Dog Training in New Canaan, CT

If your dog patrols the stone wall at anything that crosses it, comes in from the acreage when he is ready, pulls you down Elm Street, and plants his paws on everyone who comes through the door, you have a New Canaan dog. An acre or four teaches independence, not obedience.

Independence is the problem in disguise. A dog with that much room learns to make his own decisions all day, and by the time you need him to defer—a guest at the door, a deer across the road—he has a long record of handling things himself. He is not being stubborn; he is being consistent. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training, and he teaches New Canaan owners how to become the person their dog checks with before he acts.

Dog Training Problems We See in New Canaan

The wall

The dog who patrols the property line has given himself a job, and the wire in the ground only tells him where the edge is. When the property is yours, he lies on the lawn while the landscaper's trailer backs in.

Elm Street

Downtown sidewalks put a dog within a leash length of other dogs with nowhere to step aside. A lunge there is an overloaded dog with no one leading him, not a mean one.

Waveny

Open fields full of other dogs are where a habit gets mistaken for a recall. The dog who turns off a running game because you said his name once has the real thing, and he built it on a leash first.

The Dogs in the Pictures

No dog in the pictures or videos here was bought or staged. They were trained by Shawn or are in training with him, and none of them is working for a treat or wearing an e-collar. If you would rather see the results than read about them, the videos and the success stories are the place.

In-Home Dog Training in New Canaan, CT

The in-home program in New Canaan is four private sessions at your house, on your road, and downtown if that is where the dog falls apart, and what you take from them is the ability to train your own dog, so the results stay in the house after Shawn leaves. The plan reflects your dog and your household, not a standard course. Follow-up is for life, by phone and video, and costs nothing more; the price covers every dog in the house, up to five, and the price is the full price; extra sessions are included for owners who have followed the plan. The price for Connecticut is $2,250.

Board and Train

Some dogs need to leave home for a while. In board and train, your dog joins Shawn's pack for four to six weeks and is trained daily in the real world, not a kennel. Shawn does both the pickup and the return, then comes back for three reintegration sessions at your home so the dog who listens to Shawn becomes the dog who listens to you. It is the program for aggression, resource guarding, severe reactivity, chronic anxiety, and the dog other trainers have handed back. Expect $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the dog; the figure is agreed before anything is scheduled.

New Canaan Owners Ask

We have an invisible fence. Do we have to take it out?
No. It can stay as a backstop. The point is a dog who does not need it.

He has never been on a leash.
Then that is where the work starts. Off-leash reliability is built on a leash.

Will board and train make him Shawn's dog instead of ours?
No. The three reintegration sessions at your home exist to make the obedience yours.

Call Shawn

It begins with a phone call: (401) 536-7982. Shawn answers his own phone; the consultation is free, and there is no script. Say what your dog is doing, and he will tell you what he would do and what it would cost. Call between 8am and 6pm on weekdays or 9am and 5pm on Saturday, or leave a message any time.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training