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BH235: The Big Feelings Dog: Using Control Unleashed and Free Work to Build Resilience and Lower Arousal

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BH235: The Big Feelings Dog: Using Control Unleashed and Free Work to Build Resilience and Lower Arousal

Course Details

Calling all BIG feelings dogs! Whether your dog demonstrates his feelings loudly and with big actions, or quietly and suppressed, this class is for you. We’re going to take a deep dive into the Control Unleashed skills that work best for our big feelings dogs. In addition to addressing general calming techniques and patterns and take a look at lifestyle and environment, we will also tackle the complex CU skill of Look At That (LAT).

When taught carefully and thoughtfully, LAT can become the game changer that turns triggers into opportunities for quite communication. We’ll also use the Animal Centred Education (ACE) framework called Free Work to address your dog’s emotions and physical structure in a way that lowers arousal, builds healthy patterns, and shapes physical and cognitive comfort, without the need of access to triggers or training. This class will change the way your dog feels from the bottom up, providing a healthier and happier dog for whatever their lifestyle requires.

Teaching Approach:

Kim releases lectures every few days based on the classroom progress. Skill-based lectures will include written text, a tutorial video, step-by-step instructions, and occasionally additional demonstration videos. Concept lectures will be mostly written text with occasional demonstration videos. Because this is a new class, bonus lectures or discussions may be added in addition to what’s listed on the syllabus.

Feedback is unique to each individual student and their needs. The feedback is written and may include timestamps or screenshots to point out specific points in the video (especially for Free Work exercises.) Focus is placed not just on the skill itself, but also the handler’s mechanics and the dog’s physical and emotional comfort level to ensure the most progress can be made. Recommended next steps are often included.

Kim will also offer a few Zoom sessions throughout the class (open to ALL students) to lecure on specific skills and answer questions about classroom content.

This class will have a Certified Control Unleashed Instructor, Nicole DuFresne, as the primary TA for the bronze and silver levels for part of the class.

This class qualifies for CEUs!

Kim PalermoInstructor: Kim Palermo

Kim Palermo CPDT-KA (she/her) is a Certified Control Unleashed Instructor and ACE (Animal Centred Education) Practitioner. She specializes in teaching Control Unleashed and ACE Free Work with private clients, teaches a high volume of in-person CU classes, and incorporates CU into all of her membership-style group pet dog classes for her dog training business, BlueDog, located north of Boston...(Click here for full instructor bio)

Syllabus

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Weekly Schedule of Lectures

Because this is a brand new class, this schedule is flexible and may change as I continue to update lectures based on students' progress.

Week 1
LAT Lecture: Truly Understanding the Look At That Game (LAT)
LAT Skill: Looking at a Neutral Object in Your Hand
Lecture: What I Mean by Thresholds
Relaxation Lecture: A Portable Relaxation Skill
Relaxation Skill: Attraction to the Mat
Pattern Lecture: The Benefit of Patterns

Week 2
Free Work Lecture: An Introduction to Free Work
LAT Skill: Looking at a Neutral Object Placed Down
Relaxation Skill: Building the Picture of Relaxation
Pattern Lecture: Management Versus Counter Conditioning - Which One to Choose
Pattern Skill: The Up Down Game
Free Work Lecture: Considering Structure and Comfort for Your Big Feelings Dog

Week 3
Free Work Skill: Determining the Best Free Work Stations for Your Dog
LAT Lecture: Looking Versus Indicating
LAT Lecture: A Command, a Cue, or a Question - It’s All About the Conversation
LAT Skill: Adding Your LAT Verbal Cue
Relaxation Skill: Take A Breath
Pattern Skill: Whiplash Turn

Week 4
Start Button Lecture: What is a Start Button and Why Do We Use One
Free Work Skill: Setting Up a Free Work Session
LAT Skill: The LAT Sequence - Setups
Relaxation Skill: Building Duration with Down for the Count
Pattern Skill: Give Me A Break
Start Button Skill: Building a Dog’s Choice Start Button

Week 5
LATTE Skill: Setting Up a LATTE Session (Look At That, Then Enrichment)
LAT Skill: The LAT Sequence - In the Real World
Pattern Skill: Super Bowls
LATTE Lecture: Why LATTE Takes LAT to a Whole New Level
Start Button Skill: Voluntary Sharing - Working Through Resource Guarding

Week 6
LAT Lecture: When and How to Introduce LAT into the Real World
Start Button Skill: Requested Approach Training - Helping with Stranger Danger
Bonus Pattern Skill: The Chair Game

Prerequisites and Equipment

 Recommended equipment can include some or all of these:

Targets

Snuffle Mats of your dog's preference

Items to raise snuffle mats (any household item works, or stools of varying sizes like this one.)

Lick Mats

Lick & Learn

Sample Lecture

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Testimonials & Reviews

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New class for the August 2025 session.

Registration

Next session starts: August 1, 2025
Registration starts: July 22, 2025
Registration ends: August 15, 2025

Registration opens at 10:00am Pacific Time.

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