A Preview Of Our Training Journey
Fuzzles Dog Training can help your pup live a better life in the city, a place made by and for humans, through positive reinforcement-focused in-home or outdoor dog training for a wide variety of needs. Learn how to have two-way communication with your dog and provide leadership in difficult situations from someone who has years of experience with the unique challenges of densely populated areas - all without using fear or pain as a training tool.
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Many city dogs experience elevated levels of fear, anxiety, and stress on walks and in the home as a result of their excellent senses. Addressing these emotions are always the first priority to improve the dog's quality of life, as they can contribute to unwanted behaviors like pulling and reactivity. If this sounds like your dog, check out our City Dog 101 programs!
We work with all breeds and ages!
Step One: Assessment
If we have never worked together, our first session will focus on sharing information about the specifics of your dog's behavior and related details, which gives us a better shot at working on the right skills in an effective way for your household's needs. Jumping right into training may result in using incorrect rewards/methods for your individual dog, missing important info the paw-rent does not know is relevant, or skipping higher priority training goals with a larger impact on the dog's health or quality of life.
Assessments may be done virtually using Zoom or FaceTime. Please be able to move with the camera to give a tour of the home, as this is critical for developing management solutions. These are ideal if the dog has behaviors that wouldn't happen with someone new in the home or is reactive to humans.
Initial Assessment
All training begins with an initial assessment, a 90-minute meeting used to create a well-rounded framework of the dog's behavior and relevant factors. We begin with a Q&A to gain better understanding of the situation before talking about what appears to be happening, achievable goals, and potential routes forward. Training usually doesn't happen during an assessment, but we'll create a management plan aimed at immediately reducing your dog's opportunities to practice unwanted behaviors during the training process. Management usually needs to be tweaked over time, but is an important (or even necessary!) first step to meeting your training goals.
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After details are reviewed, you'll receive a follow-up with resources about your dog's behavior, an estimated time frame for reaching achievable goals, and links to purchase any suitable training plan or programs we offer.
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In Person - $200
Virtual - $180
Step Two: Training
Information from the assessment is used to create a training plan tailored to your dog, home, lifestyle, and situation to be sure our time together is efficient and effective. All training is done in-home or in a public space to allow the dog to feel safe and focused while working. After each lesson, you'll get a recap of any skills we learned or practiced and homework to work on before the next session.
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Training is sold as lesson packages or programs to give your dog the best chances for success. Individual lessons are not available for purchase unless your dog has completed a package or program.
Private Lessons
Get To Know Your Dog Better Than Ever
Lessons are only sold as a part of a package so we are both on the same page about timeline, commitment, and pacing. Packages are made up of 60-minute private consultations working together with a certified professional dog trainer and your pup, spaced 1-2 weeks apart to allow time for practice. Lesson plans will be made assuming you are working with your dog to be ready for what comes next!
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These sessions focus on teaching and coaching you how to train your dog so you can practice and improve between sessions. You will receive explanation, demonstration, and coaching on training exercises with an emphasis on providing feedback on your body mechanics, timing, and so on. It's easy to search online for dog training solutions; my job is to make sure training will work for your dog, and that you're doing things properly!
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Packages are tailored to your needs and sized to give you the best chance at meeting your goals so they stick. Each session will either teach a new skill or incrementally strengthen known skills to work towards real-life situations, following a timeline we've both agreed on. All packages include one follow-up session once training has finished to address any concerns or new behaviors.
Step Three: Maintenance
Congratulations on successfully making it through the training plan! You should have the tools to be sure your dog's newfound skills will stick after our follow-up!
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However, as our lives and schedules change, your dog may develop new behaviors. Those that have completed a training plan with Fuzzles Dog Training have the option to purchase individual lessons for smaller concerns for $120. If another training package is needed, you will not need to pay for another assessment if we have worked together in the past six months.
