Northfield Dog Training

Northfield Dog Training Quality dog training at an affordable price in a fun relaxed atmosphere.
(24)

Northfield Dog Training offers dog training classes, from puppies through advanced training for obedience, agility, and rally competition, as well as retriever field training classes. We have one of the finest facilities around, custom built for training and competitions, with a rubber-only floor.

Upcoming August Classes at Northfield Dog Training -
07/24/2024

Upcoming August Classes at Northfield Dog Training -

We are happy to announce that Kim Poisson is going to teach a 3-week Intro to Scent at Northfield Dog Training. It will be Saturday mornings at 9:30-10:30 AM, August 3-17, 2024. If you are interested, please click here. This will create an email that you can send us. Once we know there is sufficient...

Upcoming Summer Classes at Northfield Dog Training -
06/05/2024

Upcoming Summer Classes at Northfield Dog Training -

We will open registration on Coursestorm for a Puppy Kindergarten class and a Household Manners class on Friday June 7 by 8:00 AM. Until that time, the classes will show up as “Registration Unavailable”. Click on the name of the class to go to the sign up page for the class.

Upcoming Beginner Classes at Northfield Dog Training -
05/08/2024

Upcoming Beginner Classes at Northfield Dog Training -

We will open registration on Coursestorm for a Puppy Kindergarten class and a Household Manners class on Monday May 13 by 9:00 AM. Until that time, the classes will show up as “Registration Unavailable”. Click on the name of the class to go to the sign up page for the class.

Upcoming Spring and Summer classes at Northfield Dog Training -
03/16/2024

Upcoming Spring and Summer classes at Northfield Dog Training -

We will open registration on Coursestorm for a Puppy Kindergarten class and a Household Manners class on Monday April 1 by 9:00 AM. Until that time, the classes will show up as “Registration Unavailable”. Click on the name of the class to go to the sign up page for the class.

02/27/2024
Upcoming Household Manners and Puppy K classes at Northfield Dog Training -
01/25/2024

Upcoming Household Manners and Puppy K classes at Northfield Dog Training -

The weather has caused us to get off to a limping start to our January classes, in that we were mostly closed down the week of January 15 because of the extreme cold, and again this week, January 22, due to bad ice on our property and our road. This has made me hesitate to send out a newsletter beca...

Upcoming Household Manners and Puppy K classes at Northfield Dog Training -
12/28/2023

Upcoming Household Manners and Puppy K classes at Northfield Dog Training -

Rita Tyler has two spaces available in her Wednesday 4:00-4:55 PM Novice/Open agility class. It starts on January 10, 2024. Please email Rita if interested.

Holiday Floor Time!
12/22/2023

Holiday Floor Time!

Upcoming agility and obedience classes at Northfield Dog Training -
10/31/2023

Upcoming agility and obedience classes at Northfield Dog Training -

Rita Tyler has unexpectedly had two spaces open up in her Wednesday 4:00-4:55 PM Novice/Open agility class. It starts on November 1. Please email Rita if interested.

10/15/2023

I have decided to cancel the obedience match scheduled for Thursday October 26. The next one will be Thursday November 16, the week before Thanksgiving.

September/October puppy, household manners, and agility classes -
09/25/2023

September/October puppy, household manners, and agility classes -

I will open registration for a Puppy Kindergarten class on Tuesday September 26 in the morning, hopefully before 8:00 AM. I had a long list of people on the waiting lists for my Household Manners classes that just started last week, so those people are getting 24 hours to sign up for the October Hou...

September 21 match sign up sheet, several days late:
09/14/2023

September 21 match sign up sheet, several days late:

Access Google Sheets with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

Adele's September competition obedience classes -
08/28/2023

Adele's September competition obedience classes -

I have scheduled two competition classes for September, Fundamentals of Competition Obedience On-line and FCOOL 7-12. Instead of opening them for registrations on CourseStorm, I want to first make sure there are enough people who want to take each of the classes. Please email me to tell me you are d...

Adele's September obedience classes -
08/25/2023

Adele's September obedience classes -

I will be offering two sections of Household Manners and one section of Puppy Kindergarten on Mondays September 18-October 23, as well as my Fundamentals of Competition Obedience On-line and FCOOL 7-12 courses. I posted them on CourseStorm Friday morning. As usual, they say “Registration Unavailab...

There is still plenty of space in our Thursday 8/24 obedience match. You can sign up here;
08/20/2023

There is still plenty of space in our Thursday 8/24 obedience match. You can sign up here;

Access Google Sheets with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

Terri McCardell has 2 spaces available in her Thursday 6:45 PM Agility 3 class. It starts on August 3. You can sign up o...
07/31/2023

Terri McCardell has 2 spaces available in her Thursday 6:45 PM Agility 3 class. It starts on August 3. You can sign up on CourseStorm for the class.

