Note: only those that have registered and paid are guaranteed a spot and placed in the queue to be scheduled. Also, we provide at home training inside the beltway in the following areas: Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Annandale, and McLean and DC.
If you have any questions, please email the training department.
In addition to phone consults, we can conduct private sessions at your home or at our training facility. All private sessions include a personalized training plan tailored to you and your dog. Your family members are also welcome to be a part of the sessions.
Our private offerings include sessions specific to good manners, reactivity, and NoseWork. We offer single sessions with appropriate follow-ups or multi-session packages. If you aren't sure which to choose, start with a Private Consult.
Phone Consult - General (click to view description)
Register NowLength: 30 minutes
Cost: $45
One 30 minute phone consultation for personal advice on your specific problem. The trainer will analyze your situation and provide a personalized action plan and suggested next steps.
Private Consult (click to view description)
Length: 60 minutes
Cost: $180 at home / $155 at facility or virtual session
One private training session, customized to your situation. After the session, you will receive a personalized action plan so you can follow through on the advice provided during your consult.
Follow-up Consult - Non-reactive (click to view description)
Length: 60 minutes
Cost: $150 at home / $125 at facility or virtual session
A follow-up training session, designed to reinforce any of the private training services received from our training department.
Basic Manners Package (click to view description)
Length: 4 one hour sessions
Cost: $600 at home / $500 at facility
or virtual session
Four private training session, customized to your situation. Training sessions focus on good manners such as name recognition and attention, sit, down, recalls, settle, handling and grooming, loose leash walking, drop it, leave it, wait, go to place, etc. After each session, you will receive a personalized action plan so you can follow through on the advice provided during your consult.
Coached Playdates - 5 pack (click to view description)
Length: Five 45 minute sessions
Cost: $300 at facility only
Five private training sessions with you and 1 additional dog friend that your dog is familiar with. Trainer will provide supervised introductions or compatible off-leash play sessions if the dogs choose to engage. The trainer will coach you on reading your dog's body language, identifying stress signals, understanding appropriate communication between dogs and non-appropriate communication that may require you to intervene and how you would intervene. To keep your dog’s off-leash experiences safe and enjoyable for all, you will be shown best management protocols and behavior cues (e.g. body blocking, touch, name, harness handling, and recall) for you to learn and practice.
Puppy Package (click to view description)
Length: 4 one hour sessions
Cost: $600 at home / $500 at facility or virtual session
Four private training session, customized to your situation. Designed for puppies less than 6 months of age and focuses on socialization, manners, redirection, crate and potty training, mouthing, handling and grooming, and attention behaviors. After each session, you will receive a personalized action plan so you can follow through on the advice provided during your consult.
Reactive Package - 4 pack (click to view description)
Length: Four 30 minute sessions
Cost: $440 at home / $340 at facility or virtual session
Four 30 minute reactive training sessions, customized to your situation. Designed for dogs that are reactive to people or other dogs.
Reactive Package - 8 pack (click to view description)
Length: Eight 30 minute sessions
Cost: $760 at home / $560 at facility
Eight 30 minute reactive training sessions, customized to your situation. Designed for dogs that are reactive to people or other dogs.
Separation Anxiety Package - 8 pack (click to view description)
Length: Eight 15-minute virtual sessions
Cost: $560 virtual
Does your dog freak out when you leave? More specifically, are your neighbors complaining about your dog being vocal barking and crying. Are you at risk of being kicked out of your building due to the noise?
Many dogs want to go with us when we leave, but not all of those dogs have separation issues. Separation Anxiety is a condition diagnosed by a veterinarian. Separation or Isolation Distress is a more global, non medical term that can include those animals who panic upon being left alone. Typical behaviors related to such a panic include, vocalizing when alone, letting go of bowels or bladder, digging or destroying parts of the home close to the exits, pacing while you’re getting ready to leave, blocking the exit when you try to leave. These are heart breaking circumstances but there are ways to address this and reduce those panicky behaviors.
This 8-week program involves you being led through daily exercises (5 days out of the week). Each exercise session is about 20 min that you will do at home on your own. You will have a 15-minute virtual meeting with your trainer every week to report on progress and adjust the training plan as needed. The progression of the exercises are adjusted for the physical layout of your home and how your dog does each week.
Trainer Development for Dog Walks (click to view description)
Length: 30-minute sessions at home (packages of 5 or 10 sessions)
Cost: $475/5 sessions or $825/10 sessions
Getting your dog comfortable with someone coming into your home, and harnessing and leashing them can sometimes take more than the initial consultation with a dog walker. Some dogs are hesitant when people enter the home. They might cower, or growl, or avoid being leashed. These dogs need extra support. For dogs with these characteristics, the best practice is for an experienced trainer to come to the home to learn more about your dog before having your dog go on walks with a dog walker. The trainer will develop a solid protocol for the dog walker so that your dog can have successful walks in the future. Many of these skills will also apply if your dog is hesitant when you have visitors.
For each dog, the progression will be unique. The first session will usually be with the trainer. Subsequent sessions will be with the trainer alone, the trainer and the dog walker, or the dog walker will come alone. This is a sample schedule (if using our dog walking service, the cost to include our dog walker is covered in this package):
The course and timing of the training will depend on your dog. Your trainer will take steps to increase the likelihood of your dog’s success with the dog walker. Your trainer will meet with you and your dog initially for history and observation. Once your dog is comfortable with the trainer, through the subsequent sessions, the trainer will be developing a protocol for entering your home, introducing the walker to your dog, and finally having the walker practice being alone with your dog. Sometimes the trainer is involved with the walker remotely for some of the steps. The overall goal is for you to have your dog cared for with the physical and emotional safety of all in mind. Your trainer will communicate daily what parts of the developed protocols were considered and practiced. Your trainer might seek more information as the plan comes into fruition.
At the conclusion of these sessions the trainer will contact you to schedule a follow-up 30 minute phone consultation. During this consultation, the trainer will relay the recommended protocol and report the status of how well your dog and dog walker have acclimated. Depending on the progress, your trainer may suggest further sessions are required for the walker to be able to safely come in alone and walk your dog.