"Bonding with Your Dog"

Dear Dog Friend,

Hello - this is Mogens Eliasen with an invitation to you and your dog. If the two of you would like to improve your relationship, read on! Would you like to get some practical insights in how you can build your relationship with your dog - on the dog's terms, but under your control? It starts with your understanding things from the dog's point of view - and I promise that is is fun when you do - for both you and the dog.

What you get from participating in such an Introduction Course?

THIS:

A total of 6 lessons (2½-3 hours each) where you will learn about the ways your dog can learn - and what it takes for it to bond with you. We will use the theories in practice - by instructing you how to use the principles in practical reality between you and your dog.

There are many small daily opportunities (thousands!) for you to use what you will learn - and every single one of them will compound the effect of strengthening the bonding between you and the dog. You need to identify them - and exploit them. You do not need to spend a lot of extra time on this. You really only need to spend the time you have in a wiser way, so it gives both you and your dog the maximum enjoyment.

Obedience training is about restricting the dog's natural behaviors and make it conform to some human robotic standards that do not make much sense for the dog. I do not blame neither you nor your dog for being bored with that kind of training...

I prefer to show you how you can develop the dog's natural behaviors into something that is both fun and possibly useful - but most certainly meaningful for both the dog and you!

I want your dog to get the job it did not even dare to dream about - and I want you to enjoy being the boss... "Bonding with Your Dog" will give you a serious head-start on that.

The Introduction Course "Bonding with Your Dog" is an opportunity for you to understand your dog better - and make yourself more understandable also for the dog. It is your opportunity to learn to use some very practical skills in regard to training, so that you can use the training for all kin of practical purposes and have it contribute also to a much improved relationship between you and your dog.

For sure, you will also learn a lot about what you can do to improve your training methodology. During the practical training, you "get it into your blood", and you will have a much better understanding of how you should train your dog.

Oh yeah, both you and your dog will learn some practical and useful skills too... maybe we will also find a few solutions to some of the problems you might have with your dog - or your dog with you... J

We will not train any standard disciplines, like competitive obedience or agility, but we will concentrate on useful exercises that make sense, both for you and your dog. These exercises include:

• Useful Command Performance Exercises (what all dogs should learn...). These include:

  • Returning to handler when called
  • Staying on a spot till released
  • Fetching a toy on command
  • Letting go of an object

• General Manners (effective control of the dog in common and relevant situations where you will need it). These include:

  • Dress for walk" (getting collar on)
  • Don't pull on the leash
  • Disentangling the leash
  • Walking ahead/behind
  • Avoiding obstacles
  • Peeing/pooping on command
  • Greeting without jumping

• Mental Stimulation (teaching you to teach your dog to solve problems that take brain work...). These include:

  • Finding hidden treats and toys
  • Playing with a toy - with respect for the rules

We will further dig into how you can curb/reverse unacceptable behaviors, and how you can use these exercises to create small daily rituals that will consolidate your leadership. And, sure, we will constantly pick up on interpreting the dog's body language and how your behavior impacts the dog.

There are three ways of arranging the logistics of this course:

1. As an evening course, one lesson per day/evening, 1-2 lessons per week, over a 3-6 week period.

2. As a 2½-day course - starting with an evening and a full day and then a full day and an evening, with 1-3 weeks between the two two full days of practical training.

3. As private lessons. For more on this, please go to this page for details.

For a complete course description, including specific generic schedule, objectives, contents, and testimonials from past student, in a form that is easy to print, please open this new browser window.

In order for you to get value out of this kind of training, you must have an open mind and a dog you love. My training is not "main-stream" or "standard" in any other way than mine... I need you to have a desire for being in control of your dog - on the dog's terms of communication.

But, other than that, what kind of dog you bring along, and what kind of person you are, matters less, as long as both you and the dog are reasonably friendly....

Some courses are open for everybody, also new students with little or no experience as dog trainers. Other courses are exclusively for former students of mine. Please check the Course Overview for details on courses that are currently available.

Courses will only run with a minimum of 5 students and a maximum of 8 per instructor for the practical work.

You should be aware that the training will be based on your having watched the video "The Dog's Social Behavior" or in another way acquired a solid understanding of how the dog's social instincts work and are connected with its behavior and fundamental needs (for instance through personal training in the past with me or with Human Dog Leadership Inc. or K9joy - no other training counts, no matter where you got it or whom you got it from).

