Urban Skills – 7 sessions, 60 minutes each € 205 –

• Free access to our online learning platform, full of information and exercises, supported by videos
• Fully fenced, covered training area

Locatie Hotdog House, Riekerweg 6, Amsterdam. Directions

This program replaces the Basic Course and is designed to help urban dogs stay happy, healthy and adaptable in a dynamic environment. It provides you with additional tools to manage or prevent situations. Accessible for all ages from 3 months.

Living in the city requires different skills from dogs living in outdoor areas. In urban environments, dogs must adapt to busy streets, an abundance of noise and a greater diversity of people and other animals. Here are some key skills that are important for city dogs:

• Socialisation: City dogs often come into contact with a wider variety of people and other dogs. Good socialisation is crucial to prevent fear or aggression.
• Cooperation: Given the distractions of traffic and crowds, a solid understanding and cooperation between you and your dog are essential for the dog’s safety.
• Physical activity and confidence: Urban dogs may have less space to run freely, so they must be more creative in their play opportunities. In the class, learn through parkour (obstacle course) how to do challenging activities with the dog using urban furniture. These balance and coordination exercises have a positive effect on the dog’s self-confidence
• Dealing with crowds: City life often means crowds and noise. Dogs must learn to remain calm amid these stimuli. Excessive stimuli can cause stress, so it is important to offer dogs plenty of stress-reducing activities -e.g. in the form of canine enrichment, detection or tracking courses and decompression walks (forest, beach).
• Hygiene and health: Owners of urban dogs should ensure that their dogs get enough exercise and adequate mental stimulation. And because there is a lot of rubbish on the streets, managing the dog’s natural behaviour of grabbing anything edible is crucial. But you will also get suggestions on how to keep your dog mentally stimulated.

Unlike dogs living in outdoor areas, which may have more space and nature at their disposal, dogs in cities need to adapt effectively to a more structured and busy living environment. Especially for urban dogs, we have developed a training program aimed at improving the essential skills dogs need to successfully navigate an urban environment and be happy at the same time.

This programme includes (amongst others)

• Leash skills: Walking without pulling and communicating with your dog under all circumstances.
• Rocket recall: creative rewarding so that your dog really comes when called
• Freeze!: teach your dog an emergency stop
• Terrace-training: how to train your dog to stay calm in a restaurant or terrace.
• Don’t eat that! How do you teach a dog not to pick up everything from the street?
• Drop it: How to get things out of his mouth without him swallowing it quickly or running away with it?
• Stay Close: sometimes your dog must walk close to you, for example, when walking through crowds of people
• Safe!: teach your dog a cue that ensures the dog stands or sits safely with you in, for example, the tram or bus
• Creative play sessions: Parkour-style activities that stimulate creativity and provide alternatives to free play in a constrained spatial environment. Parkour with urban furniture. Moreover, it boosts the dog’s self-confidence through various balance and coordination exercises.
• Social Skills/Trigger Resistance Training: This component is specially designed to teach your dog to deal with different stimuli, such as other dogs, cyclists, runners, and birds so that they can remain calm in busy situations. When dogs learn not to be startled by unexpected stimuli, it can increase their self-confidence and contribute to more positive behaviour in social situations.

Of course, at your dog’s level, considering his condition, both mentally and physically, and breed specifics. In other words, Ethical!

Start dates:

November 8th 2025, 13.00

January 10th 2026, 13.00