Dog Training in Boston, MA

Boston gives a dog almost no room to make a mistake quietly. In Back Bay and the South End your front door sits a few feet off the sidewalk, and that sidewalk carries commuters, strollers, delivery bikes and other dogs at close range from seven in the morning onward. Beacon Hill's brick is narrow enough that two dogs passing have nowhere to look but at each other. Most owners here are managing distance without knowing it, and the city keeps taking the distance away.

Dog training in Boston, MA has to hold up in that exact space or it is not worth much. Best Buddy Dog Training is one trainer: Shawn Hines, more than fifteen years at this, driving up from Warwick, Rhode Island to work on your block, in your building, in your home, and the places where you actually walk. The dog changes because you become someone worth listening to. Who you are to your dog is everything.

There is no facility to drive to and never has been. Whatever happens in your hallway or on Marlborough Street is where we work.

What Boston Dogs Actually Do

The lunge on a four-foot sidewalk

Another dog comes around a parked car and yours goes up on the leash. Most of these dogs are not trying to start a fight. They have learned that noise and forward pressure make the other dog pass faster, and on a sidewalk this tight it works every time. A harness or a head halter changes the hardware and leaves the habit where it was.

The stoop, the buzzer and the shared entry

Brownstone life means a shared front door, a package courier every afternoon and neighbors on the stairs. Owners tell me the dog is fine until someone comes in. He is not fine. He has been handed the job of announcing the door and he takes it seriously. That job has to be handed back before anything about the barking changes.

Recall that ends at the fence line

Peters Park and the other fenced runs do the containing, so the recall never gets tested. Then you take him to Franklin Park or the loop at Jamaica Pond, call once with open ground in front of him, and find out what you actually have. A dog who returns because there is a gate is not recalling. He is running out of options.

The T, the crowd and the dog who never settles

Green Line platforms, Fenway on a game night, the crush at rush hour. Some dogs read all of it as their problem to solve and spend the walk scanning. That is not anxiety you exercise off with a longer lap around the Esplanade. A tired dog who is still in charge is only a tired dog in charge.

Areas Covered

Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the South End, Charlestown, South Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Brighton, Allston, East Boston and the Fenway. Just over the line in Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville or Milton, call anyway - the answer is usually yes.

In-Home Dog Training in Boston, MA

Four personalized sessions with the head trainer, in your home and on your own streets. You get:

The in-home program in Massachusetts is $2,250. More on how it runs on the in-home dog training page.

Board and Train

Some dogs need the pattern broken completely. Board and train is four to six weeks living with Shawn, training daily in real places: sidewalks, parks, stores, parking lots, not a kennel run between sessions. He picks the dog up at your door and delivers him back, so he sees your household himself. Three reintegration sessions at your home follow, plus lifetime phone and video support. It is the right call for aggression, resource guarding, severe leash reactivity, bite history, chronic fear, and dogs that nothing else has touched. Pricing is discussed on the consultation.

Puppy Training

Start before the habits set. A city puppy needs housebreaking on a schedule that survives an elevator ride, a calm response to the buzzer, and the understanding that sidewalks are for walking, not for greeting everyone who leans down. Early leash work is worth more here than any class you will sit through.

Common Questions

Do you really come to Boston from Rhode Island?

Yes. Shawn travels to every client. Boston is a regular run, and parking is his problem.

We did a group class in the South End and nothing stuck. Why would this be different?

A room full of dogs teaches your dog to work in a room full of dogs. Your problem happens on your block at 6pm, and that is where we train.

Our condo association is strict about barking in the halls. Can you help with that specifically?

That is a common reason people call. Door and hallway behavior is worked on directly, in your building.

Talk to Shawn

Call (401) 536-7982 for a free phone consultation about dog training in Boston, MA. You get the trainer himself, not a sales script. He will ask what your dog does and tell you straight whether in-home or board and train fits. He is on the phone weekdays from 8am to 6pm and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm. Outside of those hours, please leave a message and Shawn will call you back as soon as possible. No facility, no drop-off, no drive across the city. Read what other owners have said on the testimonials page, or see the rest of the state on the Massachusetts page.

Start with a Free Phone Consultation

Call (401) 536-7982 and tell Shawn what's actually happening with your dog. There's no facility to drive to — we come to your home, anywhere in Massachusetts, and for board-and-train we collect your dog and deliver them back. Call anytime. Leave a message if there's no answer.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training