Group Classes

Quick Answer

Eight grade levels take your dog from Pre-School Puppy through Dogtorate, each one adding new behaviors while sharpening what came before. Group Classes run at Scottsdale and Cave Creek in short, coached intervals, with pricing from a single $65 drop-in class up to an annual grade-tier term. New clients start with a PD360 assessment; a dog with reactivity or a bite history may need Behavior Camp first.

How a Class Runs

A single long class period asks a dog to hold focus far longer than most dogs can sustain it, so Group Classes are built around short, timed intervals instead: a handful of minutes on one or two behaviors, a reset, then the next drill. Practicing in a group also does something a private setting cannot: it adds distraction on purpose (other dogs, other handlers, new smells and sounds), which is exactly the kind of proofing a behavior needs before it holds up on a sidewalk or at a friend's front door.

Expect short, targeted drills on four or five behaviors, group formations to practice around other dogs and people, an AMRAP block or two, and a demo-and-wrap-up close with feedback and homework for the week. You are working the whole time your dog is; class is built around handler mechanics as much as dog behavior.

The Eight Grade Levels

The eight grades, and roughly how many new behaviors each one introduces, are:

Pre-School (Puppy or Adult): 49 new behaviors. Confidence, socialization, crate and settle, name response, and the first cues: sit, down, place, leash introduction, polite greetings.
Kindergarten: 20 new behaviors. Manners, impulse control, early leash skills. Stay foundations, handler turns, and tolerance for being handled.
Elementary: 26 new behaviors. Refining leave it and off, plus appropriate play. Longer stays, calm check-ins, food and toy manners.
Middle-School: 13 new behaviors. Specialized cues such as out and flip to heel, grooming and object desensitization, patterning heel, controlled distractions, and off-leash preparation.
High-School: 11 new behaviors. Practical tricks such as retrieve, connection cues such as bye and hug, plus carry and hold, attention at a distance, and longer durations.
College: 12 new behaviors. Complex positioning (middle), environmental skills (open and close a door), and body control (bow, sit pretty).
Masters: 16 new behaviors. Precision, chained routines such as a Figure 8, cooperative tasks, and proofing under pressure.
Dogtorate: 33 new behaviors. Higher-level agility and performance: leg weaves, frisbee catch, jump through arms, and holding focus while moving.

How a Behavior Moves Through the Four Stages

Those eight grades add up to roughly 180 new behaviors by the time a dog completes Dogtorate. Each one then moves through Teaching, Reinforcing, Proofing, and Maintenance across the grades that follow, so a cue taught in Kindergarten keeps getting sharper long after your dog has moved on to Elementary and beyond. Your Pupdates and your trainer will tell you which stage a given behavior is sitting in.

Teaching

Each grade opens by introducing its new block of behaviors in a controlled setup: low distraction, short reps, and a clear reward marker so your dog understands exactly which choice earned the payoff. This is where a cue like "leave it" or "flip to heel" first gets shape before it gets asked to hold up anywhere harder.

Reinforcing

Once a new cue is reliable in a quiet setup, the coach starts making the right choice worth repeating on purpose: faster reward timing, better placement, and enough reps that the behavior becomes the dog's default guess, not a lucky one.

Proofing

This is where group formations do their work. Practicing in a line, a circle, or a scramble puts other dogs and other handlers into the picture, and AMRAP (as many reps as possible) blocks add time pressure on top of that. Duration, distance, distraction, and a busier environment get added one at a time, not all at once, so a cue that was solid in a quiet room gets tested the way life outside the classroom will test it.

Maintenance

Behaviors from earlier grades do not get dropped once a dog moves on; they get folded into warm-ups and demos in later classes so the old cues stay sharp instead of quietly fading while attention goes to the newest ones. Your trainer's readiness check before advancing a grade is largely a maintenance check on everything that came before it.

How Classes Fit With Day Programs and Private Lessons

Group Classes draw on the same methodology used everywhere else at Partners Dogs: feedback tools get chosen per dog, and pacing follows each dog's behavior, technique, and learning style instead of a shared script, so a Pre-School pup working on name response and a Masters dog chaining a Figure 8 down the hall are almost never doing the same drill.

