Dog Training

This 4-week class teaches essential obedience skills. Topics include heeling, leave it, polite greetings, recall, and stay. It covers everything your dog needs to know before enrolling in the Therapy Dog Foundations class, while also being a great basic obedience course for any dog.

Successfully completing Beginnings Test Out is required to enroll in the Therapy Dog Foundations class. The fee for Beginnings Test Out is included in Beginnings. If your dog is already proficient in skills covered in Beginnings, you can skip this class and enroll directly in the Beginnings Test Out.

Dogs may start in the Beginnings class as early as six months old. This allows handlers to build a solid foundation of skills and confidence before pursuing therapy work. However, dogs must be at least 16 months old to take the Beginnings Test Out and enroll in HABIC Therapy Dog Foundations.

With a natural age gap before the Beginnings Test Out, this class meets teams wherever they are. Some join for basic obedience, others continue as their dog matures (with a re-enrollment discount), and others start early and come back once their dog is old enough for the Test Out.

Successfully completing the Beginnings Test Out is required to enroll in the Therapy Dog Foundations class. Dogs must be at least 16 months old.

o If your dog is already proficient in skills covered in Beginnings, you can skip this class and enroll directly in the Beginnings Test Out.

About the Test Out

The Test Out covers key foundation skills to ensure each dog-and-handler team is ready for Therapy Dog Foundations. During the session, we’ll first practice each skill together as a warm-up. Then each team will be evaluated individually.

Skills Assessed:

• Handler–Dog Relationship: Teamwork, communication, and responsiveness.
• Working Around Other Dogs: Ability to stay focused and calm with dogs in the room.
• Ability to Settle: Relaxing quietly when not actively working.
• Affinity to People: Comfort with evaluators approaching and petting.
• Heel (Figure 8 on both sides): Loose-leash walking with controlled turns on the handler’s left and right sides.
• Position Changes: Sit and down on cue without luring or physical prompts.
• Leave It: Ignoring dropped food within close range.
• Recall: Coming when called from a short distance.
• Stay: Holding position while the handler moves around the dog.
• Polite Greeting: Calm behavior when meeting a stranger.
• Handling/Touch: Comfort being gently examined (ears, paws, mouth, head, chest, back).

This 6-week class prepares you for the final evaluation required for certification as a HABIC therapy dog team. HABIC certifies therapy dog teams through completion of the Therapy Dog Foundations class AND successful completion of a final evaluation. Specialized HABIC placements, such as weekly school and healthcare placements, will require additional training. You must pass the Beginnings Test Out, either as part of a HABIC Beginnings class or on its own, to enroll in this course. To schedule your final evaluation, you’ll need to submit a HABIC Medical Form completed by your veterinarian and sign the HABIC Volunteer Responsibilities agreement. Dogs must be at least 16 months old.

This 3-week class prepares active HABIC volunteers with specialized training required for weekly healthcare placements.

This 3-week class prepares active HABIC volunteers with specialized training required for weekly school volunteer placements.

This class is a one-time sessions designed to strengthen specific skills. This class is repeatable and focuses on helping dogs with real-world situations. Each class may look a little different depending on the dogs who attend. Trainers tailor exercises in real time, offering extra support or added challenge as needed to help skills stick beyond the classroom. You’re welcome to take the same theme multiple times or choose different topics based on your goals. Open to future therapy dogs, current therapy dogs, and pet dogs. Dogs must be at least six months old.

Join us for a 6-session class where you and your dog will learn fun, engaging tricks designed to really wow an audience. We’ll teach crowd-pleasers like Tell Me a Secret, Turn the Page, Roll the Dice, and even color discrimination (blue and yellow). Open to future therapy dogs, current therapy dogs, and pet dogs. Dogs must be at least six months old.

This 6-week class introduces you and your dog to the sport of K9 Nose Work, a fun activity where your dog uses their nose to find specific odors. In this class we will build your dog’s desire to hunt and seek, honing their natural ability to follow odor. Searching turns on the dog’s seeking system, making them feel good and helping active dogs find focus, and shy dogs grow in confidence. This class also increases handler observation skills and you get to understand your dog in a new way. Each dog works one at a time. This class is perfect for all dogs: therapy dogs needing a fun activity, companion dogs looking to put their nose to use, or reactive dogs who need a job. Dogs must be at least six months old.

This 6-week class takes you to the next level in the sport of K9 Nose Work. Successful completion of Intro to K9 Nose Work (at HABIC or elsewhere) is required to enroll. In this class your dog will learn to find specific essential oils, allowing for more complicated searches in a variety of locations. This class builds teamwork with your dog and hones your observation skills. Dogs must be at least six months old.

