Heel Dog Training Academy - Clifton Park, NY

09/03/2026

Canine Good Citizen Class in starting in September

Heel Dog Training Academy is going to start a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Class on September 16th (Wednesday) at 8pm. Canine Good Citizen is sponsored by the American Kennel Club (AKC) and is for dogs that have been taught some basic obedience. The dogs should have some knowledge of sit, down, stays in these positions, walking on a loose leash, and have a command that means come when called. This class will have five weeks spent going over the 10 test items in the CGC test and then on the sixth week the test will be given by a CGC evaluator. Parts of the test deal with your dog walking nicely on a leash, sitting for petting or someone talking to you or the dog, coming when called (no major distraction), reaction to another dog (friendly and not off leash just walking by) and supervised separation. The link below will give the 10 elements of the test for further information. To take the test, your dog can only wear buckle, martingale, slip collar or wear a body harness that should not restrict the movement of the dog.

https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/canine-good-citizen-test-items/

There is a minimum of 5 people to have a class start since people in the class will take part in putting on the test. The maximum number of dogs is 10 for the class. The class will cost $185 ($160 for past clients). Will be held at the Pet Lodge of Clifton Park at 1868 Rte 9.

If you want to be put on the class list, please email Mary at [email protected]. The registration form will be emailed to you. Registration form and fee will not be collected until the first night of class.

If you have any questions, please metal [email protected]

The AKC Canine Good Citizen™ (CGC) program provides a perfect framework for training your dog to become a polite member of society.

07/28/2026

Next class session starting in September:

Do you want a dog that will walk nicely on a leash? Be able to call your dog to you? Have a canine companion that is fun to be around and become part of your family?

Let us help you with your dog or puppy.

Great Foundation for Puppies is a 6-week class, cost $185 and is held at the Pet Lodge of Clifton Park at 1868 Rte 9. For dogs 6 months and younger. The class will start an introduction to common obedience commands like sit, down, walking on a loose leash, and calling the dog to you. We will also go over common behavioral puppy issues like biting, barking and house training. Also included in the class is getting the puppy better socialized to new people, environments and structured meetings with other puppies. A new class will start on

September 9th (Wednesday) from 7 - 8 pm

Manners for the Family Dog is a 6-week class, cost $185 and is held at the Pet Lodge of Clifton Park. The class will cover sit, down, stays, walking on a loose leash, and calling the dog to you. We will show you how to teach these commands and also how to get reliability. Also covered are common behavioral problems like jumping and barking. A new class will start on

September 8th (Tuesday) from 7 - 8 pm

07/27/2026

Held a Marion Crain Obedience Workshop at Working Dogs NY LLC this weekend. A wonderful two days working dogs and getting new tools in our training kit to help our dogs in their competition obedience career.

07/22/2026

Holden, Otterbrook’s Expanse CDX,BN,PCD,RAE, RM placed in the top 10 at 8th place at the AKC Rally National in Excellent. He had 295 out of 300 competing against 121 other dogs.

06/29/2026

Had a wonderful time on June 27th, at the Summer Sizzler at Hudson River Air Dogs. Here is a video of some of the canine athletes to compete that weekend.

06/15/2026

Holden completed his Rally Masters and Rally Advance Excellent titles last weekend. He is now Otterbrook’s Expanse CDX,PCD,BN,RM,RAE. We participated in two trials on Friday and two trials on Sunday with three classes in each (Master, Excellent and Advanced) hosted by Taconic Hills Kennel Club at Paws n Effect. He placed either first or second in almost all classes picking up two High Combines and two High Triples. A big Thank You to the judges, the ring stewards and club members that helped put on those trials. Fellow rally competitors at these trials were really fun to show with and so supportive. It was really nice to see.

06/15/2026

If anyone wants a good place to get your hunting dogs ready for upcoming AKC/HRC tests, please see the information below from Burnt Hills Training Center. A great way to expose your dog to a hunt test setting to see where you are in your training and give your dog some different land scenarios to work through.

06/10/2026

Rally Run Thrus June 14th at Working Dogs NY, LLC

06/04/2026

Next class session starting in July

Do you want a dog that will walk nicely on a leash? Be able to call your dog to you? Have a canine companion that is fun to be around and become part of your family?

Let us help you with your dog or puppy.

Great Foundation for Puppies is a 6-week class, cost $185 and is held at the Pet Lodge of Clifton Park at 1868 Rte 9. For dogs 6 months and younger. The class will start an introduction to common obedience commands like sit, down, walking on a loose leash, and calling the dog to you. We will also go over common behavioral puppy issues like biting, barking and house training. Also included in the class is getting the puppy better socialized to new people, environments and structured meetings with other puppies. A new class will start on

July 8th (Wednesday) from 7 - 8 pm

Manners for the Family Dog is a 6-week class, cost $185 and is held at the Pet Lodge of Clifton Park. The class will cover sit, down, stays, walking on a loose leash, and calling the dog to you. We will show you how to teach these commands and also how to get reliability. Also covered are common behavioral problems like jumping and barking. A new class will start on

July 7th (Tuesday) from 7 - 8 pm

05/27/2026

Video below is from Sunday's event (5/24/26) at Hudson River Air Dogs - HRAD. We are having an Open House this Sunday 5/31/2026 if you want to see what dock diving is about and meet some club members..