Doglando’s 5-Step Adult Dog Learning Journey begins with…

At Doglando, technically, we refer to all dogs under the age of three as puppies. This is because dogs don’t become mature until 18 – 36 months of age, when they reach social maturity. Until then, they are rapidly moving through various phases of their development.

The function of the environment during these phases is critical to the process by which they accumulate experiences, learn, and become.

To be able to design classes that are more relevant to the natural development of dogs, we categorize dogs by age, and refer to dogs who are 8 months and older as “adults.”

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

You’re probably familiar with the term, Temperament Assessment. It’s a tool used by doggy daycares to “test” how safe a dog is among other dogs and in group play.

Typically, tests result in a pass or fail response by the evaluator. Tests are not an indicator of how to better support the dog nor do they give us information about what the dog knows and doesn’t know.

We refer to the above way of conducting an introduction as “flooding”.

Given the definition of the term “Temperament”, it is reasonable to assume that assessments are useful to help determine and interpret a dog’s personality, and more specifically (in our case), we are interested in making connections between the dog’s learning history and experiences he or she has had in the past.

Therefore, at Doglando, we will conduct a functional behavioral assessment, to evaluate or estimate each dog’s ability to enter an experience like Doglando, and the quality of their behavior i.e., how they relate to our world, make sense of it, and where they need further support, guidance, or skills to help them become successful in their transition and to thrive thereafter.

Our assessments are only a guide. It’s a valuable tool that helps us to interpret your dog’s behavioral response based on certain conditions (experiences your dog is likely to have when with us), in a way that is:

• Observable
• Measurable
• We can all remain unambiguous in our interpretation

Using our data, together we will come up with the most ideal path for your dog. Nurturing your dog along their learning journey is very important to us, and we know it is to you as well.

Behavioral Assessments are just $75, and required for every dog over 8 months of age.

Before scheduling a Behavioral Assessment, we require all new members to first take a tour of Doglando’s nature-rich, 6-acre campus.

Meet Your Training Team