Our Life Skills and Obedience Training pathway is designed to help you build a dog that fits more seamlessly into your everyday life. Whether you’re dealing with a young dog that needs direction or an older dog that could benefit from more consistency, this structured dog training program takes you from foundation skills through to reliable real-world obedience.
Throughout the journey, we work with you on the challenges that are most relevant to your lifestyle, ensuring the training creates meaningful improvements both at home and in public. The result is a dog that is easier to manage, more responsive to your guidance, and more enjoyable to live with, allowing you to spend less time worrying about unwanted behaviours and more time enjoying your dog.
If you’re ready to create a stronger relationship with your dog and achieve lasting results through professional obedience training, enrol today and start your journey through the Life Skills and Obedience program.
Level 1 is where the journey begins, focusing on creating clear communication between you and your dog while building the foundations for better behaviour in everyday situations. This stage is designed to help owners move away from the frustration of constantly repeating themselves or managing unwanted behaviours and towards a more cooperative relationship with their dog. Through practical obedience training in a supportive group environment, you’ll start developing the skills and understanding needed to navigate walks, visitors, public outings, and life at home with greater confidence. By the end of Level 1, you’ll have a stronger connection with your dog and a solid platform to build upon.
Level 2 takes the foundations established in Level 1 and begins turning them into behaviours you can rely on in the real world. Many owners find that their dog performs well in familiar environments but struggles when excitement, distractions, or distance are introduced. This stage focuses on bridging that gap, helping your dog understand that the same expectations apply wherever they are. As your dog’s consistency improves, you’ll find yourself needing fewer reminders and feeling more confident in a wider range of situations. The result is smoother communication, greater reliability, and a dog that is increasingly focused on you, even when there are more interesting things happening around them.
Level 3 is designed for owners who want to take their dog’s training from good to dependable. At this stage, the focus is on refining behaviours, improving consistency, and strengthening reliability so that your dog responds with confidence across a variety of everyday environments. We work on closing the small gaps that can still appear in otherwise well-trained dogs, helping create more predictable responses and better decision-making. By the end of this level, you’re no longer just practicing obedience exercises—you’re enjoying the benefits of them in daily life. The end result is a dog that is easier to live with, easier to take out in public, and one you can trust to be a well-mannered companion wherever you go.
If you’re thinking to yourself “oh my dog isn’t ready for that” you aren’t alone. Many owners hesitate to attend training classes because they worry about their dog’s behaviour. If you’re worried that your dog won’t be able to learn, will distract the class, or needs to grow up first, let us put you at ease.
At ABT+, while we can teach high quality obedience skills, we specialise in behaviour. We believe every dog deserves to come along and learn important life skills, so we designed our classes for every dog. After all, the ones who struggle in class are often the ones who need it the most.
We have multiple trainers in each class so you can get support for your dog without interrupting anyone, and we have resources and skills to help you work through any anxious or overstimulated behaviour so your dog can relax, focus, and start learning.
If you still don’t believe us, give us a call and we can assess your situation and discuss training options suited to your needs and goals.
Yes. Our Life Skills and Obedience program is designed for dogs at different life stages, whether you’re starting with a young puppy or looking to improve the behaviour of an older dog. The course focuses on building practical life skills that make everyday situations easier to navigate. Many owners join because they want calmer walks, better listening, and more confidence when taking their dog out in public. Because we work with the dogs and owners in front of us, the training can be applied to your individual goals while still progressing through the structured curriculum.
If you aren’t sure if your puppy is ready for this class, you may be interested in our K9 Kindy program instead.
Absolutely. This is one of the most common reasons owners enrol in obedience training. Many dogs perform well in quiet environments but struggle when distractions are added. The progression through Levels 1, 2, and 3 is designed to help dogs become more consistent and responsive in a wider range of situations. As your dog learns to focus around other dogs, people, and everyday distractions, you’ll begin to feel more confident taking them on walks, visiting public spaces, and including them in more activities without constantly worrying about whether they’ll listen.
Many owners join because they want to continue building on skills their dog already knows. The focus isn’t simply on teaching behaviours but on improving reliability, consistency, and communication between you and your dog. If your dog already understands basic cues but struggles to apply them in real-world situations, the later levels of the program can help strengthen those foundations. The goal is to create behaviours that hold up outside the training environment so you can enjoy the benefits of your training in everyday life.
If you haven’t trained with us before and believe your dog is ready for level 2 or 3, contact us and we can discuss coming along to a casual Drop in class to test your dog and have them join the later levels.
While each level follows a structured progression, we also work with owners on the challenges that matter most to them. This means you’re not simply attending classes and practicing exercises, you are actively working towards goals that improve life with your dog. Whether your priority is enjoying walks, improving manners around visitors, or building better focus in distracting environments, the training is designed to help you make meaningful progress while still developing a well-rounded skill set.
By the end of the program, many owners find that everyday activities feel less stressful and more enjoyable. Instead of wondering how their dog will behave, they have greater confidence in their ability to communicate and guide them through different situations. You’ll have a dog that is easier to manage, more responsive to your direction, and better prepared to handle the distractions of everyday life. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s creating a dog that fits more comfortably into your lifestyle and allows you to spend more time enjoying them.
Group dog training provides opportunities to practise skills around the kinds of distractions dogs encounter in real life. Learning in the presence of other dogs and people helps owners develop practical handling skills while teaching dogs to focus and respond in more challenging environments. This can help bridge the gap between what your dog can do at home and what they can do when the world becomes more exciting. For many owners, this creates confidence that their dog’s training will transfer beyond the classroom and into everyday situations.
Many owners join our obedience training courses after feeling frustrated that previous attempts haven’t produced the results they were hoping for. Sometimes the challenge isn’t a lack of effort, it can simply be difficult knowing how to apply training consistently in everyday situations. Our Life Skills and Obedience pathway is designed to help you build a clearer understanding of your dog while developing practical skills that fit into your daily routine. By progressing through the levels, you’ll gain confidence in handling real-world situations and create a stronger partnership with your dog, making life together more enjoyable and less stressful.
Come and try ABT+ training with sample classes, meet and chat with our professional trainers, let your dog enjoy our supervised dog park, and much more! Free entry and free training for the whole event!
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