Cross-program reinforcement follows the same logic. Behaviors built in class get extra reps through DaySchool and DayCamp days during the week, and a private lesson can target one sticking point one-on-one when a group setting is not the fastest path to fixing it.

Moving Up a Grade, or Repeating One

A dog working through the grade ladder gets steadily more reliable in the situations that used to take constant supervision: a calm greeting when someone new walks in, a loose leash past another dog, a settle on place while you eat dinner instead of a dog underfoot. Because the ladder is graded, progress is visible and specific instead of a vague sense that training is "going fine": your trainer signs off on the skills for your current grade before you move up, so you know exactly what your dog has mastered.

Advancement happens when your trainer verifies your dog's current-grade skills are reliable in class, not on a fixed calendar. Repeating a grade to build stronger distraction-proofing before moving up is common, and it is usually the faster path in the long run, not a setback.

How fast that progress shows up depends on your dog's temperament, your consistency with homework between classes, and how much reinforcement your dog gets outside of class time. Two dogs in the same grade rarely progress at the same pace, and that is normal, not a sign that something is wrong.

Pricing and Passes

There are a few ways to pay for Group Classes:

Drop-in class: $65 for a single class (best if your dog has already attended that specific class before; ask your trainer to confirm if you are unsure it is the right one).
Pet Parenting Class pass (annual term): $169 a month for 4 classes a month, or $279 a month for 8, both billed on an annual term and holding you a guaranteed spot in your grade-level class.
Grade-tier terms (annual): Middle-School and High-School $399 a month, College and Masters $349 a month, Dogtorate $199 a month.
Unlimited pass: $5,040 for the year, across any grade.

Partners Plus, Premium, and Platinum training memberships (which include monthly DaySchool or DayCamp days) carry a separate 10%, 20%, or 30% discount on camp programs; that discount applies to camps, not to the Group Classes pricing above. Ask your trainer which option fits your dog's grade and how often you plan to train.

Before You Enroll: Age, Vaccines, Placement, and Gear

The entry bar for Group Classes is 20 weeks old and a full week clear of Bordetella, Rabies, and DHPP/DAPP; Canine Influenza and Leptospirosis never make that list. Everything else, timing, requirements, guidance for a recently adopted or rescued dog, lives in our Vaccination Policy article. There's no ceiling on age, and every breed gets a seat.

If you are new to Partners Dogs, start with a PD360 assessment: a structured evaluation that places your dog in the right grade instead of guessing. If you are already a client and this is your first group class, ask your current trainer for a placement recommendation based on your dog's recent progress; you do not need a second assessment just to add classes.

What to bring:

A buckle or flat collar.
A leash that isn't retractable.
Treats good enough to compete with the room's distractions.
A dog on a slightly empty stomach, not stuffed from a meal an hour earlier: it stays sharper and holds focus longer through the timed intervals.

Missed Classes, Struggling Dogs, and Illness

If you miss a class, book a make-up session in your current grade. There is no loss of progress from one missed week, and open enrollment means you are not waiting on a new cycle to start or to catch up.

If your dog struggles with distraction or gets anxious in the group, a coach can often start you in a lower grade and build up from there. If your dog is reactive, seriously anxious, or has a bite history, your trainer will recommend a PD360 assessment before continuing in a group setting; the assessment may point toward Behavior Camp or DayCamp first, with group classes to follow once your dog is ready for them.

If a dog shows signs of illness in class, the class trainer separates that dog from the group, contacts the pet parent for pickup, and pauses that dog's training until they are cleared to return.

Practicing Between Classes

Homework between classes is meant to be short: five to ten minutes most days on whatever your trainer flagged as this week's focus, not a long formal session. Practice in a quiet, familiar space first, then test the same cue somewhere slightly busier once it is solid at home.

Spread your DaySchool or DayCamp days across the weeks between classes instead of skipping them, so the reps your dog gets in a group setting are backed up by reps during the week too. Consistency between classes moves a dog through the ladder faster than any single class ever will on its own.

A few habits keep that consistency easy:

Match your trainer's exact cue words. If class uses "place" and you say "bed" at home, you are asking your dog to learn the same behavior twice.
Warm up with something easy before asking for something hard. A quick win at the start of a practice session sets your dog up to engage with the harder work that follows.
Keep a consistent release word. Whatever word ends a stay or a place, use the same one every time, in class and at home.
Ask your trainer directly when you are unsure which grade fits, instead of guessing from behaviors you have seen at home. A quick conversation before class saves weeks of practicing at the wrong level.

