Shawn was instrumental in helping us with our dog Roxy. She was not obedient, ran our household, we could not sleep, and in general would not calm down. We tried 4 different training styles with no results. After 4 weeks of training camp with Shawn, we have seen a tremendous change. We keep seeing more results each week since camp and look forward to Shawn teaching us more when he comes for a weekly visit. This investment has been well worth it. Thank you, Shawn! read more

Best Buddy Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me - Plainfield, Connecticut

I do not usually post on Yelp, but I am compelled to respond to Qien F. I am not sure what her expectation was to have her dog trained "when her dog was already good enough". I have worked with Shawn for nine years now. My dog Gabby was tied to a tree as a puppy and she was 10 months when I got her. She was not easy to manage. She pulled when walking her on the leash, and even more so when other dogs were around. Even though I had had dogs before her, and I thought I knew dogs, she was so difficult, I was ready to give up. She was stubborn and wanted to be constantly in charge. Shawn taught me that discipline is not about teaching your dog to sit or lie down (that was easy for her), but about gaining her trust and having the authority to be in charge. He spent a lot of time teaching me. Yes, teaching me...... The problem was that I was lenient and Gabby did not trust me. He taught me how to keep my distance, gain respect, be consistent, how to gain her attention, and most importantly - how to be in charge. Gabby still goes to stay with Shawn when I travel and I am always happy to pick her up. Whenever I do, she is calm and well behaved. I tend to lose that calmness she gains by staying with him over time, so I am glad to leave her with Shawn for a refresher again and again. Gabby and I have great time together now - to think I was so frustrated I was going to give her up 9 years ago! Thank you Shawn. As a final note, I was a vet in my past life. Oral papillomas (or oral warts) in dogs are contacted frequently in puppies less than 2 years. It has more to do with age (the immune system is not fully mature) than with stressful environment. The lesions go away with time. read more

I owe so much to Shawn. We called him when we rescued a 2 yo pit bull who came from a very "loving" home but had NO prior training and def no leadership, she was just a couch potato and just did what she wanted all day every day. Never had structure or limits, and was almost certainly never told "no". We wanted to adopt Shawn's philosophy to leadership right away and get off on the right foot. Shawn has taught us more about ourselves, which is so crucial in order to become an effective leader. We struggled with many things, for me, THE WALK was the most challenging of all. My dog (and myself) had developed "leash reactivity" to dogs and walking became even more of a nightmare for me than it had been already. Shawn pointed so many things out and her misbehaving on the walk is a symptom of many subtle moments of disrespectful behaviors and lack of believable leadership, which Shawn tracked back right into our house. Some behaviors were obvious, but others were not. Once Shawn pointed out these subtleties, I noticed an immediate difference in her overall behavior. The biggest issue I have struggled tremendously with was THE WALK! Everything was just fine until an oncoming dog would come.....and it was just CHAOS! I have been pulled all over the road, lunging into the road, fallen on top of her, tripped over her and on and on. It became frustrating and tense, I couldn't get by a dog without essentially "strangling" her by if I could even manage to keep her by my side at all. ZERO respect for me, and totally ineffective communication to her. She was just gonna do what "she wanted". Shawn told me "RELAX", envision what you WANT to happen and make it happen. So with Shawn's advice/direction and the help of a great friend (and his boys Willow and Kain) who is a very calm balanced person following the same approach to leadership.... We made it happen! I didn't ruminate about what might happen or what ifs, because I said to myself, no matter what this is ending on a good note.... MY note. We did a few oncoming pass bys, I envisioned what I wanted and within a few passes my dog with a few corrections just began to ignore the other dog and even other dogs passing by. She didn't lunge, I didn't fall down, I didn't get dragged all over the place. It was like the heavens opened up and I for the first time understood what Shawn meant by make it happen. She just kept going along calmly as my friend, Willow, and Kain just got closer behind us and eventually next to us and we had a more than perfect structured walk!! So we have made amazing progress, and I have also learned to let go of the moments that don't go "great" and just try to learn something from both the good moments and the uncomfortable ones. I have learned that a moment of time with a set back is just that, it's a moment, learn from it, fix it, and forget it! Shawn is really just simply amazing, he knows the perfect time to intervene, and also knows when I need to navigate on my own, figure things out and step up to the plate. He is kind, fair, direct, and honest to both owners and their dogs alike. I am convinced Shawn can help you fix any issue (s) and as long as you are openminded, willing to work with your dog AND yourself, progress and good stuff will happen!!!! Shawn is always just a phone call or text away just like he tells you. Honestly, I feel like I should be contributing to his phone bill each month for the amount of time I call and text him lol!!!!!! Also...... "RELAX" read more

