The Best Dog Training in Chicago

How it Works

1. Identify the behaviors you want to prevent or change. Our trainers are very experienced and can help you with just about anything. If you have a puppy or want to focus on a broad set of skills, that is no problem - we can cover quite a lot, especially in a class, and follow a standard curriculum based on our professional experience
2. Set up a free consultation, if you need help deciding on the best approach, based on your particular dog, home environment, lifestyle, and goals
3. Choose your training format, such as private lessons, classes, or turnkey training. We can help you make this choice. For some dogs it is a combination of multiple formats over time
4. We show you how to address the behaviors, using positive reinforcement methods. We demonstrate the exercises, then immediately correct your techniques when adjustments are needed
5. We give you home exercises that should take 30 minutes or less per day. You can incorporate these exercises into many of your current routines, such as when you feed your dog, go through doorways, and go for walks. You must practice these exercises each day in order to instill the behaviors in your dog reliably. The home exercises are easy and fun for both you and your dog, and are really like games. If they seem too easy or too hard, we can adjust the level of difficulty. The exercises also are designed to build off each other, in order, so you start with a strong foundation and go up from there
6. Use our online portal to:
   
   
   • Access the home exercises and other helpful content (starting in the Fall of 2019). This is helpful because once you're alone with your dog, you may not remember everything the trainer covered. It's also great because you can access the information even if you miss a class. You can easily view the information on any phone, tablet, computer, or other Internet-connected device
   • Log your exercises using our online tool, TrainTrack™. This helps you remember how many repetitions you put in per week, and even what other people (e.g., your spouse) have worked on with your dog throughout the week.
7. Call your trainer if you need some quick advice in between sessions, if you are having difficulty and simply can't progress. We can typically give you a power boost
8. Your dog improves! You'll be amazed at the progress if you use our methods as instructed, and put in the repetitions consistently
9. We make the exercises much more challenging. We don't want to just teach super-easy behaviors such as sitting. We want your dog to master the behavior under any condition, so we make the exercises harder and harder, under a variety of circumstances. For example, he comes to you when you call him, but will he do that while at the dog park, playing with other dogs? When walking or running away from you? Our "progressive difficulty" model is how you build long-term listening and reliability
10. You decide how far you want to go. Stop after one course or 6-lesson private lesson package? Continue to intermediate and advanced training? Delve into agility or other sports? Gain certifications? Visit hospitals with your therapy dog? We can help you go quite a long way and bring out the best in your dog

Train-the-Trainer Approach

Skills, Listening, and Self-Control