BetCo News 2020

Hello ,

Important news and reads in this issue:

COVID-19 Update: How are the latest Alaska mandates affecting The Better Companion?

April Classes - We Continue In The VIRTUAL CLASSROOM:
Meet with the instructor and your fellow students for our weekly classes online from home

Feature: At Home With Your Dog

This weekend we have started teaching through online classes, replacing the one hour, once a week session with an online VIRTUAL session. The first hour on Saturday was a full success! Read below how you could start or continue training for your dog from home!

All clickable links in this newsletter are in PURPLE.

Enjoy life with your better companion,

Claudia

COVID-19 Update: How are the latest Alaska mandates affecting The Better Companion?

With the latest mandate of closing all facilities that are non-essential, we have finally laid off our last in person employee, our office manager Amanda. From now on it will only be Frank and me on the property, Frank helping me with the virtual classes and me manning the office every weekday for a couple hours.

While we have closed the FACILITY to the public, we have NOT shut down our BUSINESS! We have switched our ongoing classes to continue in the VIRTUAL CLASSROOM, and are now offering all upcoming classes in April as ONLINE CLASSES.

We still have our instructors Monica and Deb helping from home with their current online classes. They will join our virtual classroom and also be available in the Facebook groups we created for each class. All April classes will be taught by me personally.

Our calendar for May still shows classes listed as in-person. We will update that, if needed, as we get closer. All manners classes can be converted into virtual classes. Agility classes in May might once more be changed to Treibball classes, this time one Beginner and one Intermediate class. The Nose Work Elements class would either be converted to online or postponed. We will keep all students updated via email - so please watch your inbox and reply to us, so that we know our students received their emails.

Read below more about how we are converting the April classes - either because you are signed up already or because you might want to sign up!

Stay safe, stay healthy and happy home days with your furry friends!

Claudia

April Classes - We Continue In The VIRTUAL CLASSROOM:
Meet with the instructor and your fellow students for our weekly classes online from home

Our April manners classes will have the same structure as planned - we will meet once a week for one hour in the classroom. The difference: It will be a VIRTUAL, ONLINE CLASSROOM!

Using Zoom as our platform, you will be able to join the meeting without needing to create a login or password. Just download the App (takes a minute or so), and you are good to go!

The host of the meeting will always be me in the facility, where I have the overview over all participants. I can watch everybody at the same time and give feedback right there, without turning my back to anybody, like I would in the real classroom.

Each exercise will first be demonstrated by me with my dog Luce, then all participants get a chance to practice with their dogs while observed by me, followed by a question and answer (Q/A) session to clarify every aspect.

You and your dog will participate, just like being at class, from your home.

What about the play sessions for Puppy 1 and Puppy 2 classes? In Puppy 1 class, we are replacing the play sessions with ideas on how to socialize your puppy at home as much as possible. In Puppy 2 class, we are replacing the play times with ideas on how you can exercise your puppy at home.

Additional support throughout the week: Additionally to our weekly online meetings, we will be available throughout the week and answer any questions or review videos you are sending us via a private Facebook group for students of your class only. You can send me an email to the office or ask in the Facebook group. I will try to monitor Facebook closely and review any discussions from there at the beginning of the next week's online session, for people that aren't on Facebook.

Will classes switch back to in-person as soon as possible? No. Even though we right now had to convert our ongoing classes from in-person to online, we will NOT convert back in the middle of a class. This will give people a chance to sign up for our classes who benefit from online classes: If you are restricted to join us physically other than because of the pandemic mandates, e.g. through mobility, distance or any other reason, be assured that a class that started online, will finish online! Once the pandemic is under control and mandates lifted, we will start in-person classes again with the next month's set.

Offered in April:
Puppy 1 - Preschool, Puppy 2 - Kindergarten, Foundation Class, Grade School;
Click HERE for the full schedule.

Spring/Summer Preview

Events:

Canceled: CGC-Test: Sunday, May 3rd, 2020

Canceled: Clean-Up Evening at the UAF Trailhead on Trunk Road

Under review: Shy Dog Workshop: Saturday, May 30th, 2020

Under review: Feisty Fido Workshop: June 20th, 2020

Feature:

At Home With Your Dog

You had a great routine. Maybe you were gone at work all day. Maybe your dog was gone to daycare here and there. Now the routine changed and you are home all day and your dog is home all day. Maybe you are working from home, having the kids at home all day, rolling your thumbs or started your spring cleaning early.

It's weird for us all, including our dogs.

The more routine you had before, the more your dog will be thrown off by the changes. The more important it might be for your dog (and you) to find a NEW NORMAL, a new routine.

Your dog will better understand that you DON'T have time to play all day if you structure your day into ON-TIMES and OFF-TIMES.

On-Times: play games with your dog, take your dog for a walk, engage your dog with you in the house. These times can be only 5 minutes or an hour long, depending on your time limits. If you have the time, take your dog for a car ride and maybe a hike - Alaska is big, and there are lots of places where you don't run into many other people or at least can take a big detour around them. In the house or yard, play with your dog! Play tug, practice obedience, teach tricks - there is no better time than right now to improve manners and other skills, while improving your bond with your dog!

Off-times: make it very clear to your dog when you start an off-time/ end on-time: "All Done!" is a good cue to use for that. Then be consistent and don't interact with your dog anymore. If this is impossible, because your dog is pestering you, confine your dog during off-times. Behind a baby gate or in a kennel are great ways to TEACH your dog off-time.

Benefits of playing with your dog in the house and yard more often: Besides the obvious benefit of tiring out your dog; the bond you are creating now will help you later when encountering distractions again, like other dogs and people. Your dog will more likely stay engaged with YOU, because you practiced positive engagement at home more than usual. Especially when you can play games in the yard already and keep your dog engaged with you despite distractions (birds, by-passers, barking neighborhood dogs ...), this will translate into taking your dog off-property into more populated areas again in the future. You are right now filling your "Relationship Bank Account"!

And now have fun and play with your dog(s)!

Claudia