It has always seemed odd to me how few kids are seen attending dog training classes. After all, I trained my first dog all by myself when I was 12 (he only did the important stuff, you know, like shake, speak, roll over, and sit). Still, I loved training my dog and it gave me responsibility; it taught me how to treat another creature with kindness.
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Leah Hatley, CPDT-KA and Justine Schuurmans, CPDT-KA must have felt the same way, because in 2009, the two co-founded The Family Dog, a dog training company that works exclusively with families with young children. Their mission is to create a whole new generation of kids who know how to act around dogs, parents who know exactly what to teach their kids and dogs who are well-adjusted because of it.
For 10 years, the pair of them taught every level of positive dog training classes – from puppy classes to whistle recalls outside in a field and even K9 Nosework.
“But after having kids of our own, we noticed one big problem: training school is great for dogs, but it doesn’t and can’t cater specifically to what families REALLY need,” Hatley says. “Also kids often can’t participate (for obvious reasons: kids drop leashes, not all dogs love kids, insurance… etc), but they are going home and living with their dog 24/7 – without any instruction for the kids OR their parents.”
“So, we threw out our training manual and took a hard look at what families REALLY needed and created a program ESPECIALLY for them!” adds Schuurman. “What we teach and how we teach it now is so different from what we were doing before, and we love the response we’ve been getting!”
And since they are busy moms with school-aged kids, they live this life and can relate to their clients.
Now, they are launching their online programs, so kids and parents everywhere can learn to train their dog at home, around their schedules.
Why Online?
Since there are only two of them, they decided to go online.
“We decided to create an online training program with all of our new family-style training so we could reach families all over the world,” says Hatley. “The program is called Peace, Love, Kids and Dogs and is divided up into three sections: one for the adults, one for the kids and one for the dog – so that everyone can pull their own weight.”
Class Structure
The curriculum focus on either parents, kids, or the entire family each session.
“Typically, the first session will be with the primary care-giver for the dog and that’s where we talk all about what it means to be a puppy parent, the very MOST important things to do in a dog’s life and what to strive for with family interactions with the dog,” Schuurman explains. “This is where we really hold their hands and help them set up everything in their home from the crate to a potty area outdoors to a quiet space for the dog to sleeping and feeding arrangements and all the rest.”
Then, they focus on the kids. Using games, songs and quizzes (to make sure they’ve learned the most important information), the program teaches kids things like how to read a dog’s body language and how to be their dog’s best friend forever. And, of course, children then learn how to train their dog.
The games are things like “Freeze Tag,” which teaches the dog to sit and not jump on kids, and teaches the kids to stop moving if they don’t want to be jumped on and games to teach the dog how to drop things out of their mouth.
“In fact, what the dog learns is actually no different to what he may learn in one of our classes for adults,” says Hatley, “it’s just the way we teach the kids how to do it that’s the unique part!”
Currently, parents can choose either a four or six in-home session package, though they have more options in the works.
Dog Star Club
Dog Star is thier club that is open to everyone. To get in all you need to be is dog-savvy! The DogStars video explains it all: What dogs like, when to stay and when to walk away, how to pet etc… This video is pitched to elementary-school aged kids and is a compliment to the song they created for preschool-aged kids as well – I Speak Doggie.
“We are trying to grow a new generation of kids who REALLY know what their dogs are trying to say and can behave around them in a truly kind and respectful way,” says Hatley.
The Future is Yours to Make
As a trainer, I love this program because we need to make sure future generations have values and understand that they need to care for things other than themselves. With more dogs than every sharing our living spaces, there has never been a better time — or a more critical time — to do this.
Programs like this one will likely help reduce the number of dog bites that happen annually, and will teach kids responsibility and kindness towards animals. We need more programs like this to help end animal abuse – teach them while they are young, people!
About the Author
Based in Wilsonville, Ore., animal lover Kristina N. Lotz is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and works as a full time trainer. She is the founder of A Fairytail House, a unique all-positive all-sport dog training facility that helps rescue dogs in her area and provides free seminars and training classes for the community. In her spare time, she trains and competes in herding, agility, obedience, rally, and conformation with her Shetland Sheepdogs. She smartly married a Veterinary Technician, who helps keep the fur kids happy and healthy, and provides a quick resource for articles.
Toledo, United States.