When a Group Class Is Not the Right Setting

Group Classes are built for dogs who are safe around other dogs and people, even if they are still learning their manners. If your dog barks or lunges at people or other dogs, has anxiety severe enough to keep them from settling, guards resources, or has any bite history, talk to your trainer about a PD360 assessment before starting or continuing in a group setting. The assessment is $199, applied as store credit when you enroll in the camp or membership it recommends, and it gives your trainer a clear, current read on your dog's triggers. Depending on what it finds, that might mean Behavior Camp, DayCamp, or private lessons before a group class is the right fit again.

If your dog has bitten, do not test the situation yourself to see whether it happens again; keep your dog away from the trigger and let a professional structure the evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are Group Classes structured, and what will my dog and I actually do?

Classes run in short, coached intervals: targeted drills on four or five behaviors, group formations (line, circle, or scramble) to practice around other dogs and handlers, AMRAP blocks to build fluency under light time pressure, and a demo-and-wrap-up close with feedback and homework for the week.

How many new behaviors are taught at each grade level?

Roughly 180 new behaviors are introduced across the eight grades: Pre-School 49, Kindergarten 20, Elementary 26, Middle-School 13, High-School 11, College 12, Masters 16, and Dogtorate 33. Each behavior then moves through Teaching, Reinforcing, Proofing, and Maintenance as your dog advances.

Do I need a PD360 assessment before starting Group Classes?

If you are new to Partners Dogs, yes: a PD360 assessment places your dog in the right grade instead of guessing. If you are already a client adding classes for the first time, ask your current trainer for a placement recommendation instead; a second assessment is not required just to add classes.

My dog is easily distracted or gets anxious around other dogs. Can we still join?

Often, yes, starting in a lower grade while your dog builds comfort around the group. If your dog guards resources, has anxiety severe enough to prevent settling, is reactive, or has any bite history, your trainer will recommend a PD360 assessment first, since a group class is not the setting to test a serious behavior concern.

What happens if we miss a class?

Book a make-up session in your current grade. There is no loss of progress, and open enrollment means you are not stuck waiting for a new session to start.

How big is a class, and can the rest of the family come?

Class size is capped to protect training quality and safety, and the cap depends on the location and time slot, so your trainer confirms it when you book. Family members are welcome and useful: your dog needs to answer the same cue from more than one person. Your coach will show extra handlers where to stand and when to take a turn.

How much do Group Classes cost?

There are a few ways to pay. A single drop-in class is $65 (best if your dog has already attended that specific class before; ask your trainer to confirm if you are unsure it is the right one). The class pass, billed as the Pet Parenting Class, runs $169 per month for 4 classes a month or $279 per month for 8, both on an annual term, and holds you a guaranteed spot in your grade-level class. Grade-tier terms are also annual: Middle-School and High-School are $399 per month, College and Masters $349 per month, and Dogtorate $199 per month. An unlimited pass across any grade is $5,040 for the year. Partners Plus, Premium, and Platinum training memberships (which include monthly DaySchool or DayCamp days) carry a separate 10%, 20%, or 30% discount on camp programs. Ask your trainer which option fits your dog's grade and how often you plan to train.

When do we move up a grade, and can we repeat one?

You move up once your trainer verifies your dog's current-grade skills are reliable in class, not on a fixed schedule. Repeating a grade to build stronger distraction-proofing before advancing is common and often the faster route to a dog who holds up outside the classroom, not a step backward.

PD360 Assessment: the intake evaluation that places new clients in the right grade.
Behavior Camp: the board-and-train path when reactivity, anxiety, or a bite history needs to be addressed before a group setting.
Private Lessons: one-on-one coaching when a specific sticking point needs individual attention.
DaySchool: weekday small-group day training that reinforces what class teaches.
DayCamp: weekday one-on-one day training for extra reps between classes.
Vaccination Policy: full vaccine, age, and health requirements before a first visit.

Group Classes run at both campuses on open enrollment, so there is rarely a long wait to get your dog into the right grade.