The Spirited Dog

03/31/2022

Hey there!!! The weather this weekend should be nice enough to start some spring training outside!

Jump Commitment

Saturday April 2 10-12
Most people call this skill distance work but it actually is more about asking your dog to perform a task and then trusting they will perform that task. This should enable the handler to leave early enough to show the dog the next task in a timely manner. The mantra for this session is “It is not how fast you can run but how soon you can leave”. This session is open to all levels and ages of dogs and much of the work shown here can be done at home with minimal equipment.

Session limited to 8 teams
Session runs for 2 hours
Session cost is $70

***Students who have been working on this with me already will be able to take the exercises to the next step!***

Email me at [email protected] for your spot!

03/26/2022

IF BORDER COLLIES COULD WRITE THEIR OWN TEENAGE DIARIES...

03/21/2022

Keep an eye out for up coming weekend workshops!!!

04/05/2021

CALLING ALL PUPPIES!!!!!

Perfect Puppies Workshop

Laying the Foundation for Confidence and Optimism

In this session we will provide a safe and interesting environment to expose your puppy to new situations handled in such a way as to build confidence and resilience!

All exercises are games to make your puppy more confident around surfaces, sounds, and touch, building a puppy that is well versed in dealing with changes in their environment.

Some games are
Pool Party
Cardboard Chaos
Surface paradise
Novelty party
And more……

Your puppy will get to work on fun stuff in a new setting! They will perform these challenges in a safe and positive environment!

Where: Team Spirit Agility in Arvada
When: Friday April 30 from 6-7:30
Cost: $40 per team

Puppies may range in age from 8 weeks to 6 months. If you have an older puppy in need of this work let us know and we will see what we can do for you!

Masks must be worn at all times!!!

Email me at [email protected] to register. Please include your puppies age and breed in your email!

Nicole Levesque

Nicole has been teaching agility foundations for almost 20 years, and is well versed in teaching agility skills from a wide variety of methods and systems.

Emily Heitzmann KPA CTP

Emily is the Supervisor for the Humane Society's Puppy Club, a daycare program dedicated to positive puppy socialization.

11/10/2020

OPTIMISM

PROXIMITY

Perfect Puppies Workshop Series

Session 1 Laying the Foundation for Confidence and Optimism

In this session we will provide a safe and interesting environment to expose your puppy to new situations handled in such a way as to build confidence and resilience!

All exercises are games to make your puppy more confident around surfaces, sounds, and touch, building a puppy that is well versed in dealing with changes in their environment.

Some games are
Noise Box
Cardboard Chaos
Knock em over
Surface paradise
Novelty party
And more……

We will have two groups of 5, each working with social distancing in mind by using both Building A and Building B and switching groups mid workshop. Your puppy will get to work on fun stuff in two new settings! Each group will perform at least 3 new challenges in a safe and positive environment!

Where: Team Spirit Agility in Arvada
When: Friday November 13 from 7:00-8:30
Cost: $40 per team

Puppies may range in age from 8 weeks to 6 months. If you have an older puppy in need of this work let us know and we will see what we can do for you!

Masks must be worn at all times!!!

Email me at [email protected] to register. Please include your puppies age and breed in your email!

Nicole Levesque

Nicole has been teaching agility foundations for almost 20 years, and is well versed in teaching agility skills from a wide variety of methods and systems.

Emily Heitzmann KPA CTP

Emily is the Supervisor for the Humane Society's Puppy Club, a daycare program dedicated to positive puppy socialization.

08/26/2020

When there is a strong connection, the feeling is magical!

05/03/2020

Thanks Grete Mortley!

She nominated me to the Hounds of Heck program to support instructors who have been affected by the CoVid-19 shut downs.

https://www.houndsofheck.com/nominations

Grace Heck has been supporting nominated instructors by selling T-shirts from her online store, accepting donations, and offering goods and items donated by local businesses. She also has a really nice blog page!

https://www.houndsofheck.com/store

Thanks Grace for supporting all of us.

