Positive Reinforcement Dog and Puppy Training

What kind of people are successful with private lessons? Although there’s not one cookie cutter answer, we typically see stay at home moms, young couples, college students,  self-employed people, and retirees take advantage of our private in-home programs. In order for a private in-home program to be successful you have to ensure that between lessons with your dog training instructor (us!) you can be providing daily training and reinforcement of learned behaviors with your dog. Having a private dog trainer is like hiring a fitness coach. We can teach you how to lose the weight and get fit, but ultimately it’s up to you to make sure you’re going to the gym everyday. The same is true of dog training. We can show you hands on how smart and capable your dog is, but the accountability is on you to be doing your homework between sessions. Why do people choose private lessons? So that the experience is 100% customized, and you can learn how to be your dog’s trainer at every step of the way.

What kind of people are successful with group classes? See above answer. The same holds pretty true in terms of available time that you have. You’ll be require to come to class one time a week to participate in class with your dog and other students, and be responsible for doing your homework between scheduled classes. There are three main reasons why someone would choose group classes over private lessons. 1) Price  2) Their dog has excellent obedience at home but needs more practice around distractions 3) They have a new puppy and understand how critical it is to take a puppy socialization class (so, SO critical!). Yes, group classes are always the most economical option when it comes to dog training. Keep in mind however that you do share instructor time so specific behavior concerns cannot always be addressed in a group setting. Our instructors do do their best though to always answer any and every questions our students have during class.

What kind of people are successful with Board and Train programs? Ready for the answer? Everyone. Really? Everyone. Yes. Everyone. You see, when we get the training started (or finished) for you, we are the ones accountable for your dog’s training. Dog training takes a lot of time, patience, and skill. Yes, we are excellent at instructing other humans how to train their dogs, but we are even better at DOG TRAINING! So what kind of people choose to do a board and train program? Good intentioned, wonderful people who simply don’t have the time to train their own dog. These types of people typically include busy professionals, families with young kids, elderly folks, people who travel frequently… anyone (and everyone) who really wants to have a well trained dog but just can’t find the time. But how is it that anyone, and everyone, can be successful at doing our board and train program? Because it’s not just about the time your dog will spend at our facility in doggie bootcamp, but also about the support we will provide to you following your dog’s board and train program. Curious? Check it out on our board and train page. Oh and one more thing that I almost forgot to mention. You can live anywhere in the world and still take advantage of our board and train program. That’s the beauty of sleep away camp for dogs!

And, lastly, we offer what’s called day training. If you’re not in a rush to accomplish your dog training goals, and are looking for a more economical alternative to board and train, you can bring your dog to our daily daycamp which is just like taking your kid to school everyday, but for dogs. Not only do the doggies on our property get off leash play with other dogs everyday (which wears them out!), but they also get training. How cool is that! Your dog comes home tired, and smarter. Not too shabby.

So… to wrap it all up, here’s some common behaviors that we can modify using positive reinforcement training in any of our programs:

• Begging for food (during mealtimes, etc.)
• Destructive behavior
• Bolting out the door
• Obsessions (vacuums, mailmen, UPS trucks!)
• Jumping up on people
• Excessive barking