Dog Training in Wrentham, MA

Wrentham is acreage. The lots are big, the roads have no sidewalks, the yards run into the woods, and a lot of the fences are invisible, and that produces a particular dog: one who has never walked on a leash past another person, who runs the property line barking at everything, and who bolts into Wrentham State Forest the moment a gate is left open. Dog training in Wrentham has to deal with the dog as the town makes him, which is why we do it at your house and on your land.

Shawn Hines has been doing exactly that for more than fifteen years at Best Buddy Dog Training, with more than thirty years of experience as a dog trainer. He will teach you to change who the dog answers to, so that the animal who charged the mailbox last month stands quietly on the lawn while the truck pulls in. Families in Wrentham, Plainville, Franklin and Norfolk use him, as do owners across the state who need dog training in Massachusetts.

Wrentham Dogs and What They Have Learned

The invisible fence and the dog who runs the line

This is the Wrentham problem. Two acres, a wire under the grass, and a dog who spends the day sprinting the boundary at every car, deer, and dog that passes, and who has learned that charging makes all of them go away. The electronic fence does not help with any of that, because its correction is impersonal and connected to no human being; it teaches the dog nothing about what you want. It is simply an invisible way of keeping him in the yard.

Wrentham State Forest and the dog who is gone

The trails in the state forest are where Wrentham dogs are let off leash, and where the deer, the mountain bikes and the other dogs find out what the recall is worth. A dog who comes back when the deer has outrun him is not trained; he is tired. A trained dog turns off a deer at full stretch because you said his name once, and comes to you at a walk.

Lake Pearl in July

The beach at Lake Pearl is families, coolers, towels at ground level, and a dog who thinks all of it is his to investigate. He drags his owner across the sand toward every blanket and knocks a toddler over on the way, and someone calls him friendly. He is a dog nobody has taught to leave people alone, which is disrespectful and, around small children, dangerous. A trained dog lies down on the towel you point to and stays there until you tell him he can get up.

The outlets and the dog who has never seen a crowd

A dog raised on two acres can go months without passing a stranger at close range, and then he is walked through the outlets on a Saturday in December and loses his mind, hauling his owner down the walkway. That pulling is not stubbornness; it is the dog telling you, accurately, where the two of you stand. The leash is for guidance, not restraint. The dog we build walks the outlets beside you with the leash slack or with no leash, falls back three to six feet behind you on command, and leaves the strangers to you.

The Dogs Are the Evidence

Nothing on this site is a stock photo. The dogs in the pictures and videos are dogs Shawn trained or is training at the moment, doing the things we say a trained dog does: off-leash with other dogs, holding a down-stay while sheep walk by, still as strangers pass, with no one waving food. Watch the training videos to see what you are buying, and read the success stories to hear from the people who live with those dogs.

Training at Your House in Wrentham

Four private sessions with Shawn at your home in Wrentham, on your lawn, at your property line, and out on the road where your dog actually has to behave. He writes a customized obedience and behavior plan for your dog and your household, and he stays with you afterward with lifetime follow-up at no additional charge. In Massachusetts, the program is $2,250, which covers up to five dogs in the home, with nothing added later. Details are on the in-home program page; the standard we hold a trained dog to is on the philosophy and benchmarks page.

Board and Train for the Hard Cases

For the dog who has bitten, who guards the yard or the car, or who is a danger to other dogs in the forest, board and train is four to six weeks living with Shawn, training every day with his pack in public places, stores, and parks. Shawn comes to Wrentham to collect the dog and brings him back himself, then returns for three reintegration sessions, and lifetime follow-up continues from there. It is $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the dog, agreed on the phone before a date is booked.

Puppies on Big Lots

A puppy on two acres in Wrentham learns the yard is his unless somebody tells him otherwise, and between eight weeks and six months is when somebody should. That is the window for housebreaking that sticks: a crate he settles in, a name he comes to the first time, and a door he does not blow through. The right time to start is right away, and it starts with a call.

Wrentham Owners Ask

We have an invisible fence. Do we have to take it out?
No. It keeps him in the yard, and that is all it does. The behavior at the property line is a separate matter, and that is what we work on.

We have three dogs. Is that three programs?
It is one. The price covers up to five dogs, and in a pack the rules have to be the same for all of them anyway.

Will he ever be safe off leash in the state forest?
If his recall is real, yes. That means he leaves a deer because you called, not because the deer won. It is testable, and we test it.

Call and Describe the Dog

The free phone consultation is at (401) 536-7982. Tell Shawn about the dog, the yard, and what he does when the truck comes up the drive, and he'll give you an honest answer about what we would do and the cost. Weekdays 8am to 6pm, Saturdays 9am to 5pm. A message left at any other hour is returned.

Who you are to your dog is EVERYTHING

Shawn Hines
Dog Trainer, Best Buddy Dog Training