Nicole

Thank you for nominating an instructor! We’ll reach out and make sure they are comfortable being included, then add them to our nominees list.

05/01/2020

Sharing The Spirited Dog love at 9,500 feet. My sister sent this to me a while back and I wanted to share! 💕

04/16/2020

New online Foundation class starting Friday April 24!!

Do you have a new puppy??

Have you been wanting to do agility but could not get into a class?

Did you just start classes and then then had to shut down?

I have a Foundation class for you! A private Facebook group starts Friday April 24 with a class plan that will give you 6 weeks worth of training, support and fun!

The class provides handouts, video demonstrations, video feedback and a weekly Facebook live session to answer questions, explain exercises and connect with other people not stuck in the house with you!

Class is 6 weeks long. The regular cost for this course is $250 for working participants and $100 to audit. With so many people worried about their finances with the shut down, I am offering a limited time offer of $180 for working participants and just $75 to audit! This offer expires on April 20.

This class offers the learning of over 24 years of agility experience taught by Nicole Levesque with over 40 video links to help you train your dog the basic skills to help your dog become a better citizen and give them a great start on a future agility career.

All exercises can be modified to what you have at home and most of them can be done in a small carpeted indoor space or a small yard. They will learn Impulse control(Stays), Relationship building, Confidence and Problem Solving. You will learn how to break skills down for your dog, how to reward them with food, toys and play and how to build a strong working relationship with your dog.

You will need to be on Facebook and have some recording device. Most people can post directly from their smart phone.

These are tough times for many. If you have that puppy at home and finances are an issue please message me. We need to help each other out and I am happy to find a workable solution!

Email Nicole directly at [email protected] to learn more and to take advantage of this limited time offer!

Here is what former students have said about this online course!

I LOVE this course. The videos are really really cool because you can go back and clarify the finer points. I hope you will offer this as a service for personal coaching going forward...during these strange times and as a premium add on when things are back to normal.
YOU ARE AMAZING Emily H

Spirited Puppies Homebound Online is a great class! I have learned so much from taking this class and I would recommend it to anyone! Nicole is very knowledgeable about teaching dogs of all ages! ~Scott M

This is a great foundation class for puppies of any age as well as a refresher for those awaiting a puppy! The key to Nicole’s teaching is having fun with your pup, and building a great relationship with your pup while you are developing the foundation skills for agility. Class is through a FB group. Handouts of course goals and exercises for building foundation skills as well as video demonstration of those skills by Nicole with her dogs. Each student has their own thread where they post their own videos of their work. Nicole provides on line feedback to each video and answers questions. Once a week there is a group live meeting to receive info about the next week and Q& A. I loved this class! ~ Barbara Y

01/21/2020

***only 2 spots available***

Registration for this class is now open. This class is a super high level class so it will be limited to students with at least 2 years of dog training experience. Please email me directly if you have questions regarding this.

High Level Foundation class: This class will be held on select Fridays from 5:00pm to 6:30pm at The Team Spirit Training facility in Arvada.

Advanced level dog training experience is required. This class is for students who have actively competed before and are looking to develop a competitive agility team or build their teaching skills. We will work on Foundation skills for the dog and for the handler. Types of reward as well as how to most effectively reward is a huge focus in this class. We will also begin teaching the dogs how to deal with distractions in the training environment right away. Body awareness for both the dog and the handler is also a huge focus. This class also requires training at home to keep up with the curriculum. There are handouts and follow up reports for each of the 6 weeks in this session. Dogs of any age are allowed.

The nature of this class will provide lots of distractions with multiple dogs on the floor at a time. Due to this, I cannot allow reactivity of any kind in this one! Sorry!

Instructor: Nicole Levesque.

Registration opens on January 20, and you must contact Nicole directly at [email protected].

Payment of $180 for the 6 week session will be required to hold your spot. Dates for this class are 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 3/6 and 3/13