Beauregard in Boston: City Dog Training

What you're seeing

Beauregard is a Catahoula Leopard Dog living in Boston. In this in-home lesson, Shawn works with Beauregard and his owner inside the house first, then out in the neighborhood, with the traffic, the narrow sidewalks, and the people that come with city life. Over the minute-and-a-half clip, you see the dog behave peacefully once the house rules go out the front door with them.

The problem this solves

A city dog usually has no quiet yard to decompress in and no room to get things wrong. Every walk starts at the front door with a street full of stimulation: buses, bikes, dogs, strollers, people who want to say hello and people who do not. A dog that pulls, lunges, or freezes turns each outing into a dangerous chore, and owners in Boston, Cambridge, and Providence tell us the same thing over and over: the dog is fine at home and a different animal outside. Living in a city like Boston can be stressful for dogs and their owners, and the stress feeds on itself.

How it was trained

The lesson starts inside because that is where the relationship is set. Once Beauregard is following his owner's lead in the house, waiting at the door and moving when he is told to, the same rules go out the door with him: the owner controls the pace, the space, and every greeting. Nothing changes because the setting changed, which is the point. No treats and no e-collar were used. A dog that only behaves for a pocketful of food will not behave on a crowded sidewalk, and a dog corrected with an e-collar on a busy street can learn to associate the street with pain and become stressed out.

Get this with your dog

We teach this in your own home and on your own streets through our in-home dog training program, including in Boston, Cambridge and New York City. Get a free phone consultation and tell us what your walks look like now.