Dog Training in Westport
In-Home & Board and Train

A Westport dog's year has two shapes. From spring through the end of the season, Compo Beach and the water set the routine, the house is full, and the dog is outside with people constantly. Then the season turns, the beach empties, the family is back on the early train out of Saugatuck, and the dog spends most of the day by himself. Whatever he learned in July comes home with him in October, and the loose habits are the ones that last.

Best Buddy Dog Training is Shawn Hines, one trainer, more than fifteen years of doing this in people's houses rather than in a classroom. There is no facility here or anywhere. Nothing we use comes out of a treat pouch, and nothing goes around the dog's neck that shocks or pinches him - no food lures, no clicker, no e-collar, no prong. A dog listens because of what you are to him, not because of what is in your hand.

What We Get Called For in Westport

The Post Road and the downtown blocks

Main Street and the shops off the Post Road put your dog within a leash length of other dogs, doors, and people who reach for him without asking. A dog who lunges here is usually not aggressive. He is under-prepared and over-involved, and every time you pull him past something he has learned that the encounter is his to manage.

Off-leash time that outruns the recall

Winslow Park, the fields at Longshore and the trails around Earthplace are where a lot of Westport dogs get their freedom. The pattern is the same in all three: a dog who is wonderful right up until he decides otherwise, and an owner walking toward him saying his name in an increasingly reasonable voice. If a recall only works when nothing better is available, what you have is a coincidence.

A big house and a dog with the run of it

Old Hill and Greens Farms properties give a dog a lot of ground indoors and out. He answers the door, he follows whoever is moving, he takes the stairs first, he owns the couch. None of that is dominance in the dramatic sense. It is a hundred small permissions, and permissions add up into a dog who does not think your opinion applies outside the house either.

Ten hours alone, then a full house

Between the commute and the school day, plenty of Westport dogs are alone until late afternoon and then dropped into an evening with three people, a delivery and a friend at the door. The jumping, the barking, the mouthing at sleeves - that is a day's worth of unspent energy meeting a dog with no idea what he is meant to do instead.

In-Home Dog Training in Westport

Four sessions at your address with the head trainer, plus support that does not expire.

• Four personalized in-home sessions with Shawn
• A customized obedience and behavior modification plan for your dog
• Lifetime phone and video follow-up, no additional charge
• One flat price covering up to five dogs in the same household
• No hidden fees. Follow the plan, and any additional sessions you need are included

The Connecticut in-home price is $2,250. More detail on the in-home dog training page, and on how leash work actually gets built in the leash.

Neighborhoods We Cover

Compo, Saugatuck, Greens Farms, Old Hill, Coleytown, Hunt Club, Long Lots, and out toward Weston and Fairfield. Westport sits in the middle of our Fairfield County route, so scheduling here is usually straightforward. If you are just over the town line, call anyway.

Board and Train

For dogs where four visits is not enough. Four to six weeks living full time with Shawn, training every day in real environments rather than a kennel run - sidewalks, stores, public spaces, parks. Shawn does the pickup and the delivery himself, so he sees the household on both ends, and three reintegration sessions at your home follow the stay, so the dog learns the arrangement with you and not just with the trainer. It is the right program for aggression, resource guarding, severe leash reactivity, chronic fear, bite history, and dogs several trainers have already tried. Pricing is not published; it comes up on the consultation. Read board and train.

Questions from Westport

Our dog is great at home and a problem the moment we leave the driveway.

Extremely common here. Big property, calm house, no practice. The house is not a test; it is the place with no distractions in it.

We tried a class at a training center and he did great there.

He probably did. Obedience that only works in the building where it was taught is a routine tied to a room. We work on your street so the room is never the variable.

Do you handle two dogs who fight each other?

Yes. Household conflict between dogs is usually a resource problem with a clear pattern once it is laid out. Give Shawn the details on the call and he will tell you which program fits.

My dog has snapped at someone. Will you still take him?

Call and tell us the whole story. Bite history is often a board and train conversation rather than an in-home one, and we will tell you straight which it is.

Once the four sessions are done, are we on our own?

No. Phone and video support continues for the life of the dog at no charge, and most people use it a year later when something new turns up. Other questions are answered on the FAQ page.

Talk to Shawn

Call (401) 536-7982 for a free phone consultation about dog training in Westport, CT. No script, no pressure, and a straight answer about which program suits your dog. Phone hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm. We have no training facility and never will - Shawn comes to your house, your driveway, and the sidewalks you use every day. Client comments are on the testimonials page, and the [Connecticut](/dog-training-in-connecticut) page covers the rest of the state.