Highland Canine Training, LLC » agility

Agility Dog Winner

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:39:45 +0000

Huge congratulations to our past students Ruby and Shannon for winning First and Second Place at the Charlotte, NC A.K.C. Agility Trials held October 10th and 11th 2009. Ruby scored 100 out of 100 points and 91 out of 100 points which gave her 2 qualifying runs in Standard Course. Ruby took her first Agility Course this past spring at our Mooresville, NC location and continued on with agility training under the direction of Linda Taylor at our Matthews, NC location. From day one Ruby and her owner were special. Both were ready to learn and were extremely enthusiastic about working on their agility skills. Shannon watched and listened to instructions, Ruby, though, was quite a handful. She pulled on the leash and was running all over the place. The second lesson proved what she was made of. I asked for a volunteer to demonstrate the homework I had assigned during the previous agility class and Ruby and Shannon stepped up. I watched in awe as they did close to perfect front crosses and jumps. Ruby and her owner had really done their homework and worked as a team perfecting the jumps and hand signals. After a few classes Shannon told me she was going to enter Ruby in the upcoming Agility Trials. The Agility Class was just for fun, but with hard work and true dedication to the sport that fun can take you down a more challenging road.

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Upcoming Group Classes in Mooresville, NC

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:47:47 +0000

Agility Dog

Highland Canine Training is offering group classes in Mooresville, NC again this fall. Group Classes will be held at the Humane Society of Iredell located at 110 Robinson Road in Mooresville, NC beginning on Saturday, November 14th, 2009. Each class lasts for about an hour.

Agility for Fun Class 11:30 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
This class is a great way for owners to teach their dog confidence as well as some exciting new skills. Our agility for fun class teaches ground work and fundamentals to complete a variety of obstacles and jumps such as weave poles, pause tables, tire jumps, triple jumps and more! There are no prerequistes for this course.

Basic Obedience Class 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
This class teaches dogs and owners on-leash skills such as sit, down, stay, come, heel and place. This class is also designed to help owners deal with problems such as pulling on the leash, jumping on people, etc. This course is also a great forum for socializing your dog with new people and dogs.

Rally Obedience Class 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Rally-O class introduces dogs and owners to Rally Obedience. This class will teach the skills (sit, down, turn, stand, come, etc) to learn and compete in either AKC or APDT Rally courses and competitions. Rally is a great way for dogs and owner to work closely together and to show others their hard work. Rally is fun, competition obedience that is completed under time.

Therapy Dog Training Class 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Therapy Dog Class teaches dogs and owners the fundamentals of therapy dog work. Dogs and owners wishing to attend this class must have previously completed a basic obedience class or an equivalent. This course teaches the skills and environmental training that is required for therapy dogs. This course is great if you are looking into doing therapy work in schools, nursing homes and hospitals. Many of our previous graduates are already involved in these types of exciting and fulfilling programs.

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Can my dog do Rally O?

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:22:57 +0000

We have had many of our clients asking if Rally O is breed specific like for example Shutzhund Training/Trials? The answer is no, absolutely not! We had the pleasure of attending a Rally O trial in Durham, North Carolina over the weekend and there were dogs of all shapes, colors, and sizes; which in my opinion was refreshing to see. The competition included breeds such as the border collie (and border collie mixes), terriers, Retrievers, and your non-specific pounds puppies!

My advice to pet owners who are looking to pick up a hobby with thier dog, is to give Rally O a try. You may have a large breed dog like a Great Dane or St. Bernard, and no you may not be the fastest in the bunch, but look how much fun you could have for simply completing the course w/ little or no error! Obviously, your collie breeds usually rule the trials when it comes to competion obdience and agility, but that is not always true. This weekend we saw a Golden Retriever take top prize and a few Aridale Terriers place well too!

Rally O is perfect for large and small breeds, so don’t let size and shape determine if you pick up this hobby with your four-legged friend. Highland Canine is now offering both group classes and private lessons in both the Charlotte and Statesville,North Carolina areas to prepare you for Rally O events, so don’t hesitate to call our trainers and set up an evaluation to move you in the right direction with your training. Rally O events are held all year round throughout the state of North Carolina so we hope to take you and your dog to the next level and see you there!

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The Pursuit..Dog Training as a Career!

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:11:58 +0000

There is no time like the present to get started on a new career , start your own business, or simply do what you love everyday. Many people adore our four-legged friends and are intersted in pursuing a career in the dog training industry. My advice, is to go for it, there is plenty of business for everyone!

