Achieve your dog training goals. No force required.

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Whether your dog needs to learn a few basic cues or has serious behavior issues, we can help. Happy Hound Training's private, in-home services offer customized plans tailored to meet your goals. Our group dog training classes are limited to six dogs to ensure you get plenty of one-on-one instruction.

 

We proudly train the force-free way, which utilizes rewards (praise, affection, toys, treats, etc.) to motivate your dog to succeed. The golden rule of force-free training is that any behavior that's rewarded becomes more frequent! Using rewards to motivate dogs to learn stimulates their thinking, improves your relationship with them, creates lasting results and best of all, makes training fun! Dogs learn more efficiently when they use their noggins to figure out how to earn rewards rather than doing the minimum to avoid punishment. Plus, there's no risk of the negative fallout commonly associated with correction-based training (please read My Crossover Story for Jill's first-hand experience illustrating the dangers of using aversive training techniques).

 

Our training methods are based on the most up-to-date scientific research and studies. We're dedicated to furthering our skills through continuing education and promoting professional integrity through membership in trade organizations.

Behavior Modification

 

We offer help for common (and not-so common) behavior issues like aggression toward people and/or other dogs, separation anxiety, over-excitement, and fearfulness.

 

Behavior modification training investigates why your dog responds the way he does, as well as what happens just before he reacts. When we know what is likely to cause your dog to react negatively, we are able to intervene early and work to change the underlying cause of his response.

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Behavioral training begins with an initial 2-hour meeting to evaluate your situation, gather background information, assess your dog's issues, and discuss your training goals. Using the information gathered during our initial meeting, we write a customized summary that includes recommendations and a training plan.

 

Private, in-home behavioral training is tailored to your needs: We can work on as many or as few issues as you like. Since most behavior issues occur in the home, we come to you. However, sessions may include outings to your vet’s office, dog park, pet store, etc.

 

Private training is available in the WV/MD/VA tri-state area, within a 1-hour drive of Hedgesville, WV. A travel fee applies to drives longer than 1 hr. from Hedgesville.