Train your own dog. Become your own team.
We're an owner-trained dog school in North Riding. Whether you're starting with a puppy, in need of obedience training, training your own service dog or therapy dog, dog and handler learn and graduate together, weekend by weekend, at the pace of real life.
WHY TRAIN YOUR OWN SERVICE DOG / THERAPY DOG
The dog isn't the only one who graduates.
Acquiring an already trained dog means it follows commands. A dog you raise learns to read you, and you learn what you're capable of.
Your dog senses the slightest changes in your body movements and or biochemistry.
The shift in your hands before the anxiety peaks, the knee that taps differently when you're unsteady: a dog raised alongside you catches what a dog placed at age two never learned to notice.
We train you to train your dog.
Every small win is proof you did something right. By the time you qualify together, the change in the handler is the part that surprises people most.
The bond does the work.
Trust is built over the long road, and it's the trust, not the trick, that makes a dog show up when it counts.
THE GAP
Most dog schools weren't built for a working life.
Three patterns we watched fail the handlers we most wanted to help.
The price or the wait to obtain a qualified service dog.
A ready-trained dog is out there, but at a price very few people can afford. The other route is a waiting period for a dog a stranger trains, that comes home bonded to them, not to you. And you needed the help long before then.
Inboard training.
Inboard training never works. You have qualified instructors teaching your dog commands and handling methods that you have not learnt. They show you what your dog can do after the agreed time, yet you cannot and will not be able to get your dog to behave in the same way. YOU have to learn how to handle your dog.
We do not offer short-cuts.
We do not offer time limited courses. No 6-week Puppy foundation classes, 3-month Therapy Dog training classes, etc. We offer solid training, based on your individual dog and the effort you put into training your dog. There is no time limit, no 3-month deal. It is a month-to-month training programme, designed to work with the dog you have and ensuring you get what you signed up for.
HOW WE WORK
You handle. We coach.
You stay, your dog stays, and the work happens in your hands, with us right next to you for the whole process.
You handle. We coach.
Every class is you working your own dog, with us right next to you. We do not hand over qualified dogs or offer to train and qualify your dog on your behalf.
Weekends, on purpose.
Saturday 11h00 - 15h00, Sunday 08h00 - 12h00, built for handlers who work Monday to Friday.
Qualifications that hold up.
The KUSA Canine Good Citizen ladder, real public-access work for service dogs, and an honest referral to a behaviourist when a case calls for one.
PROGRAMMES
There's a programme for every dog.
From a vaccinated puppy to a qualified service dog. Choose your starting point.
Puppy
Get the basics right and shape the rest of their lives.
Max 8 · Level 1 R800/mo (CGC incl.) · Level 2 R600/mo · Vaccinated first
Obedience
Personalised Obedience programs breed and temperament related. Giving your dog the best life it can live.
Max 10 · R600/mo · Weekend classes
KUSA (Kennel Union of South Africa) Puppy, Bronze, Silver and Gold
The KUSA certificate that gets your dog into complexes and cafés.
Max 10. Have to be combined with obedience classes to assure necessary level of obedience
Therapy
A calm, bomb-proof dog to take to retirement village frail care centres, hospitals, to visit frail care patients, terminal patients, oncology patients whilst receiving chemo, renal failure patients whilst receiving dialysis, psychologists to assist with their consultations. For social workers... the options are numerous.
Max 10 · R1,300/mo all-in · R350/hr + R180 arena assessment
Service
Train your own service dog, weekend by weekend, over the long road.
Max 10 · R1,300/mo all-in · R350/hr + R180 arena assessment
Reactive
Individual programs tailored to the specific needs of the dog.
Max 3 · R600/session + arena · Call to arrange
THE HONEST PART
What we won't do.
Where a school draws its lines tells you who it really is.
No protection or attack work.
If a dog has any protection-training history, it can't join the Service programme. Non-negotiable.
No three-month service dogs.
Real public access is built weekend by weekend, over the long road. Anything faster is a sales pitch.
No guide-dog training.
That's specialist work. The Blind Dog Association is who you want.
No dogs with a history of reactivity or aggression toward people.
It's Vitozol's rule and we enforce it. We'll help you find a behaviourist who can take it on.
No reactive bookings online.
Those come straight to Diane, so we can keep classes to three dogs and get it right.
No time-limited courses.
No 6-week Puppy foundation classes, 3-month Therapy Dog training classes, and so on. We offer solid training, based on your individual dog and the effort you put into training your dog. There is no time limit, no 3-month deal. It is a month-to-month training programme, designed to work with the dog you have and ensuring you get what you signed up for.
GETTING STARTED
Three steps from first message to first class.
No forms into the void: a real person comes back to you.
Apply.
Start with a short online form. The Service form asks a little more (a recent doctor's letter and a vet fitness certificate), and either way Diane replies in person.
Assess.
Therapy and Service handlers come in for a Saturday assessment at Vitozol (R350 per hour + R180 arena rental) so we can meet you and your dog and make sure the programme fits. Puppy and Obedience handlers send the form and Diane confirms your class day and time.
Train.
Weekly classes, Saturday or Sunday, the same trainer the whole way. Between classes we send you what to work on at home, so the training carries through your week.
PRICING
From R600 a month. The whole price, on the page.
Monthly billing, no upfront ransom, and nothing that locks you in.
Therapy and Service assessments are arranged after Diane reviews your request; you'll get a private booking link.
"We bill monthly because we want you to stay because you want to, not because you've paid for two years upfront."
SHORT ANSWERS
Three questions we get before most people book.
The quick versions. The full FAQ is one click down.
Can my reactive dog come to a class?
Usually yes, just never through an online form. Call Diane and we'll arrange the slot together, prepay the arena, and keep it to three dogs so the work stays safe for everyone.
Can you make my dog a service dog in three months?
No, and no honest school will promise that. How long it takes depends on you and your dog; Diane will give you an honest picture at the assessment.
What happens if I miss a class?
Make it up for just the arena rent, with no training fee on top. And if a hard month means you can't come at all, tell us; we won't charge you for a month you couldn't use.
WHEN YOU'RE READY
You. Your dog. One team.
Bring them on a Saturday or Sunday, and we'll take it from there.
Reactive enquiries: please call rather than book online.