Natick households run on a schedule. Somebody catches a train at Natick Center or West Natick, somebody else does the afternoon shuttle, and the dog gets walked in the gaps. That works until the dog starts making his own decisions, and then every one of those gaps gets tense.
The typical setup here makes it worse quietly. A yard with a buried wire around it, a dog who has never had to check in with anybody, and conservation land next door. Dog training in Natick, MA with Best Buddy Dog Training is aimed at that gap. Shawn Hines is the only trainer here, over fifteen years in, and every session happens at your house and on your roads. A dog who only listens when he can smell chicken has not learned obedience, he has learned a vending machine.
What Natick Owners Call About
The invisible fence problem
It is the most common yard in this town, and it does one job well. The dog stays on the property. It teaches him nothing about you and nothing about coming when called, and owners find that out the first time he is on the far side of the wire with no idea how to get back.
Recall that dies on conservation land
The trails around Broadmoor and the Charles River in South Natick hold deer, turkey and standing water. Your dog is fine until the third minute, when something moves at a distance and your voice stops being the most interesting thing available. A recall that only works when nothing competes for it is not a recall. It is a coincidence you have been counting on.
Cochituate State Park and the leash lunging
Open water, geese, joggers, other dogs coming past on a narrow path. A dog who screams at the end of the leash here gets called aggressive by everybody who sees it. He is unprepared. Nobody has shown him what to do with another dog at twenty feet, so he does the one thing that has always made the other dog go away.
The dog you got back at eight months
A puppy class, then a basic obedience class, and it all seems fine. Then he hits eight or nine months, gets an opinion, and the class work evaporates. A short list of cues performed for food in a rented room was never going to survive adolescence, because there was no relationship underneath holding it up. The same dog gives the household a nightly demonstration at 5:40, when somebody comes home and the first ninety seconds of the evening belong to him.
Puppies in Natick
The best time to do this is before the habits set. A Natick puppy needs to settle in a busy kitchen, ride in a car without screaming, walk past a stroller on Natick Common without treating it as an event, and be housebroken on a schedule that survives a commuter household. That last one is more about the humans.
Areas We Cover
Natick Center, South Natick, East and West Natick, the neighborhoods around Lake Cochituate and the Route 9 and 27 corridors. We also work the surrounding MetroWest towns - Framingham, Wellesley, Sherborn, Dover, Wayland, Weston and Ashland. If you are just over a town line, call anyway.
In-Home Dog Training in Natick, MA
- 4 personalized in-home sessions with the head trainer
- A customized obedience and behavior modification plan written for your dog
- Lifetime follow-up support by phone and video, at no additional charge
- One flat price covering up to five dogs in the same household
- No hidden fees. If the plan has been followed and more sessions are needed, they are included
The Massachusetts price for the in-home program is $2,250. There is more detail on the in-home dog training page, and the standards we hold a dog to are laid out under philosophy and benchmarks.
Board and train is four to six weeks, full-time, the dog living with Shawn and working daily in real places - sidewalks, stores, parks, parking lots - not a kennel run. Shawn collects him from your house and brings him home himself, so he has seen your household before any of it starts. Then three sessions at your house, so the standard the dog is now holding becomes the standard you hold him to. Best fit for aggression, resource guarding, severe leash reactivity, chronic anxiety or a bite history. Pricing is discussed on the consultation.
Common Questions
- We have an invisible fence. Do we have to take it out?
- No. Leave it in if you want the boundary. Just stop treating containment as training.
- How far out do you travel, and does it cost extra?
- Natick is a normal drive and the price matches the rest of Massachusetts. Nothing is added for travel.
- Our trainer used a head halter and it helped. Why not keep it?
- It steers a dog rather than changing his mind. Take it off and you usually find nothing underneath ever changed.
- Can we get to off leash at the state park?
- Some dogs, yes, and it is earned rather than installed. [How to train off leash](/blogposts/how-to-train-off-leash) explains what has to be true first.
- My dog has growled at a child. Is that a board and train case?
- Possibly. Tell us the whole story on the phone and you get an honest answer.
Book the Free Consultation
Call (401) 536-7982 and you get Shawn himself, not a script. He will ask about your dog and your week, then say plainly whether dog training in Natick, MA should start with the in-home program or with board and train. Phone hours are Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm. There is no facility to visit - every session happens at your place. You can also reach us through the contact page.
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.
Already spoke with Shawn? Enroll here.