No, we do not. We have found that the success of board and trains across the industry is not as effective or long lasting as in-home training. A dog is not a computer that you can send away to get programmed for a couple weeks.  Alternatively, we offer a much more affordable and effective option called Day Training.  This service gives you the joys of having your dog at home, keeping tabs on their training every day, and allows you to continue to bond with your dog during these essential learning times.

 No, we do not. All of our training methods utilize positive reinforcement, force-free training techniques.  These methods have been scientifically proven to be the most effective long term, with the least likelihood of negative fallout behaviors.  BUT we are a non-judgemental, compassionate company that wants to talk through your concerns about your dog’s behavior.  If you’ve used any of these tools in the past, and either want to learn a new way, or don’t see a problem with it, we’d love to still work with you, we just won’t be continuing to incorporate them in our lessons.  You can read more about why we avoid punishment-based training methods here!

Absolutely not!  The rules you have for your household and your dog are yours.  We may make suggestions based on your dog’s developmental stage to set them up for success, but we want to give you the life you’ve always dreamed of with your dog.

It is never too early to start training your dog.  However, our goals for younger puppies are going to be different than our goals for an adult dog.  Just like a child, we wouldn’t expect them to learn calculus before they learn their numbers.  For our young puppies we start by focusing on the 3 Pillars of Puppyhood: housetraining, puppy nipping, and socialization.  From there we start to add on foundational skills that will continue to support your dog’s ongoing education. 

We can provide basic obedience guidance for these cases, but they are not our speciality.  If you’re looking for help in these areas, please let us know and we’ll refer you to a trainer within our Force Free community who can help you meet your goals.  We want you to get the best training possible for your dog, even if it’s not with us!

 Yes, we start out with a lot of treat training.  But as we move through your training program we’ll talk about how to effectively wean treats, advance behaviors, and make sure that we’re using food as a REWARD and not a BRIBE.

Don’t worry about getting a big supply of equipment before training.  We’ll help advise you on appropriate toys, treats, and tools for your training.  We recommend having a good number of small, pea-sized treats available, a collar/harness and leash, and your top goals for your dog.

Absolutely!  We welcome all members of the family to help support your new dog’s training journey.  However, we do recommend that an adult be present for the skills that may not be appropriate for younger children to handle.