Training Philosophy
Our personalized puppy training programs combine the luxury of in-home, private training with the latest science-based training methods. Each Kansas City puppy training program is designed around your lifestyle and is as unique as your puppy! Whether you are an experienced dog owner or this is your first time experiencing puppyhood, there is nothing quite like bringing your new puppy home for the first time. Our Kansas City puppy training program allows for seamless transitions from training sessions into real life. We want your puppy to go on relaxing walks with you around Loose Park, shop at Town Center Plaza, or visit The Village to grab coffee! We want to create a lifelong love of learning for every puppy we encounter!
Our Kansas City team is led by one of the few Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists in the country, Dr. Echterling-Savage. Each one of your puppy’s training sessions will consist of individualized attention from one of our highly qualified behavior consultants. We offer both in-home puppy training programs as well as puppy board and train programs. We will teach you how to potty train a puppy, how to crate train a puppy, how to socialize a puppy, and answer any other questions you might have about how to train a puppy along the way. We craft our Kansas City puppy training programs around what matters most to you. Our puppy training programs will ensure your puppy is set up for a lifetime of success through our unparalleled system of assessing, predicting, and modifying puppy behavior.
Training Programs
To teach your puppy everything they need to know to be a well-behaved adult dog! Your program will be personalized based on your specific puppy training goals such as:
To achieve long-lasting training results, we take a functional approach to puppy training. Puppy training is easy and fun once you understand why a puppy engages in problem behavior and how puppies learn. Once the reason why the puppy is engaging in problem behavior is determined, we can create a training plan that directly targets the root of the problem. Function-based puppy training is scientifically proven to reduce puppy problem behavior such as puppy biting as seen in a 2022 study by Waite and Kodak. According to our resident CAAB, Dr. Echterling-Savage, “When a puppy training plan is designed around functional consequences, puppy problem behavior such as biting can be significantly reduced in as little as three days and in many cases the problem behavior is completely gone within one month. That is the power of our science-based puppy training programs.”
Our All-Inclusive Training Program is our most comprehensive in-home puppy training program that encompasses 20 training sessions across 5 intensive weeks with 2 follow-up sessions spanning a total of 22 training sessions over 8 weeks! This program has been designed to achieve high-level obedience training across a wide variety of Kansas City parks, dog-friendly stores, and wherever else you’d like training to occur. After you submit your training contract and Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, our pre-training team, led by Dr. Echterling-Savage, uses the information provided to craft your personalized puppy training program. Then, your trainer will put your training plan into action! Your trainer will work with your puppy one-on-one for three (1) hour sessions during the week. The fourth session each week is dedicated to your training! After the 5-week-long training program, there are 2 follow-up sessions to support your progress. Each one of our training sessions is preplanned and based on data we have collected across 4 markets and 20+ years of training animals. We maximize your puppy’s learning efficiency by running a certain number of trials across a certain speed for each obedience command we teach! We aim to create a lifelong love of learning for each puppy we train.
Our goal is for your puppy to get a jump start on obedience training and master three to four puppy behaviors or obedience commands in one to two locations such as your home, neighborhood, local park, or local dog-friendly restaurant. We can address the following:
How to potty train your puppy
How to crate train your puppy
How to leash train your puppy
How to train your puppy not to bite
How to socialize your puppy
How to train advanced obedience (come, sit, down, wait, place, stay, etc.)
Our in-home Kansas City puppy training programs are incredibly unique because of our functional approach to puppy training. Taking a functional approach allows us to understand why a puppy is engaging in problem behavior in the first place. Then, we can craft personalized puppy training programs tailored directly to your puppy’s needs. Research supports functional treatment as highly effective in reducing puppy manners such as jumping as seen in a 2019 study by Arnott et al. According to our CAAB Dr. Ectherling-Savage, “Our special positive reinforcement procedures teach puppies exactly how we expect them to behave both in the home and while out in public!”
We provide on-location training in Kansas City for one hour, three days a week for three to four weeks. After you submit your training contract and Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, our pre-training team, led by Dr. Echterling-Savage, uses the information provided to craft your personalized puppy training program. Then, your trainer will put your training plan into action! Your trainer will work with your puppy one-on-one for two sessions each week. The third session will be your training day where we focus on developing your puppy training skills! This puppy training program is best suited for addressing 2-3 obedience commands and puppy manners. This program is available to puppies 14 weeks and older.
To teach your puppy a strong foundation of socialization and advanced obedience with consistent reinforcement of good behavior at your trainer’s home. Your puppy’s training plan will be customized based on you and your puppy’s individual needs and can include:
Your puppy will live in your trainer’s home rather than at a traditional boarding facility, giving your puppy a significant training advantage. Our trainers will use proven training methods to generalize your puppy’s behavior so that your puppy listens to you wherever you go! As your puppy will become a temporary member of your trainer’s family, your puppy will receive constant training and reinforcement throughout the entire board and train program. Once your puppy has mastered obedience in the home and neighborhood, your puppy will start practicing commands all around Kansas City, putting their newfound obedience skills to the test. Once it is time for your return lesson, your puppy will have already been to multiple dog-friendly Kansas City places so their obedience is properly generalized. According to a 2020 study by Cooper et al., generalization of puppy obedience is critical as specific environments bring about certain behaviors so a dog must learn to adapt. According to our Co-Founder Sean Savage, “Generalization is a crucial step in the puppy training process that oftentimes gets overlooked. It does no one any good to have a puppy behave well in our homes. Our board and train clients love how their puppies not only listen in a trainer’s home, they are compliant in their own home as well as in public places or wherever life takes them!
This unique puppy training program allows your puppy to live in their trainer’s home for three to four weeks, providing unmatched training and attention! Your trainer will customize your puppy’s training program based on your goals listed in the Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior. Your puppy will join their trainer in exploring all Kansas City has to offer while also working on housebreaking, crate training, learning appropriate manners, socializing, and achieving a high level of obedience! At the conclusion of their Board and Train, there are 4.5 hours of training for you! This program is available to puppies 8 weeks and older. Please note that our indirect behavior assessments will confirm that an obedience-only program matches your puppy best. Our three week Board and Train Program is priced at $4,620 while our four week Board and Train Program is offered for $5,950.
Wish your new puppy came with an instruction manual? Our 1-hour puppy training consultations deliver exactly that! Our pre-training team will discuss any and all goals or concerns that you might have and set up a training plan for your pup. Based on your goals and your puppy’s behavior described in the Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, our pre-training team will recommend one or multiple puppy training sessions. Then, either virtually or in person, your Kansas City trainer will meet with you to discuss your puppy training plan. We will provide you with socialization guidelines, a potty training plan, enrichment ideas, crate training, solutions for play-biting, chewing and jumping and so much more! These sessions are available to puppies 8 weeks and older. Pricing for in-home 1-hour consultations is $160 per session and pricing for virtual sessions is $150 per session.
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