Our Group Dog Training Classes are taught in the San Francisco Bay Area - Briones, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, and Walnut Creek.
Group Puppy Training Classes
Puppy Training Head Start: Group Classes For Puppies 9 to 20 Weeks
Give your puppy a positive start with our Puppy Head Start class, designed to support healthy socialization and early manners during one of the most important stages of development.
In this fun and structured class, puppies are safely introduced to new people, other puppies, and a variety of early learning experiences that help build confidence and good social skills. We begin developing important foundations such as housebreaking, polite manners, early obedience skills, leash introduction, and coming when called.
This class is suitable for the entire family to attend. To help maintain a safe and organized learning environment, each puppy must be accompanied by a handler who is 18 years or older.
Puppies must be between 9 and 20 weeks of age to participate.
Beginning Obedience: Group Training For Dogs 20 Weeks and Older
Basic Obedience provides the foundation for all future training goals. In this class, we focus on teaching dogs how to engage with their handler and build the motivation needed to learn and practice everyday skills.
Dogs begin developing reliable behaviors such as heel, sit, and down, while also learning important practical skills like “leave it,” coming when called, and “wait” at doorways to prevent rushing outside. These exercises help build focus, communication, and trust between dogs and their owners.
As these skills develop, many owners find that everyday life becomes easier and more enjoyable, creating a stronger partnership between them and their dog.
Intermediate Obedience
Intermediate Obedience builds on the foundation developed in Beginning Obedience and focuses on strengthening reliability and focus in more challenging situations.
In this class, dogs learn to maintain behaviors such as stay and come when called even with increasing distractions. We also refine heel work, helping dogs walk with greater consistency and engagement with their handler.
Students practice developing calm, thoughtful behavior while working through their obedience skills, and dogs learn to remain relaxed even when their handler briefly moves out of sight.
This class provides excellent preparation for the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program and helps owners continue building a strong working relationship with their dog.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Beginning Obedience or instructor approval.
Canine Good Citizen
The American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program is designed to recognize dogs who demonstrate good manners, confidence, and reliability in everyday situations. This six-week class helps dogs and their owners prepare for the CGC evaluation while strengthening practical skills that make life together more enjoyable.
Throughout the program, dogs practice important social and obedience skills such as politely greeting strangers, accepting petting and grooming, walking calmly past other dogs and distractions, and remaining confident around new sights and sounds. Dogs also demonstrate reliable responses to basic behaviors like sit, down, and come, and learn to remain calm when briefly separated from their handler.
During the sixth class, dogs will complete the AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluation.
Prerequisite: Completion of Beginning Obedience or instructor approval.
Group Training Classes for Reactive Dogs: Human to Dog Communication 101
If walks with your dog feel stressful because of barking, lunging, or overreaction to other dogs and distractions, this class is designed to help. Reactive behavior can feel overwhelming, but with the right guidance, dogs can learn new ways to respond to the world around them.
In this class, owners learn how to better understand what triggers their dog’s reactions and how to communicate clearly in those moments. You will learn how to read your dog’s body language, use the leash as an effective communication tool, and create structure that helps your dog feel more secure and confident.
Through carefully structured exposure and stress inoculation exercises, dogs gradually build the ability to remain calmer and more thoughtful when faced with situations that previously overwhelmed them. Owners also gain a deeper understanding of the world from their dog’s perspective, helping them meet their dog’s needs in ways that promote stability, engagement, and better decision making.
Collar Clinics
Has your dog ever ignored your recall, chased wildlife, raided the garbage, or gotten into trouble before you could stop them? Many dogs develop habits like digging, escaping the yard, chasing animals, or grabbing things they shouldn’t, and those behaviors can quickly become frustrating or even dangerous.
Our Collar Clinic teaches owners how to ethically and responsibly use an electronic collar as a communication tool, especially in situations where dogs are highly stimulated, filled with adrenaline or dopamine, or working at a distance from their handler. When used properly, the collar allows owners to communicate clearly with their dog even in moments when the environment is highly distracting.
Throughout the clinic, we focus on using the collar through the lens of safety and clarity, helping dogs understand expectations while reinforcing reliable behaviors such as coming when called, walking calmly on a loose leash around distractions, and disengaging from wildlife, garbage, and other temptations.
The goal is not control for its own sake, but to create reliable communication that allows dogs to safely enjoy more freedom in the world.
Collar Clinics are scheduled on an as requested basis and may be offered as a small group clinic or through private one on one training.
Scent Training Group Classes: The Nose Knows
Dogs experience the world primarily through their noses. With a sense of smell far more powerful than our own, they are naturally driven to search, track, and investigate scents in their environment.
This fun and engaging class taps into your dog’s powerful sense of smell and natural hunting instincts. Through structured scent exercises, dogs learn to search for hidden odors while building confidence, focus, and problem-solving skills.
Scent work provides excellent mental stimulation and physical engagement, making it a rewarding activity for many types of dogs. The class is designed to be positive, encouraging, and enjoyable for both dogs and their handlers.
Dog Agility Training Group Classes
Agility training is a fun and active way to build teamwork, confidence, and communication between you and your dog. In this class, dogs learn to navigate a variety of agility obstacles while developing focus, body awareness, and engagement with their handler.
We begin with the basics and introduce a new obstacle each week. By the end of the six-week session, dogs will be working through a full agility course that includes jumps, tunnels, a chute, hoops, a tire, and weave poles.
This class is a great outlet for dogs who enjoy movement, problem solving, and learning new challenges while strengthening their partnership with their handler.
Dogs must be 16 weeks or older and should already have a basic understanding of obedience skills, including a reliable wait command.
Special Events
Throughout the year, Dog Dynamics hosts a variety of special events designed to support continued learning, community, and fun with your dog. These events include Rattlesnake Avoidance Training, guest trainers, educational seminars, group hike days, picnics, and other unique training opportunities.
If you would like to stay informed about upcoming events, send us your email address and we will be happy to add you to our mailing list so you can receive updates throughout the year.
We Also Provide Private Instruction!
For owners who prefer more personalized guidance, Dog Dynamics also offers private training sessions. Private instruction provides focused, one-on-one attention tailored to your dog’s specific needs and training goals.
Sessions can be conducted in your home, allowing us to work directly within your dog’s everyday environment where many behaviors naturally occur.