I want to share my dog's experience at best buddy dog training with you all so that you know it's not the best option to take. I got in contact with Shawn in the early November that I wanted to take my puppy to a bootcamp. My dog is very sweet but she learned a lot of bad behaviors in daycare. He said he is available for next week and requested me to pay half of the money (almost $2000) right now in order to reserve the spot. The total amount of payment is just what he told me over the phone call, without any price list. I have made up my mind that I want my dog to be excellent, not just good. So I paid the first half. Now i look back and only have regrets, since my dog is already good enough. Then the day comes. Shawn came, but forgot to bring crate to keep my dog in his car. So he just came by and observed my dog and I. The first moment he saw my dog, he tried so hard to build up his authority over my puppy and she got so scared. I should have not sent her there when I first saw this. But I didn't. The second day Shawn came to my place to pick her up. He requested me to pay rest of the amount before he arrived. I did. I paid everything before I sent my dog to bootcamp. I can't believe how stupid I am. Shawn doesn't want me to prepare anything for the whole bootcamp month. He didn't even request me to give him frontline and heartgard, but I gave them to him since it's preventative care for every month. You can tell he is really not professional, doesn't know what dog needs. I wrote a list of things that he should pay attention to about my dog's behavior. He forgot the bring it with him when he left. So I took a picture and sent it to him. It's the day my dog left me for one month. Within this month, i sent Shawn text messages to request my dog's picture and made phone call to him asking how she is doing. Shawn said she's doing great but kept forgetting sending me pictures of her. I requested several days and he finally sent it to me. picture looks okay but apparently she is not happy at all. Over the phone, as the followup of what he has been teaching to my dog, he requested me stop taking her to daycare, saying daycare people only wanna make money not care about dogs. So if i don't send my dog to daycare, she's behaving like alpha dog at home, why should i send her to your bootcamp??? I really don't get the logic here. It's like I paid 4000 for nothing but suffer and torture of my own dear dog. The day came that she arrived home. She smelt stinky, like being a stray dog for a whole month. Shawn said my puppy was with him the whole day in car and she had car sick and puked. How can you put a dog in the car for a whole day? It's too cruel. I didn't take any pictures, otherwise they would be evidences of how poorly my dog was treated in best buddy dog training that month. Shawn is so cruel to her in front of me. I was afraid he is gonna beat her if she wants to come to me to show how happy she was back home. Shawn strongly strongly requested that I have distances with my own dogs in the first week to build up authority over her. Now i look back, this request is more like an excuse that hoping i won't find out what's wrong with my dog's body. After Shawn left, I bathed my dog, and found something weird in her mouth. I googled online, and thought it might be papilloma virus, a benign tumor, which will occur when dog's immune system is vulnerable. Then I went crazy. I texted Shawn asking why my dog has it. Shawn replied: what is papilloma virus? I was so shocked that he knows nothing about dog. Then I went to emergency room in MSPCA cuz I want to give her an overall examination. The examination result shows she looses her hair like crazy. Losing so much hair in winter is abnormal. The only reasonable explanation is that she's under stress for a long time. She got 4 papilloma virus in her mouth. Doctor said it might be infected by another dog or the environment when dog's immune system is not strong enough to go against this virus. She also lost her weight. She's 9 month when she went to bootcamp, the time that dog grows but she lost weight. I cried after I came back home. I regretted so so much that I put my own dog in this situation. I am also happy that she came back, even though not that healthy, but at least she's back. It took me $150 to emergency care, and then my dog had diarrhea like crazy. She pooped 7 times a day and got lethargic after that. I have to take her to vet again and it costs me around 140 to do fecal sample examination, medicines, probiotics, and exam fee. She's still on diarrhea medicine after 2 weeks she's back. I hope she will get better soon. This one month bootcamp really doesn't teach my dog that much, only suffer and fear. His methodology only works to dog who is in the worst situation. But if you want your dog live like a stray dog for one month and you are so rich that you want to spend 4000 for nothing, you can go to best buddy dog training. Otherwise, stay away read more

BBDT has provided me with the training needed to have the Weimeraner I've always wanted. Shawn has taught me how calm and confident energy, combined with structure and enforcing boundaries, can build a life-long, happy and loving relationship with my dog. Shawn was exceedingly generous with his time, very easy to interact with, and very encouraging when he saw the progress I was making. Shawn was and is available 24/7 to help with any new issues that come up with my dog's training or just to reinforce what I've already learned and accomplished. I very highly recommend Best Buddy Dog Training to anyone who wants a balanced, happy, respectful and loving relationship with their dog. read more

I initially called Shawn Hines because my dog was becoming impossible to manage. (I tried other trainers who actually made things worse!) Shawn at Best Buddy is the real deal. You will waste your money going elsewhere, first. Like me, I guarantee you, you will end up here. So my dog was extremely hyper, jumping on everyone who would come to the door, pulling on her leash for our entire walk and basically, just not listening or following any commands. Then, one day she started snipping at me out of the blue. Things progressed over time and I thought it was something I could manage until she bit the hand of my friends kid! I was horrified. Her child is okay but that was a wake-up call. It could've been so much worse. Fast forward to today, after hiring Shawn and my dog is the perfect dog. She is SO CALM and sweet. She's basically just a very happy dog. Which means we are all happier here, at home! Shawn is a miracle worker who trained my dog and also showed me how to be a good dog owner. Follow his very clear instructions and you will have your life back. And your best buddy back! read more

Shawn helped me so much to walk with my dog and better dog/owner relationships at home.

Very rude and disrespectful business owner and trainer! Please do not bring your dog to him unless you want to Wind up like me having to bring him to small claims court for the classes that i paid upfront for and couldn't use because of his disrespectful behavior towards people and dogs! read more