
Welcome to Class!
Starting Zone: Core
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Module 1: The Reset Ritual
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Attention Games
Build engagement from the ground up! These games focus on offered attention, name value, and checking in — creating a dog who wants to tune in, without needing to nag or repeat yourself.
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Pattern Game Sampler
Start and end your sessions with confidence. Pattern games like Ready to Work and Give Me a Break offer clarity, reduce uncertainty, and give your dog a way to opt in or out of training with ease.
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Module 2: Adolescence and Acclimation
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Calming Cues
Teach your dog what relaxation feels like. These exercises focus on stillness, matwork, body cues, and co-regulation — creating space for your dog to settle and decompress.
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Self Regulation (with help)
Help your dog manage big feelings and big choices. These activities support arousal control, impulse regulation, and frustration tolerance through games that build emotional skills.
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Module 3: Foundations In Motion
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Beginner Class Classics
Sit, down, stay — but with purpose. This module revisits classic cues and helps you teach them in ways that support connection, cooperation, and real-world usefulness.
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Pre-Walking Foundations
Before loose leash walking, we build the habits under it. Knowing how to connect and position ourselves creates smoother, safer outings.
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Module 4: Practical Magic
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The Journey Continues
Meet your instructors
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Meet your instructors ✳
Liz grew up surrounded by animals, and that didn’t change when moving into adulthood. Her first canine companion as an adult was her American Pit Bull Terrier Mouse (Stars and Stones), who inspired everything that would come after. Liz’s proudest achievement remains watching her spicy pittie who couldn’t be around other dogs become Nana Mouse the Puppy Raiser in her old age, before passing at 14.
Mouse’s legacy continues in Liz’s current dogs, Fig (Figueroth Faeth, Yo-Yo vom Wildhaus) the German Shepherd and Riz (Riz Gukgak, Final Frontier’s Roll Charisma) the Chihuahua. These two, as well as multiple boarding dogs and other lesson dogs, are featured throughout Liz’s courses. Look for the pups in the lessons here and in other classes!
Liz lives in Maryland with her wife, Eden, their two children Ryan and Cassidy, and an array of nerd-named animals - in addition to the dogs, Loki and Basil the snakes, Karma and Soot Sprite the cats, and Gorgug (Thistlespring), her son’s crested gecko.
When not training dogs (a rare occurence) Liz is reading fantasy, historical fiction, or romance, listening to podcasts - The Adventure Zone, Worlds Beyond Number and numerous Dimension 20 campaigns are special favorites - or, if she can find a DM, playing D&D.
Course FAQ
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Courses can be taken a few different ways:
Working spots access the prerecorded class, can attend and participate in the weekly Live sessions, as well as share videos and receive review in the WhatsApp group.
Audit spots can still access the class and watch the sessions, as well as ask questions in the WhatsApp group, but won’t receive direct coaching on their practice.
Since you have the prerecorded materials forever, you can always review lessons, print out handouts, or use the resources accessed here!
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Live classes meet once a week for 6 weeks - they’ll be a mixture of Q&A, practice and troubleshooting, with real time feedback and fixes for anywhere the behavior isn’t working.
Watching the Live means accessing that feedback and applying it to your own dog at home, while having some dedicate training time carved out of each week!
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All finished Starting Zone: Core?
Self-led expansion packs are always offered as self-led content, or offered as weekend workshops where you can opt for similar working or audit spots.
You can also check out some of our other online courses and continue developing your training skills, or join Pocket Quests for continual maintenance and growth.
Need some 1×1 work? Sign up for a Session Zero for some comprehensive behavior work, or for a Skill Check to address some quick behavior fixes.