We have an 8-month old Irish Terrier who is a really sweet puppy, but he was having some trouble with basic manners and following direction. Typical puppy stuff: he was running all over the furniture, jumping on everyone, gnawing on hands and fingers, eating shoes, clothes, and pillows, trying to eat people food, chasing birds/squirrels/rabbits, pulling really hard on the leash during walks, barking loud in the house, eating trash and poop off the ground, growling at other dogs on the street, etc.
We took advantage of a spring break trip to enroll our pup into the Suburban K9 Board & Train Boot Camp. This is where one of their professional trainers takes your dog into their own home for 2 weeks. Your dog lives in their house with his/her family and other pets. While there, your dog will be taught how to behave in a more appropriate manner by learning how to listen to commands, and he'll be much more respectful to you and your home. An added bonus is that for hyperactive puppies like ours, they come home much more calm because they've learned new behaviors and have new outlets for their mental and physical energy. The cost was a bit of a sticker shock at first, but when we considered that we'd have this dog in our family for at least 15+ years, we decided it was worth the investment in getting him properly trained by professionals.
After booking the training, SK9 emailed us a thorough questionnaire to prepare a specialized training program for our dog. A couple of weeks later, Nelson arrived at our house at the scheduled day and time. While at our house, he spent extra time getting to know our dog and asking us a bunch of questions about his behavior, things we wanted to focus on, and explained the way they were planning to train him. He then took him to his house and we went on our trip.
After 2 weeks, our dog came home and was a completely different dog. He no longer pulls hard on the leash. He walks perfectly right next to my knee, and he utilizes a lot of mental energy on trying to keep pace with me during walks. He also learned to sit, down, stay, place, and free. He no longer eats poop or trash off the ground. He doesn't chase squirrels or birds anymore. Whenever he's around other dogs, he's much more mellow and doesn't try to attack and growl at them. He's still interested in what we're eating, but he will now leave us alone without trying to jump on the table and steal our food. He doesn't bite our hands anymore, even though we can tell he wants to, he just knows better now. Overall, he's just a much more respectable and calm dog, which works better for everyone. Don't get me wrong, he's still very sweet and full of fun, so don't worry about them taking this away. Your dog will just learn that there's a time and place for play time.
As an added bonus, the trainer will come back to your home twice in the weeks after your dog comes home. This is to ensure that your family is keeping-up with the training and that your dog isn't forgetting what he learned. They will also help you address any new issues that you might be concerned about. Also, our trainer has been incredibly good about immediately responding to any emailed questions I've had about my dog, and how to train or correct his behavior.
Several people in our neighborhood have noticed a significant improvement in our dog's behavior and they've asked where we got him trained. I always tell them about Suburban K9 and highly recommend it. read more