Dog Training in Narragansett, RI

Narragansett is two towns. From Memorial Day to Labor Day it is the seawall, Ocean Road, a packed Town Beach and a population that triples. From October to April it is one of the best places in Rhode Island to own a dog, with miles of sand open to him and almost nobody on it. The difficulty with dog training in Narragansett is that most dogs learn their habits in the quiet half and are then asked to behave in the loud one.

A dog who can be let off the leash at Scarborough in November and walked down the seawall in July on the same slack leash is not a different breed of dog. He is a dog who has decided that his owner is worth paying attention to, and that decision is made at home, by the way he is handled every day. Best Buddy Dog Training builds that in Narragansett the way it does everywhere in Rhode Island: privately, one household at a time, with Shawn Hines, a dog trainer with more than 30 years of hands-on experience.

The Narragansett Dog Problems We See

The winter beach and a recall nobody has ever tested

Town Beach, Scarborough, the stretch below the Towers: when the sand opens to dogs, half the town's dogs get their first real off-leash run there, with gulls lifting off, surf, open ground and a dozen other dogs doing the same thing. A recall that has only ever been asked for in a kitchen is not a recall. It is a guess. The dog who turns away from all of that because you called, and walks back to you instead of blowing past, is the dog this page is about.

The seawall in July

Ocean Road on a summer weekend is bicycles, strollers, surfboards, retractable leashes and people stepping off the wall without looking. A dog who has had that stretch to himself all winter has learned nothing about any of it, and one who leans into the leash in January tows you through a crowd in July. He is not pulling because the crowd is exciting. He is pulling because, in his mind, he leads the walk. A trained dog walks beside you through all of it on a loose leash, or no leash, or three to six feet behind you if you tell him to.

Renters, guests and a front door that never stops

Summer here means a house full of people who do not live in it. The dog who launches himself at your own family is “friendly.” The dog who does it to a tenant's grandmother on the front steps is a liability, and the behavior is the same behavior: disrespectful, and dangerous. Holding him back by the collar manages the moment and teaches him nothing. The dog who moves away from the door on his own and stays away, or goes to his spot and holds it with strangers walking in, does not have to be managed.

Point Judith, Galilee and everything on wheels

The harbor end of town is fishing trucks, boat trailers, bicycles and the ferry line. A dog who lunges at a trailer is not vicious, and he does not need to be “counter-conditioned” to trailers. He needs to have been told, by someone he believes, that the trailer is none of his business, and to have found out that the same answer applies to the bicycle and the gull.

Dogs Who Have Done It

There is not a stock photograph on this site. Every dog pictured here and on every other page is one Shawn has trained or is training, and the videos show them as they are: loose in a field with other dogs, lying still while strangers and animals pass, working without food in anyone's hand and without a collar doing the work. Watch the videos before you call if you want to see the standard; read the success stories if you want to hear it from Rhode Island owners.

In-Home Training in Narragansett

Four private sessions at the house and on the sand, timed to when you are in town; a written plan for your dog and the people who look after him; lifetime follow-up, which for a summer family is the part that matters; a single price for up to five dogs, with nothing added afterwards. $2,000 in Rhode Island. More on the in-home page, and on what we believe at philosophy and benchmarks.

Board and Train, Built Around the Season

The dog who needs weeks rather than visits can join Shawn's pack for four to six weeks of board and train, picked up and brought home by Shawn, with three visits afterwards to hand him back and lifetime support from then on. Dates can follow the season. For aggression, guarding, hard reactivity and the dog nothing else has touched; $2,500 to $5,000, agreed on the phone.

Narragansett Puppies

A Narragansett puppy who learns the beach before he learns his name will take two years to undo. Between eight weeks and six months is when housebreaking, the crate, a name he answers to and a front door he does not rush go in with little effort, and when a puppy who is never refused learns that his wishes are the rules. Call today.

Narragansett Owners Ask

We are only here in the summer. Does that work?
Yes. Four sessions fit comfortably inside a few weeks, and lifetime follow-up is how the plan goes home with you.

He is great on the beach in February and terrible in July.
Same dog. February asks nothing of him. July asks, and the answer he gives is the one that matters.

Our rental guests keep letting him out the front.
Then the dog needs to hold the rule himself. A trained dog does not go through a door because somebody opened it.

Call Before the Season Turns

A free phone consultation is where it starts. Call (401) 536-7982, tell Shawn about the dog, and you will get a straight view of what is needed and what it will cost. He answers from 8 to 6 on weekdays and 9 to 5 on Saturday, and calls back anyone who leaves a message.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training