Dog Training in Stamford, CT

If your dog lunges at the neighbor in the elevator, drags you down Bedford Street, barks through the wall at the hallway, or has a recall that ends the moment he sees another dog at Cove Island, you have a Stamford dog. Whether you are in a tower by the harbor or a house in North Stamford, the dog is making his own decisions.

Stamford has both kinds of dog life, the elevator and the acre, and the same dog fails in both for the same reason: nobody has shown him that someone else decides when the two of you move. In the elevator, that gets found out fast, in a very small room with the neighbors watching. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training, and he teaches Stamford owners how to be the one who decides, in the lobby and on the lawn.

Dog Training Problems We See in Stamford

The elevator and the lobby

A dog who lunges in the car or bolts when the doors open is the dog the building talks about. The dog you want stands against the back wall, rides past three floors with the doors opening and closing on strangers, and steps out after you.

Bedford Street

Downtown, other dogs pass within a few feet, and there is nowhere to go. A lunge there is an overloaded dog with nobody leading him. Walked by someone he respects, he lets the other dog pass.

North Stamford

Up north the lots are big, and the fences are buried, and the dog patrols the line at every car. The wire keeps him on the lot and explains nothing. A dog who stays on the lawn because you said so is answering to a person.

Cove Island

Open ground by the water is where a habit gets mistaken for a recall. The recall that holds when another dog arrives at a run was built on a leash first.

The Dogs in the Pictures

No stock photos, no posed dogs. They are dogs Shawn trained or is training, shown doing what trained dogs do, and nobody is holding food off camera or a remote in a pocket. The videos show it, and the success stories say it, if you want proof before you pick up the phone.

In-Home Dog Training in Stamford, CT

The program in Stamford is four private in-home sessions at your apartment or house, in your building if you have one, and on your block, in which Shawn teaches you to train your own dog, so that the results belong to your household. It comes with a plan made for your dog and your household. Lifetime follow-up by phone and video is included at no extra cost; the fee covers up to five dogs in the home, with nothing added afterward; more sessions are part of the deal if you have followed the plan. The Connecticut price is $2,250.

Board-and-Train

The harder dog sometimes needs more than visits. Board-and-train is four to six weeks living with Shawn and his pack, never in a kennel run. Shawn picks up at your door and delivers back to it, and three optional reintegration sessions at your home afterward hand the work back to you. It is meant for aggression, resource guarding, severe leash reactivity, chronic anxiety, and the dog two trainers have given up on. It is priced for the dog, $2,500 to $5,000, and the number is settled on the consultation call.

Stamford Owners Ask

We are on the eighteenth floor with no yard.
So are a lot of the dogs in the videos. Structure matters more than space.

The building has complained about barking.
Say so on the phone. Hallway barking tends to change quickly once the dog knows it is not his job.

Our dog guards his food.
Say so on the phone. Guarding is a large part of what Shawn works with.

Call Shawn

Your first step is a call to (401) 536-7982. The call is free and it is Shawn, not an answering service. Lay out the problem, and he will give you a plain answer on approach and cost. Phone hours are weekdays 8 to 6 and Saturday 9 to 5, and messages are returned.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training