Our Services

Choosing to pursue training for your dog is the best possible gift you can give him or her. Understanding how dogs learn and providing them with the structure and leadership they need to be their best selves is the sign of an exceptional owner – thank you for being one of them!

Loving our dogs is certainly important, but it’s not enough. And, when we ONLY love them and don’t help them understand when they are doing what we want as well as doing what we DON’T want, we sell them short, and our relationship suffers. Think about teaching children – if we never provided them with feedback to correct their mistakes, they would be missing important learning opportunities for future growth.

VIPK9 uses balanced training methods to help you and your dog succeed as a team. By providing clarity to your dog through structured training, we increase the chances of their (and your) success. No one has ever called us to say, “Please make my dog more excitable!” Dogs ALSO need to learn how to decompress and chill. Helping your dog learn how to have fun, engage in activity, AND have an “off switch” are all important variables to having a happy, settled canine partner. Treats alone cannot achieve stability, durability, and reliability in obedience. Similarly to humans, a dog’s mindset about boundaries, rules of the household, etc. is critically important. Sadly, many owners don’t prioritize this until the behavior is out of control, the dog is pushy and disregards direction, and rehoming becomes a very real option. We want to work with you to prevent that from happening or to help you address it if it becomes a reality. Strengthening the bond with your dog is something we are passionate about – we love dogs and we know, firsthand, the joy that comes from having a mutually respectful relationship with one!

So, enough about our “philosophy” of dog training – onto the details!

We cover all levels and degrees of training needs with dogs of any breed or age. Basic and advanced obedience as well as mild to more involved behavioral issues (resource guarding, anxiety, aggression). We have years of experience and our main trainer, Cindy, has completed advanced education in training methods with world-renowned trainers Michael Ellis (Leerburg), Robert Cabral (Bound Angels), and Sean O’Shea (The Good Dog Training and Rehabilitation). She has also worked in the field of special education/behavioral disorders for 30+ years so helping to find solutions to various learning/behavior issues is second nature!

At VIPK9, we specialize in low-level, communication-style E-Collar training (beginning at 4 months of age). Our training approach enables owners to have a reliable, well-behaved dog indoors and outdoors, as well as relaxed, stress-free walks. No more bribing, begging, or losing your patience; just dependable training, a great relationship, and a dog you can enjoy anywhere. We offer group classes for owners with puppies/dogs that need basic, foundational obedience. These classes are taught from the positive reinforcement/lure-reward perspective and are appropriate for puppies under 16 weeks of age.

We also offer structured, one-on-one training for dogs older than 16 weeks. This is the age when troublesome or nuisance behavior often begins to emerge. One-on-one sessions enable us to devote more quality time and attention to each dog and owner to meet their particular needs, which of course equals the very best results possible. One-to-one lessons incorporate the use of low-level e-collars.