Frequently Asked Questions.
Classes
Where Do You Hold Our Classes?
700 E Mountain Rd, Guilford, VT 05301
Please exercise caution on the narrow, winding dirt road to the facility.
Stay alert while navigating to safely reach your class!
Due to the nature of the road, during winter months or heavy rain there is a high chance for cancellation or rescheduling of classes at the facility.
We will inform you as soon as we know via email if the road is safe for travel.
How Do You Figure Class Rates?
I set my prices in order to allow me to provide quality care to small groups. The majority of my classes are limited to 4 working teams. I am passionate about emphasizing quality over quantity for the owners who sign up for my classes.
This pricing also ensures that if you are the only one signed up for the class I can still run it for you and your dog.
Do You Work With Aggressive Dogs?
At this point in time Finn does not work with dogs who have a bite history or severe levels of reactivity that can quickly turn into bites.
Everyone has different areas of skill that they do best in and they recognize that that is not their skill set.
Finn is willing to sit down and have a consultation to figure out if your dogs reactivity falls outside of their skill set and will recommend trainers or veterinary behaviorists that would be better suited to help you and your dog.
Do You Go To Clients Homes For Training?
At this point in time I am not taking on any in-home clients. Please check out our resources tab to see what trainers I recommend that do offer in-home sessions.
Day School
What Requirements Are There?
Rabies
Bordetella (Kennel Cough)
Distemper
A Negative Fecal Every 6 Months
To Be On Flea/Tick Preventative
We STRONGLY recommend the following vaccines as well due to the nature of our day school. We spend a lot of time outside where these things can be contracted.
Leptospirosis
Lyme
Can My Dog Come Anytime?
Although your dog can come any days you would like, we do require that all dogs be on a set schedule for minimally a month at a time. Why do we have this requirement in place?
First we map out all of our pick up routes far in advance for the most efficient travel time. To make sure our maps are accurate we need to know who will be where on what days.
Second, we need to make sure we have enough space at our facility and that your dog has friends on that day. When we have dogs come regularly we know who they play best with and don't have to always introduce dogs together which when done properly happens over multiple sessions. Dogs don't need a ton of friends, just a handful of really good ones!
Third, because this is a training day care first, we want to be able to plan and track your dogs training skills. When we know they are coming we can better plan their training time over multiple sessions.
How Many Dogs Will My Dog Play With?
That truly depends on your dog!
Some dogs love everyone and play very well so are able to be in multiple groups. Some dogs play in a way that only a handful of dogs enjoy and will play back in appropriate ways. We try and accommodate all the dogs who come to care to have at least a couple of friends to play with.
If your dog is struggling to have any friends to safely play with we will discuss what next steps are available for your dog.
Not all dogs enjoy playing with dogs the same way, some would rather hike side by side or not interact at all. That's okay!
We are able to have about 15 dogs at our facility at a time.
What Skills Will My Dog Learn?
We rotate each month a new skill and a new trick for the dogs to work on learning.
Skills include things like: recall, loose leash walking, polite greeting, stay and more.
Tricks include: Sit pretty, spin, crawl, roll over and much more!
General training we offer includes working on helping your dogs be more comfortable with handling, brushing, and nail trims. We work on dogs feeling confident in the face of something new. Going under, around and over novel objects to help dogs feel less stress when presented with new things.
We also take into account the things your own dog might need support in like relaxing between play groups or staying focused during training!
What About Enrichment?
We focus on species appropriate behaviors for our different enrichment opportunities. Each month we have a special theme we focus our enrichment around. This can include social time, chewing, mental stimulation, relaxation, licking, sniffing, foraging, digging and more.
We figure out your dog’s preferred enrichment and make sure they have opportunities to engage in those things as well as the special monthly enrichment items.