The first step is to decide which area of dog training is most interesting for you; is simply pet dog training (basic obedience and advanced obedience), behavior modification, agility, rally sports, herding, puppy training, therapy dog training, working dogs (police, detection, protection, Search and Rescue). The second area you should work on is deciding how you want to work your schedule or run your business. If you are the person who wants a little more freedom, then private lessons and group classes would be the area to focus on. However if you want the consistency of an everyday schedule, in-kennel training may be a better choice for you as a dog trainer.

Next you should narrow down a few schools that interest you, and go personally visit the site. You can get more out of personal visit than a telephone call; meeting the people you would be working and learning from can help you decide if you are a good fit for that particular school or environment. After a quick visit you can decide how much time you want to put into your career. For example, you could choose a 6 week program or tough it out and sign up for the 12 week program (which will allow you more experience by putting your hands on different breeds of dogs with different behaviors).

At Highland Canine Training we offer teaching for all the above areas of dog training. Students are able to combine classes and learn as much about as many areas of dog training as they can obsorb. Students who are just starting out,often sign up for obedience courses, but are also interested in protection courses; as a student you are able to take the both courses parallel for the length of time you wish to attend (6-12 weeks). Highland Canine also offers custom classes to fit your lifestyle. Many of our students also work full or part-time, have families, layed-off, or simply live out of state; we are able accomadate their schedules to help them earn the certification they are striving for!

Many students ask how they can gain experience after their school is finished and they are building their book of business? The answer is simple, pro-bono work with local shelter and rescue groups is the easiest way to gain experience and give back to your communities and the animals. Now more than ever, family pets are suffering because; people are surrendering their family pets at rescue groups or pounds because they are moving (leaving animals behind), have no time for the dog, or simply don’t like the dogs and will not take the time to place them in a proper home or work on fixing behaivor issues. Rescue groups will return the favor and referr business to you so everyone wins!

Finally, many people want to become dog trainer’s so they don’t have to work with people. That is not the case, the wonderful dogs usually belong to people and you must be able to communicate effectively with the owners to first off, diagnose the problem (if any), then teach dog owner’s how to work with their dogs! At Highland Canine Training we involve our students in the initial drop off of client dogs, what questions to ask the oweners, how to perform at both private lessons and group class settings, and how to teach the pet owner’s to work with their dogs and complete the “Go Home.”

If you think becoming a dog trainer may be in your near future, please give us a call or better yet stop by for a visit ,and we would be happy to introduce you to the wonderful world of dogs!

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What is Rally Obedience?

Ltaylor — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:50:30 +0000

Rally Obedience, known as Rally O is the hot sport for dog owners who enjoy working with their dogs as a team. The dog and handler team navigate a course with numbered signs indicating different exercises to perform. The exercises include sit-down-sit, figure 8, send over a jump, a multitude of right and left turns, as well as serpentines, front finish and of course, heel. The team navigates through the course at a brisk pace without directions from the judge and the handler can talk to the dog or give hand signals for encouragement.

All dogs, mixed breeds, purebred and dogs with disabilities, can participate in Rally O. Because there are three levels of Rally O dogs in all levels of training can participate. Beginners would work on heel positioning, sits, turning paces, sit stay and come. As the dog becomes more proficient he/she can move to level 2 then level 3.

Titles can be earned at each level and teams may earn Championship titles, National Ranking Awards and a special Award of Excellence.

Rally is an excellent entry level class for Competition Obedience and for Agility. Even though Rally O is a lot of fun, it is a challenging sport that encourages teamwork and develops a bond between the dog and owner. The result will be a well behaved, thinking dog and a very proud owner.

If you think you and your dog would like to try Rally O, or if you just have questions about the sport or the next class schedule, contact Linda Taylor at 704-500-6810 or you may e-mail her at ltaylor@highlandcanine.com.

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Upcoming Group Dog Training Classes – Mooresville, Matthews, NC

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:55:55 +0000

Highland Canine Training, LLC will be hosting another round of group classes during the month of June. They will be held at Highland Canine in Matthews and the Humane Society in Mooresville. Here is the schedule with the places and times for these classes.

AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Class is an excellent way to start your puppy off on the right foot. The focus of the class is socialization, training the basic commands, proper play and exercise and owner responsibility. Each student will receive a S.T.A.R. Puppy handbook and be eligible to receive a S.T.A.R. Puppy certificate and medal upon the completion of class.
When: June 20^th at 11am
Where: Humane Society in Mooresville, NC
Cost: $129
Call Linda Taylor at 704-500-6810 to sign-up.

Advanced Agility Class is the sequel to the Agility for Fun class. This class teaches new obstacles and more challenging groundwork. Completion of a previous agility class is a prerequisite for this course.

When: June 20^th at 12:30pm

Where: Humane Society in Mooresville, NC

Cost:$149