Frequently Asked Questions

  • In short, puppies under 6 months of age and no severe behavioral challenges such as reactivity, separation anxiety, or resource guarding should do The Ruby Package.

    Dogs over 6 months or puppies with behavioral challenges are assigned to The Liam Package.

    For support during your puppy’s first 18 months, The Mermaid Package is perfect for you!

    We also offer Stay & Trains for a polish or headstart on skill. Your dog stays with us during this time and is therefore only available to clients who have already or are scheduled to work with us.

    Once you finish working with us, we offer The Maude Package with three, short refresh lessons or the ability to book single refresh lessons.

  • We work with behaviors ranging from manners to reactivity, anxiety, and resource guarding.

    Most dogs arrive at their first lesson with over excitement/arousal, nervous system dysregulation, reactivity, anxiety, behaviors such as jumping on guests, counter surfing, as well as “not listening” when asked to recall, go in the crate, or lay down to relax.

  • Lessons are an hour long! We work for ~45 minutes, and the remainder is left for questions and to summarize key points.

    We generally start outside (I meet you at your home) to go for a walk and do some leash drills, then we head inside to work on crate, place, thresholds, and more.

    Please have all non-working dogs crated and/or in another room while we are training for as few distractions as possible. Children are welcome to join if they are well behaved and can follow instructions (generally 6+ years of age)!

  • For The Ruby, The Liam, and The Mermaid, I come to you! For The Maude, you come to me.

    We meet every 10-14 days for The Ruby package and weekly for The Liam. Please read through The Mermaid for more info on that schedule!

    If you live beyond our included mileage (20 miles round trip), additional mileage can be added - billed at our current rate. If you would like to work with us remotely, we do offer online training and consultations.

  • All family members do not need to attend every lesson, but one primary person should be designated as the “trainer” and attend all sessions for continuity.

    Kids are welcome to attend lessons as long as they do not distract the adult(s) or dog(s) or obstruct learning.

    • Fanny pack

    • LOTS of treats

    • Poop bags

    • Your usual tools (leash, collar, prong, e-collar, etc.)

    • Muzzle (if your dog has bitten or attempted to bite a human)

    • Cot (available on Amazon or Chewy - price varies)

    • Crate (if you want to work on crate training, we highly recommend Ruffland, Impact, or a sturdy wire crate!)

  • Each day looks pretty close to the schedule below, although please note that it changes daily (times are approximate):

    • 4am: wake up + first potty

    • 6:30am: second potty + breakfast

    • 7:30am: walk

    • 9am: nap in crate

    • 11am: potty + social time in yard

    • 1pm: place or relaxation time

    • 4pm: nap in crate or social time in yard

    • 6pm: dinner + potty break

    • 8pm: bedtime potty

  • Yes, we do! Oral medication is included at no extra cost but special care (including but not limited to: wound, topical, ear, and eye medications) costs 50% of the special dog tax fee