Weeks:  6 Length:  60 minutes per week Prerequisites:  Agility 2 or instructor approval. Screening is required if you have not trained at Northfield before. Equipment:  4-6 ft cloth or leather leash, flat...

The sign up sheet for the July 27 2-ring obedience match is available for sign up here:
07/17/2023

The sign up sheet for the July 27 2-ring obedience match is available for sign up here:

Access Google Sheets with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

07/13/2023

I spend so much time working with people and their reactive or aggressive dogs, learning how to help them and work with them, but I also try to show people with NON reactive dogs learn how they can help them too. I truly believe if we work together as a collaborative society of dog lovers we can help every dog live their best life. Here are some things I try to teach every human and dog team, and I’ve actually found these are good preventative tools too.

1. Stop letting your dog have on leash greetings with other dogs. Even if they are friendly. Teach your dog when they are on leash you are the best thing they can focus on! This will minimize their conditioned excitement every time they see another dog and help them not pull, lunge or move towards a reactive dog who doesn’t want an interaction. Also, the more you do let your dog meet dogs on leash, the more frustrated and aroused your dog can get when they see them and then reactivity can develop. NO leash greetings all around is a much healthier way to teach your dog(s) that the world out there is great but you’re even better to focus on!

2. Silence your dogs tags. I started doing this a few years ago when we started camping. I realized that the jingling of my dogs tags walking was a huge trigger for many of the dogs in their campsite, and as a result, they would bark and scream profanity at my dogs walking. This made their walk stressful too. By minimizing the noise, I’ve greatly improved my dogs walks and I know I’ve also helped a lot of reactive dogs not get triggered for the umpteenth time that day.

3. Work on a bombproof recall. And then work on it some more. And then some more.

4. Only let your dog off leash in places that are allowed. Even if you think no one is there. Even if it’s just for a second. Just. Don’t. Do it. It’s not fair and it sets so many dogs and humans up to fail. Want a place to let your dog run? Look at Sniffspot.com

5. Respect muzzles, give me space vests, and people saying “no” It is super hard to take a reactive dog out in public and have confidence. The more we give space and respect the better these teams will do! Don’t make judgements or stare or insist on saying hello because you hope to be the exception. Just tell them they are doing a great job and keep going.

6. Don’t let your dog stare. This is a BIG one we work on in all our classes. We teach humans how to position their dogs so they don’t stare at other dogs. I work hard on teaching my dogs to not stare at other dogs on leash and you can too. This is more subtle than not leash greeting but it can be just as helpful. Teach your dog to acknowledge there’s a dog there, but then move on, or turn around and not face them. For many reactive dogs there is nothing more triggering than a goofy adolescent dog staring at them across the road. I swear they scream back “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!”

7. Confine and safely manage your dog in the car. Dogs hanging out of windows, barking and lunging in the backseat, or moving back and forth in the car are problematic because 1. It’s not safe and 2. It’s teaching THEM terrible behavior and 3. It’s very stressful for reactive dogs trying to walk down the road. My dogs are crated in the car; or tethered or use a calming cap to reduce their own stress and the stress of dogs that may walk past.

8. Offer to help. Ask the person what you can do to make it easier or help them? More space? Or moving back and forth? Or just continuing on your way. Some people struggle to find others with NON reactive dogs to practice with, so having help makes a big difference. Speak up if you see someone putting them down. Warn someone with an off leash dog that there’s a dog there that needs space. Help them the same at YOU would like it if it was you and your dog.

Reactive dogs are not broken: and they aren’t abnormal either. Reactivity honestly is now becoming more normal than NON reactive dogs, so we have to all work through this together. And it boils down to respect, understanding, courtesy and lots of reward based training.

We can do it gang.

-Helen St. Pierre

Summertime Household Manners Tune-up opportunities and August beginner classes@ Northfield Dog Training -
07/07/2023

Summertime Household Manners Tune-up opportunities and August beginner classes@ Northfield Dog Training -

I still have spaces in the Saturday sections of a “Household Manners Tune-Up” in July. It will be a one-hour review class for anyone who has completed either my Jumpstart Obedience or Household Manners class, with the goal of providing a structured environment to refresh your training of the ski...

Address

3676 W Ellsworth Road
Ann Arbor, MI
48103

Opening Hours

Monday 6:30pm - 9pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 12pm
6:30pm - 9pm
Wednesday 6:30pm - 9pm
Thursday 10:30am - 8:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 12pm

Telephone

+17349957200

Website

http://northfieldnatter.blogspot.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Northfield Dog Training posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Northfield Dog Training:

Share

Category