This page is still under construction so please excuse the appearance of the parts still to come!
For our most up to date list of classes please visit our upcoming classes page or contact us at info@newenglandk9athlete.com
Agility
Agility is the most popular dog sport in America! Dogs have to complete courses with their owners that include jumps, contact obstacles (A-frame, dog walk, teeter), weaves and more! We offer classes with different goals and have students working towards titles in UKI, AKC, USDAA and more! We now have agility for fun and competition based classes at NEK9A! Instructed by Lauren Kras and April Pelletier. Please contact us to find out more!
Fitness
About the Instructor
April Pelletier
April is the owner of New England K9 Athlete. She is a Certified Veterinary Technologist (CVT), FitPAWS Master Trainer (FP-MT) and Certified Canine Fitness Trainer (CCFT). She started working in canine physical rehab and soon found her passion in canine fitness. She enjoys working with all kinds of dogs from puppies to sport/working dogs to pet dogs to senior dogs and everything in-between!
What is Canine Fitness?
Canine fitness is a great mental and physical outlet for all dogs! Whether you have a puppy, a sport dog, a working dog, a pet dog, or even a senior dog; canine fitness is perfect for your dog. Dogs of any size and ability can partake and gain the benefits from fitness exercises. Canine fitness benefits our dogs physically by building muscle, improving stamina/endurance, improving overall health, increasing flexibility and joint range of motion, and so much more. Not only can we improve the way your dog moves, but these exercises will also work your dog’s mind and help build mental focus.
We offer group classes, drop ins, private lessons, online lessons, fitness plans and fitness evaluations. If you are unsure what the best option is for you dog, feel free to contact us!
Flyball
About the Instructor
April Pelletier
April is the owner of New England K9 Athlete and has been training and competing in the sport of flyball for over 10 years. She has put flyball titles on all 5 of her dogs. She loves the team aspect of flyball but also enjoys the bond it builds between dog and handler. She has a strong focus on safe and thoughtful training in flyball, as well as fitness and cross-training.
What is Flyball?
Flyball got its start in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when a group of dog trainers in Southern California created scent discrimination hurdle racing, then put a guy at the end to throw tennis balls to the dogs when they finished the jump line. It didn't take long for the group to decide to build some sort of tennis ball-launching apparatus, and the first flyball box was born.
Today flyball consists of two teams (both with four dogs) racing down 51 feet over 4 jumps (the jump height is set by the shortest dog on the team), triggering a spring loaded box to retrieve a ball, and then carrying that ball back over the 4 jumps across the start/finish line. The dog coming out (with the ball) and the next dog coming down the lane pass ideally nose-to-nose at the start/finish line. Dogs return to their handlers to either grab a tug or food. Flyball is one of the very few true team sports that exists in dog sports as you need 4 dogs and 4 handlers to a team to race.
Any dog can play flyball from purebred to mixed breed, from tall to short. If you think your dog (and you!) might be interested in flyball training you can enroll in either our Flyball Foundations group class or schedule a private lesson with April.
Click here for an old (but good!) video about flyball.
The two sanctioning bodies of flyball in the US are:
North American Flyball Association
United Flyball League
Competition Obedience
We offer several options for competition obedience training from private lessons to our very popular Sports Obedience group class! Whether it’s simply teaching heeling, polishing up your heeling, or working on various different exercises for different obedience venues; we can help! We break down these exercises into simple steps so you and your dog can be successful! We have dogs working towards titles in AKC, CDSP, mondioring, PSA, French Ring, and more! We can help you decide which venue might best suit you and your dog.
Disc Dog/UpDog
We offer private lessons as well as group drop in practices were we can practices anything from the foundations for disc to specific UpDog games. We host the UpDog Video Games when offered (typically twice a year) indoors at our facility. For more information about updog click here.
Contact us to learn about our current offerings!
Nosework
What is Canine Nose Work?
What is K9 Nose Work®? K9 Nose Work® classes are an opportunity for dogs to utilize their natural hunting instinct and scenting abilities. K9 Nose Work® is designed to be a dog-driven, easily accessible activity. It was designed to embrace most all dogs and give them joy and enrichment and to build confidence and independence. It also helps to develop a stronger dog/handler bond. It is a fantastic opportunity for the human to learn to read what their dogs is telling them about odor movement in the environment.
Use your dogs sense of smell and seeking reflex to learn a fun new activity. Dogs love K9 Nose Work. Humans love it too! It helps deepen your relationship with your dog and provides important mental stimulation.
To learn more about nosework visit the NACSW website: www.nacsw.net
Current Class Offerings
Mondays at 7:15PM
Thursdays at 6PM & 7:15PM
Saturdays at 1PM, 2:15PM & 3:30PM
All classes are currently FULL! Please reach out to us and we can place you on the wait list for a class opening!
About the Instructor
Laura Solod CNWI
We started K9 Nose Work® classes in January 2017 and never looked back. Pixie is a talented search dog and I learned so much along the way. I realized how much I enjoy watching dogs work, and the science of training and decided to pursue my CNWI. I have achieved the designation of Certified Nose Work Instructor with National Association for Canine Scent Work® and trial judge and Chief Search Designer with United States Canine Scent Sports.
I have been a member of NACSW since 2017, and we are currently trialing at the Elite level. Prior to starting on this K9 Nose Work journey with my current Australian Shepherd, I had another Australian Shepherd that enjoyed Agility and Herding, 2 Shiba Inus and a Rottweiler.
Rally Obedience
Rally Obedience is a fun way to work together with your dog completing a course of obedience signs! We offer AKC Rally classes and drop ins! Check out our upcoming classes page for more information about our current offerings!
Dock Diving
What is dock diving?
Dock diving is a sport that consists of dogs jumping off docks into pools! Competition docks are 40ft long and competition pools are 40-50ft long. We have a smaller set up here at NEK9A, however we are still able to get your dog to be successful in the sport! The three main organizations in the Northeast are: Dockdogs, NADD, and UAD. Each has their own rules and “games” within the sport. In general the main disciplines are: distance jumping (measured from the end of the dock to the tail-set or butt of the dog), speed swimming games (timed games to pull a toy off a rig), and suspended rig games (dogs jumping for distance or height to pull a toy off a suspended rig). Our pool is seasonal and only open May-Oct each year where we offer private lessons, rentals, and group classes for everything for swimming to dock diving!
To learn more about our pool click here.
About the Instructor
April Pelletier
April is the owner of New England K9 Athlete and has been training and competing in the sport of dock diving for over 9 years. She has competed in many venues of dock diving and has attended and placed at regional, national and world championships with her dogs. She loves the outdoors and thinks dock diving in the warm summer months outside is the absolute best!
Happy Ratters
The Happy Ratter’s Philosophy – the goal is for the dog and owner to have a fun, positive and successful experience while enhancing the bond between dog and owner, and placing a high priority on safety!
Fun, trusting environment for dogs and their handlers to find vermin(rats) in “urban” settings.
A titling program that allows all dogs to compete toward different level titles.
A program that encourages camaraderie and support between competitors.
“urban” setting: trash bags, boxes and barrels and other items possibly found in a city alley, with the big difference being this is clean trash, new bags with shredded paper, clean boxes, etc.
In this fun sport dogs hunt for rats in tubes! The rats are trained to the tubes (like we train our dogs to their crates) and have an extremely high level of care. We offer intro workshops, run thrus, and trials for happy ratters! Our run thrus and workshops are taught by Happy Ratters judge Marianne Hall!