Top Dog Obedience Training

Betsy Scapicchio, owner and training director at Top Dog Obedience School, has been teaching and training dogs successfully for over 30 years. She has worked with many breeds and sizes of dogs, both with her students and her own dogs. Four of her dogs were adopted from shelters or neglectful homes.

Puppy Kindergarten: For puppies eight weeks to five months of age. Don't believe the old cliche which advises waiting until your dog is six months or a year old before starting to train him! Doing so will only lead to a young adult dog with unstructured behavior and many problems which could have been avoided.

Attention and Handling: This class is the foundation for the competition obedience program at Top Dog. All students planning to show their dogs for obedience titles must start here. A six-week course on attention will be presented along with distance attention and attention games. Part of the class each night will be spent without the dog, working on handling and footwork (so please bring a crate or plan to leave your dog in the car for the last 15 minutes of class each week).Competition Puppy Class: This class is for handlers with prior competition experience.

Learn how to get the fundamentals right, so that you can build on success! Take your training to the next level by proofing and polishing your Open and Utility exercises without losing motivation! No accommodations will be made for dogs who are not trained to this level. If your dog isn't ready for this level yet, come as an auditor and learn what you'll need to know so you can be a step ahead! Learn how to teach your dog the Open and Utility exercises for a solid understanding and confident performance.