If your dog barks the three-decker awake at every footstep on the stairs, drags you down the block past every other dog, has made the dog park somewhere you no longer go, or has put his teeth on someone, you have a Worcester dog and a problem that has gone on long enough.
Living on the third floor with a dog who reacts to everything is a particular kind of tired: the stairs twice a day, the neighbors, the leash wrapped around your wrist. Most owners in that position have been told to manage it, with more walks, a head halter, a bag of treats. Managing is not fixing. A dog who trusts and respects the person on the stairs with him does not need managing. Shawn Hines has spent more than thirty years training dogs and more than fifteen running Best Buddy Dog Training, and he teaches Worcester owners how to be that person.
Dog Training Problems We See in Worcester: In-Home & Board-and-Train
The stairs
Three flights, shared with neighbors, twice a day. A dog who charges them or barks at every door on the way is running the building. When the building is yours, he walks the stairs beside you, and the doors stay closed.
The dog who has bitten
A bite in a shared hallway is a serious thing, and it is not the end of the dog. It is usually a dog who has been deciding things for a long time with nobody to check him. Say exactly what happened on the phone; it is often a board-and-train dog.
The park
A dog who comes back from Elm Park when the game is over has a habit, and a dog without a recall has no business loose in a city. The recall is built on a leash under distraction, and that is the dog who gets to run.
The Dogs in the Pictures
No stock photos, no posed dogs. Every dog is one Shawn trained or is training, shown off leash, around strangers and other animals, with nothing bribing or buzzing him. You can judge the results for yourself in the videos and the success stories.
In-Home Dog Training in Worcester: In-Home & Board-and-Train, MA
What Shawn offers in Worcester: In-Home & Board-and-Train is four private in-home sessions at your home and in the places you take your dog, and their purpose is to teach you to train your own dog rather than to hand you a dog Shawn has trained. Lifetime phone and video follow-up is part of the price, as many as five dogs under one roof are included in the one price, with nothing hidden: more sessions are included if you have kept to the plan and still need them. You get a plan made around your dog, your family and your routines. In Massachusetts, $2,250.
Board-and-Train
Occasionally the right answer is time away from home. Board-and-train places the dog with Shawn and his pack for four to six weeks and tests the obedience before he comes home. This is the route for aggression, guarding, severe reactivity, deep anxiety, and a bite history. Shawn collects and delivers the dog himself, and the three optional reintegration sessions that follow happen at your home, with follow-up that never expires. Pricing runs from $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the dog and is confirmed before booking.
Worcester: In-Home & Board-and-Train Owners Ask
We are on the third floor with no yard.
Many of the dogs in the videos live the same way. Structure matters more than space.
He is a rescue with an unknown history.
That is common. Shawn works with the dog in front of him, not the paperwork.
He has bitten once. Is that it for him?
Usually not. Tell Shawn exactly what happened so the first visit is planned rather than discovered.
Call Shawn
Reach Shawn at (401) 536-7982. It costs nothing, and Shawn is the one who answers; there is no script. Explain the dog's behavior and he will answer plainly: what he would do, and what it costs. Monday to Friday, 8 until 6; Saturday, 9 until 5; messages left outside those hours are returned.
Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING
Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training
No charge, no obligation.