BAT for City Dogs & Busy Areas

This webinar is for people who are already familiar with BAT 2.0. The BAT technique for aggression, frustration, and fear works best when we can give the dog space and time to observe a situation below threshold. In a surprising number of places, it’s actually possible to create set-ups that work to do BAT in the normal wandering style.

However, if you live in downtown New York, Sao Paolo, or a number of other super-busy cities, it’s just not possible to find a space to do BAT the ‘official’ way for very long. What I often do is the wandering style of BAT for whatever small moments work (30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, whatever I can get) and the rest of the time is Mark and Move and Survival Skills.

I asked Viviane Arzoumanian, a Certified BAT instructor and experienced New York dog trainer, to teach a webinar about how to apply BAT in a truly urban setting.

Recorded live on December 15, 2020.

  • Pre-requisite: knowledge of BAT 2.0 via the book, BAT 101 online course, Empowerment series, CBATI, or some other direct source.

  • How to safely dodge dog walkers, cars, squirrels, construction, and other obstacles.

  • How to build a solid relationship as a foundation for doing urban BAT work.

  • A lot of these skills will also apply for dogs who are just temporarily in a busy situation.

  • Empowerment-based training in an urban setting.

  • Suitable for professional dog trainers as well as families with dogs.

  • Recording of a live lecture with Q&A

  • Included with Diamond Membership (see below).

When your walk is not just a walk in the park!

Living in the city is different and dogs need a different level of help to set them up for success.

  • Safe and Practical

    This webinar shows videos of how to apply the BAT technique in the worst-case scenario: cities where there are triggers everywhere and very little that you can control.

    Find ways to still set dogs up for success and empower them to choose well.

  • 2.5-hour Live Recording

    Half of the time was spent on the presentation, including Powerpoint and video. The other half was for students (dog trainers and dog families) to pose questions to Viviane, her training team, and me.

  • Bonus Material

    The whole webinar, including student questions and Viviane's (and my) replies, will be in your course player as soon as you register.

    You'll also get a PDF of the slide notes to assist your learning.

    2.5 CCPDT CEUs, 2.5 IAABC CEUs

What dog people are saying

5 star rating

Amazingly Useful Information

Trish Iriye

This city dog BAT webinar was EXCELLENT and exactly what I hoped for! I came away with great techniques to try and I just really enjoyed seeing the BAT techn...

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This city dog BAT webinar was EXCELLENT and exactly what I hoped for! I came away with great techniques to try and I just really enjoyed seeing the BAT techniques in use and being modified for busy and unpredictable environments. This is the kind of real world training that I can use with all my clients!

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Inspired by Urban BAT

stephen thomas

Just watched the Urban BAT webinar and found it very motivating. I'm not a trainer and I realize that reducing dog reactivity in my dog is going to be a long...

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Just watched the Urban BAT webinar and found it very motivating. I'm not a trainer and I realize that reducing dog reactivity in my dog is going to be a long, probably bumpy process, especially given that my dog's initial reactive distance is on the order of football field on some days. That said, Viviane, Grisha, and the rest of the team put on an excellent training session. I found the question and answer session especially helpful, it offered some terrific guidance on specific situations and gave me a shot of confidence going into my first BAT experiences with my dog. Thanks guys.

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5 star rating

Great Seminar for trainers working in cities that are fam...

Michael Preis

I enjoyed the seminar! Vivian does a great job of explaining utilizing B.A.T. in a city. Her videos really got to the heart of some of the challenges that yo...

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I enjoyed the seminar! Vivian does a great job of explaining utilizing B.A.T. in a city. Her videos really got to the heart of some of the challenges that you can face working with dogs in cities and some the adjustments that you may have to make in a training protocol. It was helpful to see that B.A.T. can still be very effective in a city environment even though it's not the most ideal setting with the ongoing ambush of stimulation and triggers. Great Q and A with Vivian, Grisha and The Pumpkin Pups Crew after the seminar!

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5 star rating

Very useful for everyday situations

Tijana Popivoda

This is one of the most useful webinars I ever attended related to dog’s reactivity issues. It’s very useful for everyday situations if you are living in a b...

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This is one of the most useful webinars I ever attended related to dog’s reactivity issues. It’s very useful for everyday situations if you are living in a big city. Thank you!

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Interesting, usable & fun

Erica Weeda

I love this webinar, lots of recognizable situations, useful tips, and presented in a clear and fun way! Very inspiring for the urban walks with my bouncy ...

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I love this webinar, lots of recognizable situations, useful tips, and presented in a clear and fun way! Very inspiring for the urban walks with my bouncy and sensitive 7 months old akita boy. By the way - the tips on how to stop strangers from attempting to pet your dog were hilarious - definitely going to use them too. :-)

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5 star rating

Fantastic webinar

Nathalie Jones

I loved this webinar, Viviane is so easy to listen to. Very informative and reassuring that I'm doing things right, or at least in the right direction. Hug...

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I loved this webinar, Viviane is so easy to listen to. Very informative and reassuring that I'm doing things right, or at least in the right direction. Huge thank you to Grisha and the team, for taking the time to answer ALL of the questions that were asked.

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5 star rating

Just what I needed!

Vanessa Hassuo

Living in a big busy city and having a reactive (to people and animals) dog, I've always strugled putting the BAT technics in practice because of the lack of...

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Living in a big busy city and having a reactive (to people and animals) dog, I've always strugled putting the BAT technics in practice because of the lack of open and tranquil spaces. This webinar opened my eyes to many training opitions and gave me strength to keep helping my girl.

