Training That Meets You Where You Are
At Follow My Lead, our group classes are designed to grow with you and your dog — from puppy foundations to advanced skills. Whether your goal is better manners at home, confidence in public, or preparation for performance, our progressive class pathways give you clear next steps, real-world skills, and supportive instruction every step of the way.
How Our Classes Are Structured
At Follow My Lead, our group classes are designed as progressive pathways that grow with you and your dog. Each level builds on the last, helping you develop clearer communication, better handling skills, and more reliable behaviors in real-world situations.
Whether you’re raising a young puppy, polishing everyday manners, preparing for competition, or looking to deepen specific skills, our four class pathways make it easy to find the right next step for your training goals.
→ Beginner Classes ←
Puppy Head Start
AKC STAR Puppy Testing
available at completion
8 weeks│ $200
Our Puppy Head Start class sets young puppies up for success in real life by building foundational skills, confidence, and clear communication. In addition to core obedience, we focus on socialization, potty training support, behavior troubleshooting, and engaging learning games to make training fun and effective.
Covered Skills:
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Sit, Down, Stay
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Loose Leash Walking
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Recall
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Leave It
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Place
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Potty Training Support
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Socialization
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Luring & Targeting
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Cooperative Care
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Supervised Separation
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Greeting Manners
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Engagement Games
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…and more
Basics & Beyond
8 weeks│ $200
Basics & Beyond builds on your dog’s foundational skills while strengthening everyday manners and real-world reliability. This class refines obedience, improves impulse control, and introduces practical life skills such as polite greetings, doorway manners, cooperative care, and thoughtful disengagement from distractions.
Covered Skills:
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Sit, Down, Stay
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Loose Leash Walking
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Recall
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Leave It (Food, Non-Food, Dogs, and People)
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Luring & Targeting
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Cooperative Care
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Greeting Manners
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Doorway Manners
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Engagement Games
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Disengagement Games
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…and more
→ Intermediate Classes ←
The Next Level
CGC Testing
available at completion
8 weeks│ $225
The Next Level is a progressive step up from Basics & Beyond, focusing on precision, reliability, and performance under distraction. This class strengthens core skills while introducing hand signals, polished heel work, longer stays, and formal handling skills such as Stand for Exam.
Covered Skills:
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Straight Sits and Downs with Distractions
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Stay with Distance and Duration
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Leave It (Dropped and Moving Objects)
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Heel Work
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Hand Signals
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Stand for Exam
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…and more
Rein It In!
8 weeks│ $250
Rein It In! focuses on emotional regulation, impulse control, and practical home-management skills to help your dog stay calm, thoughtful, and manageable in real life. This class teaches dogs how to settle, refocus, and disengage from distractions while giving handlers clear tools for preventing and managing common household challenges.
Covered Skills:
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Place
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Settle
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Leave It (Food, Non-Food, Dogs, People, Dropped Items, and Moving Objects)
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Doorway Manners
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Greeting Manners
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Loose Leash Walking
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Engagement Games
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Disengagement Games
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Home-management strategies
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…and more
→ Advanced Classes ←
Alphabet Soup Beginner
On-going│ $75/month
Alphabet Soup Beginner is designed to build a solid foundation for success in AKC programs by polishing everyday manners, improving focus, and boosting confidence. This class introduces key competition skills while strengthening teamwork between dog and handler in a structured, supportive environment.
Covered Skills:
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Canine Good Citizen (CGC) core skills
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Canine Good Citizen Advanced (CGCA) preparation
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Trick Dog Novice & Intermediate tricks
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Virtual Home Manners (VHM)
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Beginner Novice Obedience heeling and stays
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Rally Novice introduction
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Household manners
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Focus and engagement games
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…and more
Alphabet Soup Advanced
On-going│ $75/month
Alphabet Soup Advanced is designed for teams who already have a strong foundation and are ready to sharpen precision, consistency, and teamwork. This class refines advanced skills, strengthens reliability under distraction, and prepares handlers and dogs for higher-level AKC titles in real-world and competition environments.
Covered Skills:
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Rally Novice polishing
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Rally Intermediate & Advanced coursework
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Canine Good Citizen Urban (CGCU)
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Novice Obedience (CD) foundations
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Advanced heeling
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Fronts and finishes
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Group stays
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Jump work
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Proofing in public spaces
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…and more
Socially Savvy Canine
CGCA & CGCU Testing
available at completion
6 weeks│ $250
This class meets in a variety of real-world locations to help your dog stay focused, polite, and manageable around everyday distractions. You’ll practice skills in semi-controlled environments so your dog learns how to make good choices in public while you build confidence as a handler.
Covered Skills:
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Loose leash walking around distractions
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Impulse control and emotional regulation
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Redirecting unwanted behaviors
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Polite greetings with people and dogs
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Sit, Down, and Stay in real-world settings
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Settling in public spaces (e.g., cafés, parks)
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Mat work with distance, duration, and distractions
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Practical home and public-space management strategies
→ Other Classes and Workshops ←
Tackling Reactivity
4 weeks│ $300 Working│ $175 Audit
This class builds the foundational skills and handling tools needed to better support dogs who struggle with arousal or mild reactivity. It is not a behavior-modification or problem-solving class — instead, it focuses on giving you practical strategies you can use consistently in everyday life.
Covered Skills:
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Emergency behaviors
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Foundational skills
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Home management strategies
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Impulse control
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Relevant obedience skills
Training techniques introduced:
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Redirection
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Disengagement
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Counter-conditioning
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Handler focus and timing
E-Collar Conditioning
6 weeks│ $350
E-Collar Conditioning is designed to improve communication, reliability, and off-leash control through clear, fair, and consistent training. This class teaches you how to use the e-collar correctly as a communication tool — not as punishment — by pairing low-level stimulation with known commands in a structured, progressive way. By the end of the course, you’ll have greater clarity, better timing, and a dog who responds confidently both on and off leash.
Covered Skills:
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Understanding e-collar mechanics
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Proper fit and placement
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Pairing with known commands
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Low-level conditioning
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Reliable recall
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Transition from leash to off-leash
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Timing and clear communication
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Working through distractions
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Confidence building for dog and handler
Conformation Handling
On-going│ $10
Conformation Handling is a skill-building class focused on teaching both dogs and handlers the fundamentals of the show ring. This is a structured training class — not a Show & Go. We break down handling mechanics, build confidence, and develop clear communication so teams are prepared to present their dogs thoughtfully and effectively.
Covered Skills:
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Free stacking
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Hand stacking
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Examination skills (table or ground, as appropriate)
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Gaiting and ring patterns
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Ring etiquette and sportsmanship
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Handler mechanics and timing
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Building focus and engagement in a ring environment
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Managing distractions and ring pressure