Higher Education
Higher Education Program – Advanced In-Home Dog Training
Designed for dogs and handlers ready to pursue advanced specialization beyond foundational and elective training.
Advance training for dogs intended to act as Therapy or Service dogs, providing qualified assistance to their owner, or dogs with a future as a working dog offering service to the community.
The Higher Education Program is for teams seeking advanced development in specialized skills, performance reliability, or working-dog pathways. Training builds on Elementary Foundations, focusing on precision, consistency, and real-world application in your home and working environments. Training is customized with the introduction of advanced skills while continuing to improve upon the dog's initial foundation in basic obedience. Along with the introduction to new skills with the focus on public access under a variety of situations and circumstances in line with the dog and owner’s training objectives.
Every week’s training is personalized to guide you and your dog toward the goals you set at the start of training.
Call and talk directly with a trainer for any your questions you have or contact us to discuss your specific needs in training your dog to a higher skill level.
This course is for the Dog that goes
Above and Beyond
The Lord Blessed Humanity with capable dogs of Service
K9 Academics helps them achieve that service with advanced training.
970-576-0873
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Higher Education May Include:
Advanced obedience reliability
Precision handling and communication
Specialized skill development
Environmental proofing
Task refinement
Performance consistency
-Service dog training.
* Hearing ear
* Mobility
* Emotional Support
* Other
This level is designed to meet the specialized needs of owners.
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Variable based on handler’s needs and dog’s current proficiency of training coupled with the difficulty of new skills required to preform.
We offer packaged sessions as well as militance, and performance criteria sessions.
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Higher Education training is customized based on individual goals and specialization needs. Pricing is determined by training focus, session requirements, and travel.
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Dogs must have completed Elementary Foundations and appropriate —or demonstrate equivalent skills—before entering Higher Education.
Together, we’ll continue developing the skills and communication needed
for long-term success.
Common Questions
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Puppies young and dogs old will enjoy training. While I admit it is easier to train a puppy than an older dog, all dogs will learn and benefit with training.
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No, all training is individualized to your dogs needs physically and mentally according to your training goals. However, your dog will receive socialization in real life situations building confidence and skills you can be proud of.
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Head Start and Elementary meet at your home, or other agreed upon location for the first and second session. Sessions Three thru Eight meet locally based on your training goals and your dog’s progress each week.
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Sessions are one hour in length and held weekly at the same time.
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I am always here to help you. Most of the time I can help you over the phone but if necessary I am happy to help with an in person refresher. Clients are encouraged to reach out if they have trouble day or night.
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Don’t rush out and buy anything. At the first session I will offer you suggestions and ideas that fit your dog’s needs. Also at the first session I will provide you with some treats to reward your dog and a pouch to hold those treats. Later you will need more treats and occasionally suggested training equipment but I try to keep equipment to a minimum.
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Missed sessions are non-refundable. If you inform me of an anticipated absence prior to the first session I am able to fix my schedule around your absence and you will not miss any sessions. I do understand emergencies and will accommodate you as well as possible. However, I often have future clients waiting for an open time slot to begin their training and I am not able to adjust those times.
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Yes, there are two ways to handle this: One is I help you train both dogs at a discounted rate with sessions being an hour and a half in length. Or two, which ever dog is giving you the most trouble training that is the dog I help you with in our training sessions. Between sessions you can work both dogs and yes I am willing to offer suggestions that can help you with both dogs. Note: If you have a fearful dog training is very different and I recommend you focus on only the fearful dog for training.
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This one is harder to answer. While I am happy to have family participate in sessions the actual training is best done by one person initially. What I recommend is one family member begin the training to allow the dog to learn, cause learning is hard, then about two weeks later the rest of the family can participate in the actual training of the dog.
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I accept cash or check. Any other form of payment needs to be preapproved. Do to the high cost of third party platforms I am not able to accept credit cards, nor PayPal and Venmo.
I do offer slip payments with half the total cost of the course due at session one and the other half of the cost due session three.
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It is best to call or email to book training sessions. I do my best to accommodate your busy life and offer sessions in the morning, daytime, and evenings, Mondays thru Saturdays. Once you are scheduled each weekly session will meet on the same day of the week at the same time.
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Yes, however there is a lot of benefit in training in different locations. We can use different areas around your neighbor as training sites if necessary.
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At the end of each session I will suggest skills you and your dog can work on for the coming week. If you work with your dog a few times each day for about 10 minutes each training session that will be enough for you and your dog to be successful. More often each day is always good too but much longer is not always better. During the course I do not limit you or your dog to a set of specific skills, the better you and your dog do the more advanced skills I can teach you during the eight weeks. Training is meant to be fun for both of you.
All K9 Academics Dog Training Courses
After completing Higher Education, clients can further their enjoyment with their dog with our Elective training — learn more.

