Cumberland is where Evie came from. She was a Rottweiler who could not pass another dog on the sidewalk without exploding, and she is on the success stories page because her family did the work and the work held. Dog training in Cumberland tends to look like that: good dogs in good houses on big lots, with one habit that has quietly taken over the walk and a family that has been told it is “reactivity” and will need to be managed forever.
It does not need to be managed forever. A dog who explodes at other dogs is not broken; he has decided that the decisions on the walk are his, because nobody he respects has told him otherwise, and the fix is a relationship in which somebody has. That is what Shawn Hines builds, in Cumberland and everywhere else in Rhode Island, one household at a time, with more than thirty years of experience and no treat pouch.
Cumberland, Dog by Dog
Diamond Hill and the recall that only works in the yard
Diamond Hill Park is the first place many Cumberland dogs are let off a leash, and the ledges, the trails and the other dogs make a hard first exam. The dog who ambles back when there is nothing else to do has not learned to come when called. The one who turns away from another dog on the trail because you said his name has. The difference between them is not the park and it is not the dog's breeding. It is whether, when it counts, he believes you.
The Blackstone River Bikeway and the lunge
From Valley Falls up through Lonsdale the bikeway carries cyclists, runners, strollers and other dogs on a strip of pavement with water on one side. One bad meeting, a tighter grip at the next one, a dog who feels the grip and decides the other dog must be dangerous, and inside a month a friendly dog is “leash reactive.” Evie learned to walk this path again. She was never asked to like the dogs coming toward her and never asked to pretend they were not there. She was asked to leave them alone and stay with her people, and once she trusted her people, she did.
The big lot, the invisible fence and the dog who patrols it
Off Diamond Hill Road and up through Arnold Mills the lots get large and the fencing gets invisible, and the dog at the line has worked out that charging makes walkers go away. The wire does not disagree with him. It cannot; its correction is impersonal and says nothing about what you want. It keeps him on the property. Everything he does on the property is still between him and you, and the dog who stands quietly at the line is answering to a person, not a collar.
Mendon Road and errands
Errands mean parking lots, carts, automatic doors and strangers arriving from odd angles. A dog who lunges at a shopping cart is not vicious. Nobody he believes has ever told him the cart is none of his business, and a dog who has been told that, by the right person, walks through the lot beside you on a loose leash and lets the carts go by.
Evie, and the Others
Evie is not the only one. Every dog in the pictures on this page and on every page of this site is a dog Shawn has trained or is training now: calm with strangers, calm with other dogs and other animals, on leash and off, with no treats in the picture and no remote on the collar. None of them were posed. The training videos show the standard in motion, and Cumberland families, Evie's among them, describe the result on the success stories page.
In-Home Training in Cumberland
Shawn makes four private visits, to the house, on the road and on the bikeway, where the trouble is; a written plan for your dog and your household; lifetime follow-up; a single price however many dogs you have, up to five; nothing added later. $2,000 in Rhode Island. The in-home page describes it; philosophy and benchmarks says what we expect of a trained dog.
Board and Train
Evie did not need board and train, but some dogs do: a month to six weeks in Shawn's house and pack, picked up and returned by Shawn, three reintegration visits at home and lifetime support. The program is for aggression, guarding, serious reactivity and the dog nothing else has reached. Programs run $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the dog; the figure is agreed in the phone consultation.
Cumberland Puppies
A Cumberland puppy gets a big yard and little else in the way of rules, which is pleasant until it is not. Eight weeks to six months is when the housebreaking schedule, the crate, a name and a door rule are learned without a fight, and it is also when a puppy who hears only yes concludes that he is the one deciding. The time to call is now.
Questions from Cumberland
Our dog is on an invisible fence. Do you want it removed?
Keep it if it suits you. Just know that it draws a line; it does not explain the line, and it has no view on what he does inside it. That part is yours.
She only loses it when another dog appears.
That is one of the most trainable problems we see, and it tends to look worse than it is. The other dog is not the problem; the relationship is. Evie is the proof.
We took a group class and nothing stuck.
Because a class teaches the class. A dog who sits beautifully for a biscuit in a church hall has learned about biscuits and church halls, not about you.
We tried many group training classes that focused on positive reinforcement, but nothing seemed to work for us until we found Shawn.
Call Shawn
Start with a free phone consultation: (401) 536-7982. Tell Shawn what the dog is doing on the bikeway or at the fence, and you will get an honest answer about which program fits and what it costs. Shawn answers the phone Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm. Outside those hours, leave a message; he returns every call.
Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING
Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training
No charge, no obligation. We talk before anything else happens.
Best Buddy Dog Training serves these cities and surrounding communities in Rhode Island
Barrington • Bristol • Coventry • Cranston • Cumberland • East Greenwich • Middletown • Narragansett • Newport • Pawtucket • Providence • Smithfield • South Kingstown • Warwick • Westerly • Woonsocket