Phase One: Obedience and Agility Training

The perfect dog does not beg, chew, or jump. It has learned that it is not allowed on the furniture, and stops barking when it is told. The perfect dog is part of the family, willing to earn its place in the pack with unconditional love. Our trainers will bring out these qualities in the dogs through patience, praise, and reward.

Since every dog has a different personality, agility training is a great way to see what makes each one come alive. It’s a time for them to show off, and a great outlet for their energies. Agility training also gives the dogs more confidence and teaches them focus while polishing their obedience conditioning. There are plenty of agility competitions around Los Angeles, which are a healthy way for the new family to bond with their new dog. Ginger’s House will also host agility picnics. It’s great fun for the children and for the dogs.

Once the first group of dogs moves on to the second phase, we rescue another group of mixed breeds to begin their first phase.

Phase Two: Acclimation to Urban Life

During this phase, the dogs-in-training will be flooded with real-world situations; children, crowds, grandma and grandpa, leaf blowers, wheelchairs, skateboards, bicycles, etc. Our trainers will concentrate on any undesirable behavior until it no longer exists.

Ginger’s House involves abused children between the ages 7 and 12 in the training, to acclimate the dogs to children and to offer children the healing love that dogs can provide.

As this group moves on to its third phase, still another group of mixed breeds are brought in from rescue to start training at Ginger’s House.

Phase Three: Companion/Therapy Dog Certification

Therapy dogs have an amazing, almost magical, effect on people. When a dog walks into a room, blood pressures drop and stress levels are reduced. Children often have the same effect. We are combining these two proven elements, both for the restorative results that are generated in, for example, a burn unit or an elderly assisted living facility, and for the huge benefits this activity yields for our foster kids and dogs.

Once the dogs have completed their obedience training and have been introduced to the children, they can start working together. This helps acclimate the dogs to children. The children learn the basics of how to handle the dogs and once they are certified as therapy dogs, the children will escort the dogs into hospitals to help aid in patient recovery.

Note— while this group becomes qualified for their fourth phase, more mixed breeds will be selected to start training.

Phase Four: Adoptive Matchmaking and Orientation with the New Family

Once we make an appropriate match for a dog, the family is invited to the ranch to begin working toward bringing home their newest pack member. By this phase of our training, we have a detailed file on each dog-candidate, including notations from all our dog handlers. This profiling of each dog’s physical health, agility, personality, characteristics, etc. is built over three months of daily observations; no other process of acquiring a dog anywhere in the world is as thorough.

At this point, our “mutts” are better trained and prepared than their potential owners. So when the new family meets their dog, it is on the condition that they devote that day, plus subsequent visits during the following weeks, to learn what it means to be a leader to their new dog and how to satisfy it’s need to be a successful member of their pack. During this period, obedience training is demonstrated.

Our goal is to successfully place at least 120 “mutts” into permanent homes each year.