Training

At Vickery K9, we believe the best training starts with understanding the dog in front of us. By considering their temperament, motivations, experience, and the goals of the team, we create individualized training plans that set both dog and handler up for success.

Whether you're raising a new puppy, building advanced skills, competing in dog sports, or looking for practical solutions to everyday challenges, our approach emphasizes thoughtful progression, clear communication, and strong foundations. We believe training should create confident dogs, educated handlers, and lasting results, not quick fixes.

Every lesson is designed to meet you where you are and give you the knowledge and skills to continue making progress long after you leave.

Choosing the Right Training Approach

Not sure which option is the best fit? Every dog and every team is different, which means there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best training option depends on your goals, your dog's experience, your schedule, and how you learn best.

In private lessons and group classes, the focus is on teaching you how to train your dog. You'll learn how to build skills, communicate clearly, and work through challenges while your dog learns alongside you. As the handler, you're developing timing, observation skills, and the ability to problem solve and adjust training in real time. Because both you and your dog are learning together, progress depends on consistency, practice, and follow through between sessions.

Virtual coaching offers many of the same benefits as in-person instruction while providing the flexibility to train from anywhere. Whether you're looking for guidance on a specific issue, video review, training plans, sport skills, or ongoing handler support, virtual sessions allow you to receive personalized instruction without needing to be local. For many teams, remote coaching can be just as effective as meeting in person.

Board and train programs provide an alternative approach, with your dog living and training with a professional through consistent, structured work before transitioning those skills back to you. Because this format isn't the best fit for every dog or every training goal, board and train opportunities are offered on a very limited, case by case basis.

Ultimately, the best option depends on your goals, timeline, and preferred level of involvement in the training process. If you're still not sure where to start, we're happy to discuss your goals and recommend the approach that best fits you and your dog.

What We Offer

Obedience, Confidence & Life Skills

Do you wish your dog could settle politely at home, walk confidently through new environments, and become a reliable partner in everyday life? Training begins with the skills that make living together easier: Clear communication, confidence, and a strong foundation.

Whether you're starting from scratch or refining existing skills, we focus on building thoughtful, capable dogs through clear communication and intentional training. That means developing not only practical behaviors, but also confidence, engagement, resilience, and the ability to navigate new situations successfully.

From polite leash walking and recall to impulse control, attention, environmental confidence, and everyday manners, our goal is to create dogs that understand how to learn and handlers who understand how to communicate. Strong foundations don't just solve today's challenges — they make future learning easier, whether your goals are everyday life, dog sports, or simply building a better relationship with your dog.

As those skills develop, training expands into new environments and real world situations so dogs can generalize what they've learned beyond the classroom. For teams interested in formal milestones, training can also support preparation for the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen program, including CGC, Community Canine (CGCA), and Urban CGC (CGCU).

These goals can be pursued through private lessons, group classes, virtual coaching, or, in select cases, board and train. Regardless of the format, the focus remains the same: Building thoughtful, confident teams through clear communication, consistency, and long term success.

Nosework

Nosework is one of the most natural and enriching activities you can do with your dog. By encouraging dogs to use their incredible sense of smell to solve problems independently, Nosework builds confidence, resilience, focus, and a stronger working partnership between you and your dog.

At Vickery K9, our approach to Nosework is influenced by both sport and professional detection, with an emphasis on strong foundations and intentional skill development for both dogs and handlers. Before expecting dogs to solve increasingly difficult odor problems, we focus on building the foundations that make those searches successful: Hunt drive, independence, environmental confidence, problem solving, and clear communication between dog and handler.

Training begins with primary reinforcement, allowing dogs to develop confidence in the search process and learn to hunt with purpose before target odors are introduced. As dogs are learning to search, handlers are developing the observation, timing, and decision making needed to confidently support their dogs. They learn how odor behaves, how to read and interpret their dog's behavior, and how to make intentional handling decisions that complement the dog's work while allowing them to search independently and confidently.

Once those foundations become solid, target odor is introduced and search challenges gradually become more complex. By building one skill at a time, dogs and handlers develop the confidence and understanding needed to tackle increasingly difficult problems together.

Whether you're introducing your dog to Nosework for the first time, looking for a fun and enriching activity, preparing for competition, or refining advanced skills, training is tailored to you and your goals. Private lessons, group classes, and virtual coaching provide flexible options for teams at every stage of their journey.