Dog Training in Westerly, RI

Westerly runs from a working downtown on the Pawcatuck to Watch Hill, Weekapaug and some of the most private shoreline in New England, and the dogs reflect it. Some live here all year and walk Wilcox Park every morning. Some arrive in June with the family, a house manager and a summer's worth of guests, and leave after Labor Day. Dog training in Westerly has to work for both.

The dog who can be walked down Bay Street at the height of August on a slack leash, and who stays off the front door while the caterers come through it, is not a specially bred dog. He is one who defers to the people he lives with, and he defers because they have earned it, not because they are carrying chicken. Shawn Hines has built that for Westerly families and for owners across Rhode Island for well over a decade, with three decades' experience behind it.

Westerly, in Season and Out

Misquamicut in the off-season and a recall that has never been tested

When the beach opens to dogs for the winter, many Westerly dogs get their first real off-leash run on it, with gulls, surf, open sand and other dogs doing the same. A recall that has only been tried in a kitchen is not a recall. The dog who breaks off from the surf and the other dogs because you called, and comes to you calm instead of past you at a gallop, is the one this page is about, and the winter beach is where you find out whether he is yours.

Watch Hill in August

Bay Street in season is the carousel, the ice cream line, strollers, dogs under cafe tables and people stepping off the curb without looking. The dog who has had the lane to himself all winter leans into the leash toward all of it, and he is not pulling because Watch Hill is exciting. He is pulling because he believes he leads the walk. A trained dog walks that street beside you on a loose leash or none, or a few feet behind if you ask, in August as easily as in March.

The summer house, the guests and the dog with four sets of rules

A house full of people who do not live there is the hardest thing you can ask of a dog. Jumping on a guest looks like a welcome; it is disrespect, and it is dangerous. The dog who moves off the door and stays off it until told otherwise, or goes to his spot and holds it while the house fills, does not need anyone to grab his collar, and he behaves the same for the house manager as for you, because the rules do not change with the hand on the leash.

Wilcox Park, the bike path and the dog who lunges

Year-round Westerly walks the park and the path, and one bad meeting with another dog is enough: the owner tightens up at the next one, the dog feels it and decides the other dog must be a threat, and a month later a friendly dog is “leash reactive.” He is not asked to make friends and not asked to pretend the other dog is invisible. He is asked to leave it and stay with you, and a dog who respects you does.

The Dogs Behind the Pictures

No stock photos, no posed dogs, no treats out of frame: every dog pictured on this page and across the site is one Shawn has trained or is training, and the videos show them loose in fields, still beside other dogs and other animals, and easy with strangers, with nothing on their collars doing the work. The training videos show the standard; the success stories are what Rhode Island owners say about it afterwards.

In-Home Training in Westerly

Four sessions, private, with Shawn, at your home, on the lane, on Bay Street and on the sand, scheduled around when you are here; a written plan; lifetime follow-up wherever you winter; one flat price for up to five dogs, and that is the whole price. $2,000 in Rhode Island. See the in-home page and philosophy and benchmarks.

Board and Train, Timed to the Season

For the dog who needs more than visits, board and train is four to six weeks in Shawn's pack, delivered home by Shawn himself; three reintegration sessions at your house follow, and after them, lifetime support. For a summer family the dates are set so he comes home to the house he will live in. Aggression, guarding, serious reactivity, the dog who has defeated other methods. Fees are set per dog, $2,500 to $5,000, and confirmed on the phone before a date is held.

Westerly Puppies

A puppy who learns the beach before he learns his name is trouble for a long time. Between eight weeks and six months, housebreaking, the crate, his name and the door are set easily, and a puppy who meets no resistance puts himself in charge. Pick up the phone now.

Westerly Owners Ask

We are only here in the summer.
Four sessions fit comfortably inside a few weeks, and lifetime follow-up is how the plan travels with you.

Our house manager handles the dog most days.
Then the house manager gets the same plan. The dog listens to whoever he believes means it.

He is great on the beach in March and a wreck in Watch Hill in August.
Same dog. March asks nothing of him. August asks, and how he responds is the truth about the relationship.

Call Shawn

Start with a free phone consultation at (401) 536-7982. Tell Shawn about the dog and the house, and you will get an honest assessment of the dog and a price. The line is open weekdays 8 to 6 and Saturdays 9 to 5. Call any time, though; a message left after hours gets a call back.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training