About Canine Sports Zone

An indoor dog-sports facility, not a pet-manners school

Canine Sports Zone describes itself as "the Madison area's largest indoor dog training, trial and event facility." The building carries "Four separate climate controlled training areas – 3 Arenas with turf, 1 Ring with rubber matting," and the site stresses that as a competition venue you can "Practice in the environment where you'll be trialing," since CSZ hosts trials for "AKC, UKI, USDAA, ASCA and more."

Classes

The classes page lists the sports taught: "We offer an abundance of classes in agility, nosework, rally, obedience and flyball! These sports are for ALL ages and levels!" The home page adds tracking and tricks to that list and says classes run "from Beginner to Master," singling out "our popular Weave, Teeter and Contacts classes" as "designed to teach drive, independence and confidence." Sessions are fixed-length and registration is first come, first served, with a free waitlist when a class fills; drop-in classes and ring rentals are also offered for handlers who want to train their own dogs in the space.

Method and suitability

The facility states its methods plainly on the classes page: "We are a positive reinforcement training facility. No flexi-leashes, prong, choke, or e-collars are allowed in the facility." It is equally plain about fit: "Dog sports can be exciting and are not ideal for dogs with dog-dog aggression or on-leash arousal concerns."

Who runs it

The about page says the concept "was a team effort" and that CSZ exists because "Madison needed a trial and training facility where dog owners could work together." Founder, owner and director is Shawna Richgels, whom the site credits with "over 20 + years in the dog training business before forming Canine Sports Zone," and says she left a job of 23 years in 2014 to open it. Co-owner and instructor Deb Schulman is described as having coached collegiate volleyball at UW-Platteville for 30 years before dog training and as having "over 15 years of instructional experience in agility and dog training." The site is clear that competing is optional: "Regardless whether people wish to compete or not, Canine Sports Zone is excited to work with ALL teams, of all ages."