Dog Training in Newport, RI

Your dog probably walks fine in February and turns into a different animal in July, when the sidewalks fill in, and he is towing you down Thames Street past the ice cream lines. Or he barks at the front window all day. Or he comes back from the beach when he feels like it. Whichever it is, you have likely tried a class, a harness, a bag of treats, and the dog is still deciding things for himself.

That is the actual problem, and it is a simpler one than it looks. A dog does what the person he trusts and respects asks him to do. If nobody in the house is that person, he fills the gap himself, and you get a dog who runs the walk, the door and the window. Treats do not change that; they add a transaction. A remote collar does not change it; it adds a device. What changes it is who you are to him. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training.

Dog Training Problems We See in Newport

One problem, several symptoms

Pulling, barking, jumping on people, lunging at other dogs, ignoring his name when it matters. They look like separate problems. They are one dog who has taken on the job of making decisions, usually because no one ever made it clear the job was taken. That is not a failing on anyone's part; it is what dogs do with an open question. Once he understands who you are to him, the symptoms tend to go together.

On the leash

Whether it is Thames Street in August or your own block in the rain, a dog who walks beside you only when nothing is going on was never really walking with you. He was choosing a speed that happened to match yours. A dog who is with you because you are there walks the same way through a crowd as he does on an empty sidewalk, and the barking and lunging that get Newport dogs called aggressive usually turn out to be an overloaded dog nobody was leading, not a mean one.

At home

Barking at the window, charging the door, jumping on guests, guarding the couch or the food bowl. In an old house with a shared entry, it is harder to live with, but it is the same dog everywhere: he is on a shift nobody assigned him, and he does not know it ends until someone he respects tells him.

Off the leash

A dog who comes back when he feels like it has a habit, not a recall, and plenty of Newport dogs get through a whole winter on the beach before anyone finds that out. A real recall is built under distraction, on leash first, and it holds when the kite goes up or the deer moves.

The Dogs in the Pictures

Every dog in the photographs and videos on this site is a dog Shawn trained or is training now. None are stock. Nobody is holding a treat off camera, and nobody is wearing an e-collar; they are trained dogs doing what trained dogs do. The videos and the success stories are there if you want to see the results before you talk to anyone.

In-Home Dog Training in Newport, RI

In-home dog training in Newport is four private sessions at your home and wherever you and your dog spend your time, and Shawn teaches you how to train your own dog so the results last. The plan is made for your dog and your household, with follow-up by phone and video that lasts for the life of the dog at no additional charge, and one price covers up to five dogs under the same roof. There are no hidden fees: if you have followed the plan and the dog needs more sessions, they are included. The Rhode Island in-home program is $2,000.

Board-and-Train

Some dogs need more than four visits can give them. Board and train is four to six weeks living with Shawn and his pack and training every day in real places: sidewalks, stores, parking lots, parks - never a kennel run. Shawn handles pickup and delivery himself, so he sees your household before the dog leaves it, and three reintegration sessions at your home hand the work back to you. Lifetime phone and video support continues after that. It is the right program for aggression, resource guarding, severe leash reactivity, chronic anxiety, and bite history. Pricing is covered on the consultation.

Questions Newport Owners Ask

We did a group class, and it fell apart the first time we walked downtown.
A dog who performs in one quiet room has learned that room. If it does not survive Thames Street on a Saturday, it is not obedience yet.

We are in a third-floor rental with no yard, and a shared entry.
Half of Newport is. The stairwell and the front door are where the work happens.

How long before we can take him downtown in season?
It depends on how consistent the household is between sessions, not on the breed. Most owners see the change sooner than they expected.

He has snapped at someone on the sidewalk. Which program?
Give the full story on the call, unsoftened. A bite history often points toward board-and-train.

Call Shawn

(401) 536-7982. The phone consultation is free; you get Shawn himself, and there is no script. Tell him what your dog is doing, and he will tell you plainly what he would do about it and what it costs. Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm; otherwise leave a message.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training