be in other related areas such as working with shelter animals, assisting in classes, working as a veterinary technician or groomer (bather position not applicable).
Congratulations Jackie!
Click here to learn more about CPDT
|
|
Welcome New Assistant Trainer: Karen
|  We'd like to welcome our newest Dog Training Assistant, Karen Baragona. Karen is an avid volunteer at the Arlington and Alexandria shelters, and previously employed at the National Zoo, World Wildlife Fund, and holds a Master's Degree in environmental science. Karen began in our Fur-Get Me Not Apprentice Training Program back in January. She successfully completed the coursework, volunteer hours, and shadowing of our lead trainers. She officially completed the apprentice program and will begin assisting in our classes on Thursdays beginning January 2013. Learn more about her in her bio here. |
|
Levels Class Schedule is Changing
|
Beginning in January, the new class schedule is as follows:
 Puppy Tuesdays @ 6:30pm and Thursdays at 7:30pm
Level 1
Mondays @ 7:30pm and Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Level 2
Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Thursdays at 6:30pm, and Saturdays at 11:00am.
Level 3
Mondays at 8:30pm
Level 4
Tuesdays at 7:30pm
Level 3/4 Combo
Every other week on Wednesdays at 8:30pm
Puppy Socials
Saturdays at 9am
Tween Socials
Saturdays at 10am
We would also like to remind students that graduations occur once per week. If you have advanced to the next level, you will receive an email announcement on Mondays around noon.
|
|
Upcoming Classes & Workshops
| Puppy & Levels Orientations - held every other Sunday
Sunday, January 1/13 @ 10am (puppy is FULL, 1 spot for L1) Sunday, January 1/27 @ 10am Sunday, February 2/10 @ 10am
FREE Puppy Social held every Saturday at 9am These are popular events, please understand only the first 15 puppies will be admitted. We define puppies as dogs ages 6 months or less and all puppies must have been seen by their new family's vet at least once to ensure a clean bill of health and 2-3 rounds of age appropriate vaccinations have taken place. Tween Social held Saturdays at 10am For dogs 6 months to 2 years of age. This is the time period where your dog is progressing from puppyhood to adulthood. It is a time when the physical energy level is at its peak but the mental maturity is still very much lacking! We offer a safe place for young dogs to explore boundaries and come into their own. In the meantime, we will teach you what to look for in order to ensure a successful play experience for your dog as well as equip you with the skill set you need to make sure you continue to support your dog to develop healthy social skills. Only Fur-Get Me Not Training clients may enroll. Registration is required.
Maximum capacity: 8 Confidence Building Class - 6 weeks $190 Thursday, 1/10 @ 8:30pm (3 spots remain) Tuesday, 2/19 @ 8:30pm Confidence Agility Class - 6 weeks $190 Saturday, 1/12 @ 1:00pm Impulse Control I Class - 6 weeks $190
Tuesday, 1/8 @ 8:30pm (2 spots remain) Thursday, 2/21 @ 8:30pm NEW! Impulse Control II Class - 6 weeks $190 Saturday, 1/13 @ 2:00pm Saturday, 3/17 @ 2:00pm
- 6 weeks $190 Sunday, 1/13 @ 4:00pm Sunday 3/3 @ 4:00pm NEW! K9 Nose Work II - 6 weeks $190 Sunday, 1/13 @ 5:00pm Sunday 3/3 @ 5:00pm
Reactive Class - 8 weeks $240
Saturday, 1/12 @ 2:30pm (3 spots remain)
Saturday 3/23 @ 2:30pm
NEW! Reactive Maintenance - 4 weeks $140
Saturday, 3/2 @ 1:00pm
Treibball Class - 6 weeks $190 Monday, 1/7 @ 6:30pm
NEW! Life Skills with C.L.A.S.S. - 6 weeks $190 Sunday, 1/13 @ 1:00pm Workshops - one session $35
Recalls Wednesday, 1/16 @ 8:30pm Sunday, 2/10 @ 3:00pm Wendesday 3/13 @ 8:30pm Leash Manners Wednesday, 1/30 @ 8:30pm Sunday, 2/13 @ 3:00pm Wednesday, 3/27 @ 8:30pm No Jumping! Sunday, 1/27 @ 3:00pm Wednesday, 2/13 @ 8:30pm Tricks Sunday, 1/13 @ 3:00pm Wednesday, 2/27 @ 8:30pm Canine Good Citizen Test $20 Sunday, March 3 @ 9am Register online
|
|
|
|
|
