Our Puppy Manners Program offers a structured, one-on-one approach at your home or our training facility in Chicago, to help build foundational skills such as loose leash walking, polite greetings, impulse control, and focus. This will help create a great relationship with your puppy that will serve you well for years to come. We implement positive, science-based training methods, and each session is customized to your puppy's age, breed, and temperament to ensure steady, thoughtful progress. Whether you are addressing common puppy challenges or building reliable habits from the start, this program provides the groundwork for long-term confidence and good behavior.
Program Snapshot
- Format: Private lessons with you and your puppy
- Location: Your home or our training facility
- Number of sessions: 6 sessions for the core program, more sessions can be added if necessary
- Positive reinforcement: We only use and recommend positive reinforcement, the fastest and best way to train dogs
- Skills: See Behaviors section below
- Price: $870 for the 6-session program if we come to your home
Behaviors We Cover
In our Puppy Manners Program, we work on teaching foundational skills to your puppy:
- Intro to loose leash walking
- Dropping items
- Leaving items alone
- Recall (having your puppy reliably come back to you)
- Not jumping on other dogs or people
- General impulse control
- Intro to crate training (you will need this for going to the vet, groomer, daycare, or boarding, but this is optional)
Want other skills?
If you want to substitute another foundational manners skill, that is likely possible. We can also extend the program and add other skills. Just ask!
Price and Payment
- $810 for the 6-session program
- Plus $10 per session if our trainer comes to your home
- Any parking fees we may incur by coming to your home
- Puppy Starter upgrade can be added for $405 (plus any housecall and parking fees if we come to your home). With this upgrade, we can add potty training, more detailed crate training, play biting, and socialization. You will also receive a free puppy social.
- Credit card over the phone
- Payment plan
- PayPal Credit, which you pay over time and there is no interest for the first 6 months
The Tucker Pup's Training System
The Tucker Pup Training System is a comprehensive, cohesive approach to training — built around home exercises and supported by our TrainTrack platform, so real progress continues between sessions and everything stays organized and on track.
Carefully curated home exercises
We teach you the best home exercises, so you can build repetition and real learning in 30 minutes or less per day
Step-by-step training videos
Clear instructional videos that demonstrate how to perform the home exercises, so you easily remember all of the steps
Personalized recommendations
Daily adjustments designed specifically for your dog, goals, and home environment (private lesson programs only)
TrainTrack platform
Access everything in one place so you maximize your success — view videos of your assigned exercises, read handouts, and track your progress (additional features available in private lesson programs, including video uploads to your trainer and more)
Watch Videos of Home Exercises on Your Device
A Happy Puppy Training Customer
Dog Trainer
We are doing private training with Natalie and went to a puppy social yesterday, both are wonderful! Thanks for taking such good care of our Puck 🥰
Elysia Cappellucci
Program Details
- 6 one-hour sessions at your home or our training facility in the West Loop. We offer training seven days per week, including weeknights.
- Access to TrainTrack™, our proprietary software platform for accessing videos of the exercises, plus handouts and other helpful information
- A treat pouch and optional clicker
- A graduation certificate
Please note:
- Many puppies can learn the behaviors in this program very well with 6 sessions, but your success depends on various factors. These include whether you do your homework throughout each week, and whether your puppy's progress is impeded by challenges such as anxiety.
- If you are not able to finish in six sessions and need to add more, that is no problem - we can add as many as you need. Your trainer would discuss this, and the additional price, with you as you go.
- If your puppy is struggling with challenges such as separation anxiety, barking, fears, leash reactivity, low confidence, and so forth, this program will not address those behaviors. We can still provide the program and add more training for those additional behaviors. Just talk with us, and we will identify a plan for helping you.
FAQs
Where do the sessions take place?
If you live in our travel radius, we are happy to come to your home. Otherwise, we can work at our training facility.
Do most puppies truly finish the program in 6 sessions?
Yes, most puppies can finish the program in 6 sessions, although this is not a guarantee since there are factors out of our control, not the least of which is that you do your homework each week. But if you need to add more sessions, that is no problem.
What if I want to add or change behaviors?
