We highly recommend that you purchase Home Life Training, an additional training package we offer our customers.
Home Life Training is a one-week training program where the puppy/dog goes off-site the week prior to pickup to learn potty training, sleeping quietly in a carrier (all night) training, quiet behavior during separation, grooming handling, socialization with adults, children and dogs, rope leash and off-leash training. Note this training week is not an owner participation event. There is communication with you and the trainer throughout the week, and at the end of the week you will be provided a full report covering training objectives and outcomes to help you continue training.
Puppies/dogs are exposed to a wide variety of stimuli: car rides, residential walks, trail walks, the beach, stores, dogs, cats and people socializing, household appliances, music/TV, singing, and laughter, potty training, on-leash walking, off leash walking, stairs, socializing, children, cuddling, recall, quiet behaviour during separation/kennel training, no barking, car travel and loading, handling, brushing, and neighbours.
We teach them to listen to our breathing to anticipate our next command, quietly walk on trails and sidewalks without lunging, pulling or barking, go into stores with confidence and respectfully greet other doggies and people out in public.
The benefit of this training is that when you pick up your puppy to go to their forever home, training/exposure has already begun. This helps you get over the initial hurdles of training and builds confidence in your puppy for their new life with you. It’s a big world out there and young puppies have only experienced a very small portion of it since birth. It allows you to continue your training with a more confident puppy, who has been setup for success. Our trainers have been educated how to introduce all these steps, making the transition to the real world much less stressful for you and your puppy. People are amazed when they run into our trainers and see such a young puppy so confident, strutting their stuff on a rope leash, sitting and remaining calm before a task or meeting other doggies with confidence and respect.
The cost of this training is $300+gst ($315 total) and is money well spent to help setup a solid foundation for you and your new addition.
Deb & Jim are experienced Home Life Trainers with many successful puppy graduates.
They are located on the Galloping Goose Trail, so puppies will experience neighbourhood living, with direct access to the trail, providing them lots of exposure to cars, dogs, walkers, runners, bikers, strollers & children, as well as birds, squirrels, and periodically even horses, large & small. Car rides to beaches; other trails & parks are common.
This active couple has a sweet new addition to the family, Illa, an Island Miniature Schnauzer. She is looking forward to helping teach the puppies the ropes, as well as having a playmate to hang out with in the yard or cuddle up with. She is very good with other puppies, as she interacts with puppies of all ages at the IMS farm on a regular basis.
Both Deb & Jim have flexible schedules, so there is always some one around for accompaniment and ongoing training. There will be lots of love and learning, and Deb & Jim are so fulfilled knowing these sweet, smart, adventurous little ones are heading off to their forever homes with a great foundation to their training.
Deb & Jim have great respect for Beverley, her amazing energy, as well as her love for her dogs and humans. They are grateful for the opportunity to work with these beautiful, sweet puppies. Watching them develop, learn and grow is so joyful, and they really connect with Beverley’s … Join Up, Be One & Have Fun!
Vivienne, is our “large dog expert” Home Life Trainer. Her specialty is training large dogs, so her assigned puppy gets plenty of exposure to her large dog, Kaya, a gentle, large Coyote Hybrid. Her puppy goes for car rides, plays in her forest with Kaya, learns how to ask to go outside for potty chores and inherits the well-behaved nature of Kaya.
Meg, an energy worker/healer by trade, works and communicates with puppies and dogs energetically. She first learned about the farm by answering to another position in the farm. When she went for the interview with Beverley for that job, she immediately said “Your energy is great, would you like to be a Home Life Trainer? We are looking for more to add to our doggang and I was about to post it on line!” The funny thing is, Meg has wanted to be a dog trainer for a long time and even thought about going away to take some training, however her family demands didn’t allow for it at that time. Universe knows the best timing for everything!
She has 2 children aged 13 and 7, husband, 2 Chiwienees, and 2 cats in her household, so the puppy will have plenty of socialization with variety of members. Daily walks with the other dogs make the puppy a good follower in the pack. Our youngest cat has taken the role as “teacher” to show the puppies how to play with cats. Meg’s active daily routine will expose the puppies to human life and what is expected of them, and they are guided gently through their experiences. She is greatly enjoying the time with puppies and is amazed how each one of them is so sweet, clever and eager to be with. Training puppies actually trains humans, Meg discovers, and she wishes all the new families for them to have great years to come.
Coleen and Mark are our newest home life trainers.
They live on a rural cul de sac, have a large fenced yard where puppies play and are exposed to deer and wildlife on the other side. Walks along the creek on their property, local hikes and trails are part of their routine, as are car trips to the beach! Outings to more urban environments, help puppies adapt to street noise and busy stores.
Mark uses both a manual and a power wheelchair so puppies gain experience being around these mobility aids as well as learn how to stay out of the way.
Although there are currently no animals in their home, they have a calm, albeit a times, busy household with friends and family coming and going so puppies get familiar with new people.
Cuddles, positive praise and play time make for a happy and healthy learning environment for the puppies who spend a training week with them and Coleen and Mark get their regular puppy fix!
Kathrine and Jim live on a quiet, forested, 3-acre property. With just the two of them, their household is a relaxed and welcoming environment for puppies.
Their house has hardwood floors and is a split-level, so puppies learn how to navigate these types of floors and stairs comfortably. A wide, low-traffic road nearby gives puppies their initial exposure to vehicles, and outings to the shops in Sooke further their training and socialization. Kathrine and Jim are an active couple with flexible schedules and they like exploring trails, parks and beaches, so puppies get experience with these as well as car rides to and from.
Kathrine has a history of raising and training Labrador Retriever parents and puppies, as well as Irish Wolfhounds, and she remains passionate about puppies! She was immediately impressed with the training philosophy of Island Miniature Schnauzers and is thrilled to contribute to their in-home puppy training.
Mathilda lives with her two teen daughters, their two miniature schnauzers (Bia & Cookie) and their large mellow cat (Elio) – let’s face it, he is in charge! She has a calm but firm demeanor that is conducive to helping Island Miniature Schnauzers with the Home Life Training program.
She will have the puppies interact with her sometimes busy and always respectful household, where she will foster opportunities for the puppies to interact with her daughters, her dogs and cat. The puppies will learn to climb laminate stairs, ring the bell to go outside, and learn the ins and out of the kennel routine.
She owns her own home in Victoria in a townhome environment with a small, fenced private yard. She will teach rope leash train the puppies to walk on sidewalks and in the Royal Roads forest which is at her doorstep.
She is also known to hop in the car to the beach on a whim! She will provide a loving environment filled with positive reinforcements and copious amounts of love.