Dog Training in Mystic, CT

If your dog is fine all winter and a different animal from Memorial Day on, towing you across the drawbridge past the ice cream line, barking at the summer renters next door, or lunging at every dog on Main Street, you have a Mystic dog. The season did not make the problem. It only shows it.

A town that triples in population for three months is a hard test for a dog, and most Mystic dogs fail it not because they are bad but because nobody is leading them through it. The dog you walk in January has the same gaps; there is simply less to pull toward. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training, and he teaches Mystic owners how to become the person their dog follows, in the quiet months and the loud ones.

Dog Training Problems We See in Mystic

The drawbridge

A dog who walks nicely across the bridge in March and tows you through the July crowd was leading the walk in March too. The dog who follows you crosses it the same way on both days.

The renters next door

A new set of neighbors every week gives a dog a great many strangers to bark at. He is working a shift nobody gave him, and when the shift is yours, he lies down and lets the street go by.

Main Street

Other dogs pass within a leash length on the downtown sidewalks. Shawn does not ask your dog to be friendly with them or to pretend they are not there. He asks him to leave them alone and stay with you.

The Dogs in the Pictures

Every dog pictured or filmed on this site is a dog Shawn trained or is training. Every dog is one Shawn trained or is training, shown off-leash, around strangers and other animals, with nothing bribing or buzzing him. Look at the videos and read the success stories first if you like; the results are there.

In-Home Dog Training in Mystic, CT

What Shawn offers in Mystic is four private in-home sessions at your house and on the streets and trails you actually use, and Shawn spends them teaching you to handle and train your dog yourself. There is lifetime support by phone and video, and it is not billed; one price for the household, up to five dogs, with no hidden fees and no surprises. If you have done the work and need more sessions, they are included. You get a plan specific to your dog and the people he lives with. The program costs $2,250 in Connecticut.

Board-and-Train

Some dogs need weeks, not visits. Board-and-train is four to six weeks in which the dog lives with Shawn, runs with his pack and works every day in public places. Shawn brings the dog to his home and back himself, then comes to your home three times for reintegration sessions, and supports you for the life of the dog. It is for serious cases: aggression, guarding, severe reactivity, chronic anxiety, bite history. Depending on what the dog needs, it is $2,500 to $5,000, fixed on the consultation call.

Mystic Owners Ask

He is fine at home and awful everywhere else.
At home nothing is leading him away from you. Outside, everything is. Same dog, harder test.

Can you work around our schedule?
Yes. Sessions are planned around the hours you have.

He has lunged at a child on the sidewalk.
Say exactly what happened on the phone. Near-misses often point toward board-and-train.

Call Shawn

Call Shawn at (401) 536-7982. You will talk to Shawn, not a scheduler, and nobody is reading from a script. Tell him what the dog does, and he will say which program fits and what it costs. Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm; otherwise leave a message and he will call you back.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training