Beginner

Obedience

The Beginner's Class is for dogs over six months of age. By the time a dog has been in a home for several months most people have started some basic training.  However, many times repeated commands are used and the dog gets into the habit of obeying when and if it wants to. And, bad habits like mouthing (biting) and jumping on people have ceased to be viewed as cute! In the Beginner's class we take you back to the beginning and start retraining your dog to obey commands when they are given. In doing this, your dog begins to respect you as the alpha of your household and learns appropriate ways to interact instead of demanding your attention by jumping on you or chewing on your hands.

We start out with positive methods, including food and praise. Once your dog knows what you expect of him there is a mild correction phase to reinforce the fact that his/her obeying is not optional!  We cover the basic commands: sit, sit stay, down, down stay, walking on a leash without pulling and start the recall. We also offer solutions for mouthing/biting, jumping on people, digging, barking, jumping on counters and almost every other problem that is common to having a dog in your house.

I usually do the Beginner's course. My name is Mary Dependahl and dogs have been my vocation and my avocation all my life. I was a state licensed Animal Health Technician in Missouri for many years before moving to this area in the mid eighties.

For the last twenty years I have been a professional All Breed Groomer and have bred and shown Champion Doberman Pinscher's under the prefix Ravenswoods. I taught Conformation show training for many years and have finished many Champions in a number of Breeds.

Several years ago I started doing Obedience classes to help people get started off on the right foot with their dogs. Having a well trained dog is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Having a dog can be one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have. Having a dog that destroys your possessions and knocks over your children and guests can be one of the worst.

Some of my Champions include:

Ch Ravenswoods Ever Ready	Ch Ravenswoods Fast Break, CD, ROM
Ch Ravenswoods Brushfire, CD ROM	Ch Ravenswoods WWW Dot COM, UDT, MX, MXJ
Ch Ravenswoods Inquisitive	Ch Ravenswoods Excitress, CD
Ch Ravenswoods Different Story, UDT, ROM	Ch Ravenswoods Sweet Ms Behavin', UCD, ROM
Ch Ravenswoods High Performance, UDT, ROM	Ch Ravenswoods Rebel Rouser, CD, ROM

I hope you'll give us a chance to prove why we are one of the oldest dog Obedience training centers in the area.

Thank you,

Mary D