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5 star rating

Heel verhelderend

Miranda Segers

Heel verhelderende uiteenzetting van een toch moeilijk hanteerbare begeleiding maar het geeft zo'n voldoening wanneer je honden ziet ontspannen en moeilijkhe...

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Heel verhelderende uiteenzetting van een toch moeilijk hanteerbare begeleiding maar het geeft zo'n voldoening wanneer je honden ziet ontspannen en moeilijkheden ziet overwinnen op deze manier! Bedankt (Very enlightening explanation of a guidance that is still difficult to handle but it gives such satisfaction when you see dogs relax and overcome difficulties in this way! Thanks)

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5 star rating

I could attend one of these webinars every day <3

Jennifer Ratliff

This webinar was so helpful in encouraging me that it is not my imagination that city living is a challenge for my dog and me. We are both always on alert! H...

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This webinar was so helpful in encouraging me that it is not my imagination that city living is a challenge for my dog and me. We are both always on alert! Hearing Viviane and the PumpkinPups pack was helpful in both the presentation and in the Q&A session. THANKS!

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Excellent!

Simone Müller

I loved the webinar on Urban BAT with Viviane Arzoumanian from New York. It was very interesting to see that BAT works in such a busy and challenging environ...

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I loved the webinar on Urban BAT with Viviane Arzoumanian from New York. It was very interesting to see that BAT works in such a busy and challenging environment. I especially liked the exit strategies, that Viviane showed in her videos.

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Such useful practical skills!!!

Debbie Goodwin

Amazing experience and brilliant case reviews. So motivated by this to use in urban areas not just in fields. Very confidence building for professionals

Amazing experience and brilliant case reviews. So motivated by this to use in urban areas not just in fields. Very confidence building for professionals

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5 star rating

Handy tips for reactive dogs in city spaces

Jennifer Gumas

Owning a reactive dog in the city can be tough! This webinar had some nice tips and videos; I'll be recommending it to my reactive dog clients!

Owning a reactive dog in the city can be tough! This webinar had some nice tips and videos; I'll be recommending it to my reactive dog clients!

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About the Instructor

I chose Viviane to teach this webinar because she is a CBATI who has been training with BAT in New York City for a long time. I greatly respect her work.

Professional Dog Trainer

Viviane Arzoumanian, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CBATI-KSA

Viviane is an inspiring dog trainer based in New York City, USA. She's been training dogs and conducting behavior consultations with gentle, humane and fair methods, as PumpkinPups Dog Training, since 2005 after studying with Pat Miller.

She and her team cover a wide range of dog ages, breeds, and training needs, starting from the basics of getting new puppies and their families off to a great start, to adolescent dogs who have suddenly begun to act like teenagers, to dogs of all ages with fear and reactivity problems. Viviane enjoys the challenge of finding just the right combination of the tools in her training toolbox to create a plan that will help each dog and their people reach their behavior change goals.

Viviane earned her Certified BAT Instructor certification in the second 5-Day BAT Instructor’s Course I (Grisha) taught in Nov. 2012 and then was a Team Leader with me at the two 5-Day BAT Instructor’s Courses that followed in May 2013 and June 2014.

Viviane was a Practical Skills Evaluator of CBATI Certification Applications from January 2015 to 2017. She lives in Brooklyn and works with dogs and their families in less than ideal BAT set-up conditions. This has required her to be creative and use an amalgam of BAT based techniques both 1.0 and 2.0 mixed with classical counter-conditioning.

Student Experience

5 star rating

Great tips for dogs living in busy environments!

Sabrina Fales

Viviane demonstrates techniques that are extremely useful in not-so-desirable situations. Even though my dogs and I do not live in a city, we sometimes get i...

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Viviane demonstrates techniques that are extremely useful in not-so-desirable situations. Even though my dogs and I do not live in a city, we sometimes get into situations in our neighborhood where we must come up with unconventional exit strategies to get out of there! Vivianne, Grisha, and the whole PumpkinPups team were helpful in the Q&A as well. This is definitely a must-watch for dogs in urban environments, but I think the information is valuable and applicable to many different situations. Thank you for this great presentation!

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5 star rating

Fantastic Course - Incredibly Helpful.

Marion Heggie

I cannot speak highly enough of this course. Viviane's knowledge and presentation style is fantastic. The advice and many tips within this course and the Q&a...

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I cannot speak highly enough of this course. Viviane's knowledge and presentation style is fantastic. The advice and many tips within this course and the Q&A with her team and Grisha in the second half of the course adds even more to this perfect webinar. Thank you so much Viviane.

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so much!

Catie Louwers

This was amazing, so much info, I loved the Questions/answers section a lot too! Working with a really over aroused dog (any vehicule) this was really helpfu...

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This was amazing, so much info, I loved the Questions/answers section a lot too! Working with a really over aroused dog (any vehicule) this was really helpfull! Thank you!

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Amazing

Elin Bååth

This has been so helpful for me living with a reactive dog. Very many hands on advice

This has been so helpful for me living with a reactive dog. Very many hands on advice

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Useful ideas from real situations

Yumi Nagaoka

Appreciated a lot of videos and how to handle real situations. Urban walk is not our primal activity, but it's necessary sometimes to get to the place where ...

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Appreciated a lot of videos and how to handle real situations. Urban walk is not our primal activity, but it's necessary sometimes to get to the place where we can enjoy ourselves. Discussion was also good especially about "food" at the end was very insightful. Urban environment is very challenging to dogs like mine, and the webinar is very helpful for me to make sure my dog would feel safe as much as possible.

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