If your dog loses his mind at the fence every time a neighbor walks past, drags you across the Route 9 crossings, treats his name as a suggestion at Callahan, or has made the dog park at Cushing a place you avoid, you have a Framingham dog. It is a big town with a little of everything, apartments downtown and two acres out toward Nobscot, and the same dog goes wrong in all of it.
Framingham owners have usually tried the obvious things first: a class at the pet store, a harness that was supposed to end the pulling, a pocket of cheese for the recall. Each of them manages the dog for a while. None of them answers the question he is actually asking, which is who in this house do I defer to, and a dog who gets no answer answers it himself. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training, and he teaches Framingham owners how to answer that question so the dog stops asking.
Dog Training Problems We See in Framingham
Callahan and Cushing
Open ground full of other dogs is where a habit gets mistaken for a recall. The dog who turns away from a running game at Callahan because you said his name once has the real thing.
The fence and the sidewalk
A dog who runs the fence at every passerby, or tows you along Concord Street past every other leash, has given himself the job of managing the street. When the street is yours, he lets it go by.
The apartment downtown
Close neighbors, a shared stairwell, and a dog who reports every footstep. He is working a shift nobody gave him, and he becomes peaceful once the shift is yours.
The commuter's dog
Alone most of the day and then handed the whole family at once, a Framingham dog who gets a long day of nothing and a short evening of everything does not need more company. He needs the evening to have a leader in it.
The Dogs in the Pictures
There are no stock dogs on this site. Each is a dog Shawn trained—or is currently training, doing what he was asked because he was asked, with no treat waiting and no collar about to buzz. For the results, the videos and the success stories are a few minutes well spent before you call.
In-Home Dog Training in Framingham, MA
In Framingham, in-home training means four private in-home sessions with Shawn at your home, in your yard if you have one, and in the places you actually walk him, and they are lessons for you as much as for the dog: Shawn teaches you to train him, so what you build is yours. The plan is written for the dog you have and the house he lives in. Follow-up by phone and video lasts for the life of the dog at no additional charge; one price for the household, up to five dogs, and there are no add-ons. If you have followed the plan and need more sessions, they are covered. In Massachusetts, the program is $2,250.
Board and Train
Not every dog can be reached in four visits. Board and train puts the dog in Shawn's home, as part of his pack, for four to six weeks of daily work in real places. It is for the serious cases: aggression, guarding, severe reactivity, chronic anxiety, bite history. Shawn fetches the dog and returns him personally, then three reintegration sessions at your place put the result in your hands, with follow-up for life. Expect $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the dog; the figure is agreed before anything is scheduled.
Framingham Owners Ask
We are in an apartment on Concord Street with no yard.
Many of the dogs in the videos have no yard either. Structure matters more than space.
He is fine with our family and a problem with the kids' friends.
He has worked out who means it. Everyone who handles him works from one plan, so he has one rulebook.
He only comes at Callahan if there is nothing else going on.
Then he has a habit, not a recall, and that is exactly what gets built.
Call Shawn
The phone consultation is at (401) 536-7982. It costs nothing, and you will be talking to Shawn. Lay out what the dog does, and he will give you a straight answer on program and cost. Monday to Friday, 8 until 6; Saturday, 9 until 5; messages left outside those hours are returned.
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.