I further recommend that you are well prepared in terms of Dog Language. We will constantly refer to what you can read from the dog's body language, and how you should respond. Anders Hallgren's little book "The ABC's of Dog Language" is a great overview of what you should know - and it is a nice reference to bring along.

Most of the Introduction Courses Courses are in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada's Pacific Province - but they can be wherever else we can arrange it!

The specific locations will vary. Please check the Course Overview for details. If you would like to host a course somewhere close to you, then please contact us with your suggestion or inquiry. If you have a group of 6-8 people, a place where we can stay, not too far from some terrain where we can train, then we can do it! You may check out this page to get an idea of the practical and financial requirements.

Training will generally be outdoors, in the forest, preferably in shady forest terrain whenever possible. Crown land or State Forest is great to use. There is enough of it - we do not get disturbed by other people - it gives shade for the dogs. As long as it is not too dense or the terrain too steep and dangerous. For this course, we can also do the training on a parking lot though! As long as we can work undisturbed.

Remember, we can also do private lessons! If you live close to Creston, BC, or are willing to pay for my travel, or are OK coming to Creston for the lessons, then we can certainly arrange that. Please check this page for further detals on this.

The specific cost of an Introduction Course depends on where it is held. My travel and accommodation costs are included in the price, so you get the lowest price when we can do the camps almost in "my backyard" or in conjunction with other activities, like a Camp Course....

The price you pay for the tuition depends on how many people and/or dogs you bring along for the training. You pay "one ticket" per nose, regardless the species of those noses. This means:

• One person with one dog is two tickets.

• One person in good shape with two dogs is three tickets.

• One person in extremely good shape with three dogs is four tickets.

• Two people with one dog in good shape is three tickets.

I will not allow more than two people to train one dog. It is too confusing and exhausting for the dog. So, if you are a family of two adults and three mature kids, then you have to pick the two that will train. They can then pass on the teachings to the others later but not during the course, not even during "off time"! It would be too much for the dog.

Please take into account that most people get fairly exhausted during the week - from training just one dog... So, bringing more than three dogs along is a no-no, even if you only want to train two or three of them. Unless you also bring a friend that can take care of the dogs when you are too tired.

The current ticket prices vary, depending on the location of the course (and my travel costs), but they are in the range $100-150 per ticket. This means that, for you and one dog, the total tuition will be in the range of US$200-300. You need to add your accommodation costs to this (one night, maybe two, if the course is run over 2½ days) - but you are not obliged to stay at any of the recommended/suggested locations. If you can make private arrangements, you are welcome. Most courses are arranged at locations where accommodation is available at reasonable prices - in fact, there is no point in staying at luxury hotels when we are going to be out working with the dog all day anyway!

The price for people who have trained with me in the past is a little less per ticket - the discount reflecting our expectations of my previous students remembering at least some of what they have learned... J

P.S. If you like the idea of this kind of training so much that you would like to spend a full week on a camp course with me, you should check out http://k9joy.com/dogtraining/campcourses.php - on such a full-week course, we can dig into a lot of extra stuff that is impossible to teach diligently in only two days....

To sign up for an Introduction Course, you will need to pay one ticket up front as a deposit with your registration, paying for yourself.

The other ticket (or tickets) must be paid when you are requested to do so, yet no later than a full week before start. You can simply pay once again, by following the exact same procedure, this time paying for your dog, or confirming your participation. Please use the upper link for your first payment and the lower link for the next payment(s).

The deadline will be the latest day we decide the course's fate. If too few people are signed up, the course will get cancelled, and those who made a deposit will get they money back immediately. In the moment we get enough people to make it worth the while running the course, you will be immediately notified, so you can prepare the travel. So, if you miss that crucial deadline, you could very well become the reason for the camp course being cancelled!

Remember: each payment counts as one ticket - one for you, one for your dog. First ticket is your deposit/reservation. You do not need to pay the balance until we confirm that the course will run. This will happen immediately we received the critical minimum number of deposits, yet no later than the announced deadline (see below).

We will take the sign-up link down as soon as we either filled up or cancelled the course. If the link is still available after the deadline, we might still have room for you - you will be notified immediately when you pay.

For details about the terms and conditions for participating, including our full money-back guarantee, please check out

Conditions and terms

To book your spot, please select from the following options, choosing your dates and indicating if you have trained with me before or not:

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