This is not a problem, within reason. The program can be customized, and we can certainly add sessions and tackle additional behaviors. Having said that, if a behavior is likely too challenging until others are learned, we will discuss that with you. Just talk with us about your goals and we will help achieve them.
Why does it say 'Intro to Leash Walking'? I want my puppy to go everywhere with me
The program teaches leash walking foundational mechanics, but there is a lot to learn that is outside of the scope of a 6-session program focusing on numerous skills. Having said that, after going through this program, your puppy can advance to the next level and start learning to go everywhere with you, plus much more such as lying down calmly at a cafe with you. Just ask if you want to tackle that next.
What if my puppy is not finished with all rounds of vaccinations?
If we are coming to your home, that is not a problem. If you are coming to our training facility, it is not a problem as long as your vet believes your puppy is on track and you have completed at least two of the three rounds. Rabies is not required for puppies.
What if my puppy is shy or lacks confidence?
This is very common, and could make leash training go more slowly. We are happy to add more sessions, plus add in confidence-building games and exercises. We would also recommend our Confidence Builder puppy social, which can work wonders.
What can we do after earning this certificate?
After graduating from the Puppy Manners Program, you can start to take any number of paths, including our Out and About Program (focusing more on outdoor walking and sitting at cafes), Intermediate Manners training (in class or with private lessons), and even start preparing for Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification.
What if my puppy doesn't graduate? Do I still get a certificate?
There is not really a formal 'test,' and it is OK if your puppy can't perform all of the behahviors by the end of the six sessions. Most importantly, we will have shown you what to do, and you must practice.
Our Travel Radius
One of our trainers can home to your home if you live within our travel radius. We routinely go all throughout Chicago each day, including to Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Wrigleyville, Gold Coast, River North, downtown, East Loop, West Loop, South Loop, and all neighborhoods in between.
These boundaries go north to Irving Park Road, east to the lake, south to Roosevelt, and west to Western Avenue.
If you live a few streets beyond these boundaries we can likely still come to your home.
Otherwise, you would need to come to our training facility.
Our Trainers Travel All Over Chicago
Reviews from Puppy Customers
Yelp has listed Tucker Pup's as one of the top 100 local businesses in the country in 2025. We are the only pet business who made the list from Chicago, and the only pet resort / training business who made the list nationally.
See the List
Positive Reinforcement Methods
Tucker Pup's only uses positive reinforcement, which combines the use of rewards, an encouraging tone of voice, and relaxed body language. We do not use aversive methods include prong collars, choke chains, shock collars, poking, yelling, or leash popping. If you are using any of these with your dog, we can help you successfully stop, and still get the results you want.
Positive reinforcement gives you the best chance of success, and can be the fastest way to get results. Aversive methods cause distrust, fear, and potentially pain or discomfort, all of which can be detrimental to getting the results and relationship that you want.
Common questions:
- Do I need to carry treats for the rest of my dog's life? Treats are for teaching behaviors - once your dog can reliably perform, treats can be phased out at your discretion.
- Do I need to carry treats at all times? No. If there are times where you are not carrying treats, our methods can still work.
- Can I use a different type of reward than treats? It may be possible to use something else your dog values, such as a favorite toy.
- Is positive reinforcement too soft for my dog? Not a bit. The best way to build reliable skills is through trust and motivation. Being tough with your dog can cause him to shut down, have anxiety, ignore you, and not truly learn.
- I have tried treats, but they don't work for my dog. You were likely using low-value treats, including from a store. We will recommend high-value treats that are irresistable for most dogs, including in high-distraction environments.
- Will it take longer to achieve results? This is a common myth. Positive reinforcement can create faster results than aversive methods, because your dog is motivated to listen to you, and truly wants to learn.
- Is it bribery? No! All animals learn behaviors from being rewarded, including humans. You wouldn't go to work for free, would you? Motivation + repetition = new behaviors.
If you are hesitant, please trust us on this one and feel free to ask us questions.
Neighborhoods We Serve
Tucker Pup's is located in the West Loop / Fulton Market District neighborhood. People come to us from all over Chicago, especially from Bucktown, Gold Coast, Lake View, Lincoln Park, Old Town, River North, River West, South Loop, Streeterville, Ukrainian Village, University Village, West Town and Wicker Park.
