Real Life Foundations: Holiday Big Feelings
Oroville, California
Dates: October 27, November 3, November 10, and November 17
Time: Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Duration: 4 Weeks
Small Group Format: Limited to 5 dog and handler teams
The holidays bring a lot more activity into our dogs’ worlds. Guests, travel, decorations, disrupted routines, busier environments, food everywhere, and plenty of opportunities for excitement or overwhelm.
Real Life Foundations: Holiday Big Feelings is a 4-week group class designed to help you and your dog build practical skills you can use both during the holidays and long after they are over.
We’ll work on communication, engagement, loose leash walking, neutrality, understanding stress and threshold, place work, polite greetings, settling, and helping your dog make better choices around people, dogs, movement, and busy environments.
Your dog does not need to be reactive to benefit from this class.
This class is a great fit for adolescent dogs, enthusiastic social butterflies, dogs who become easily overstimulated, dogs who struggle to stay connected around distractions, and dogs with mild to moderate big feelings about the world around them.
Tuesday, October 27
Before the Holiday Chaos Hits
We’ll start with communication, engagement, and understanding what your dog is telling you before things start to unravel.
We’ll work on:
Marker training and clearer communication
Engagement around distractions
Reading canine body language
Recognizing stress and arousal
Understanding threshold and trigger stacking
Identifying your dog’s individual triggers
Preventing unwanted behaviors from being rehearsed
Tuesday, November 3
Walking in a Winter... Please Stop Pulling
Holiday outings are much more enjoyable when you are not being dragged through the parking lot.
This week focuses on leash skills, structured movement, and helping your dog stay connected to you while navigating distractions.
We’ll work on:
Loose leash walking
Leash handling skills
Structured movement and changes of direction
Engagement around distractions
Creating appropriate distance
Helping dogs disengage and reconnect
Recognizing when your dog is approaching threshold
Tuesday, November 10
Not Every Invitation Needs an RSVP
Your dog does not need to greet every person, meet every dog, or participate in everything happening around them.
This week is all about neutrality and teaching dogs how to notice the world without feeling responsible for it.
We’ll work on:
Neutrality around dogs, people, and movement
Passing distractions without needing to interact
Handler advocacy
Environmental management
Impulse control
Confidence building
Helping dogs make calmer choices
Tuesday, November 17
Guests, Gravy & Good Decisions
Now we put everything together just in time for Thanksgiving.
We’ll focus on practical skills that can make guests, gatherings, food, excitement, and changes in routine easier for both you and your dog.
We’ll work on:
Place work and settling
Polite greetings
Guests entering the home