This 6-week class continues your dog’s nose work journey. Successful completion of Intro to Odor (at HABIC or elsewhere) is required to enroll. In this class we teach dogs how to find specific odors on vehicles and in exterior locations. This teaches the handler keen observation skills to know when the dog is following odor, and teaches dogs to work in the presence of distractions. Dogs must be at least six months old.

The first step to becoming a therapy dog team is completing our 4-week Beginnings class or passing the Beginnings Test Out. Beginnings is a 4-week class that teaches essential obedience skills. Topics include heel, leave it, polite greetings, come when called, and stay. It covers everything your dog needs to know before enrolling in the Therapy Dog Foundations class, while also being a great basic obedience course for any dog. Successfully completing the Beginnings Test Out is required to enroll in the Therapy Dog Foundations class.

You can work with HABIC trainers to assess the best path forward for you and your dog. Therapy dogs are expected not to be reactive to other dogs. In our Beginnings class we can help you resolve some levels of reactivity but may recommend specialized classes outside of HABIC if it is severe.

Alternatively, our nose work classes are great for reactive dogs!  In these classes, dogs work one at a time and learn valuable skills to help them cope with the world.

We always aim for you to succeed! If your dog doesn’t pass the Beginnings Test Out, you can re-enroll in the Beginnings class at a reduced cost so that your dog can continue to develop their skills. In this class, you will learn something new every time you take it.  Otherwise, you can continue working with your dog at home or with another trainer and sign up for another Beginnings Test Out in the future.

Yes, Therapy Dog Foundations covers HABIC-specific policies and guidelines. All HABIC-certified therapy dogs must complete Therapy Dog Foundations and pass a Final Evaluation.

Next steps are decided on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, we may recommend that you re-enroll in Therapy Dog Foundations. In other cases, we may recommend that you join a Skill Builder class to work on specific skills.

This class is great for everyone! It is perfect whether you want to begin teaching your dog some life skills, you want a refresher on training, or you want to prepare for therapy work. This class will teach your dog basic obedience skills such as heel (walking by your side), recall (coming when called), stay, sit, down, and leave it. This is a class you can take multiple times with your dog and always learn more as you perfect their skills. Passing the Beginnings Test Out at the end of this class is a prerequisite for the Foundations Therapy Dog class.

No, Therapy Dog Focus classes are optional for volunteers who were certified in or before 2025. However, they do offer a great opportunity to continue learning and improving your skills with your dog!

If you were certified in 2026 or later, Therapy Dog Focus is required for weekly school and healthcare placements.

Therapy Dog Focus is geared toward school and healthcare placements. This class will cover placement-specific training to help you and your dog be ready to succeed when you start volunteering in these specialized placements.

Nose work (also known as scent work or odor detection) is great for all dogs! Dogs love using their nose and working with them to find something gives us a unique window into their world. When dogs are searching, it turns on a part of the brain called the ‘seeking system’ which makes them feel good and reduces their stress chemicals. This means that sniffing is intrinsically rewarding to dogs and doing it with their favorite person makes it even better!

Playing nose work games is a great way to help tire active dogs, help senior dogs’ brains stay sharp, teach dogs how to focus, give reactive dogs a job, and it is fun for everyone!

Do you:

• Want new tools to help your dog find emotional regulation and/or recover from therapy dog sessions? Sniff to Relax is great for dogs of all ages but may particularly benefit senior dogs by providing a gentle way for them to gain enrichment.
• Want something fun to do with your dog that is low pressure but entertaining for both dog and handler? Sniff for Fun teaches you different ways of working with your dog by using their nose – perfect for tiring your dog’s brain and great to enhance your teamwork.
• Want to try a new sport? In the Intro to K9 Nose Work class you will learn the basics of this sport and your dog will learn how to find treats in various situations. Your dog will have a blast! The Intro class is a prerequisite for Intro to Odor, where your dog will learn the specific odors used in competitions and you will learn good handling skills.

No. You can enroll in either Sniff for Fun or Sniff to Relax. You can choose to take one or both, and you don’t have to start with a specific one.

Intro to Odor is a K9 Nose Work class that builds on Intro to K9 Nose Work. In this class, your dog will learn how to find the specific odors used in competitions: dilute essential oils of birch, anise, and clove.

Yes, required medical records for class participation include proof of the following vaccines: Rabies, Bordetella, and DHPP.