OUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

ADVANTAGE - WHAT’S THE #1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WONDER DOG & ALL THE OTHER DOG TRAINERS IN TOWN?

Easy. We could mention that in-home training is the safest, or most effective, or HALF the price of all the other trainers who use the board & train model…or that it’s the best way to learn how to train your dog with a personal coach, but those may not be the most important reasons. You see…

ANY dog trainer can train your dog to sit, stay, come, etc.  These are the POSITIVE COMMANDS to get a dog to do something, but when we train your dog IN IT'S OWN HOME it means that we can actually help you fix your dog’s PROBLEM behaviors too that you don't want them to do (which most trainers can't offer because they won't come to your place)!   

However, since the bulk of the dog's training is done in it's actually home habitat - where they live and eat and play, instead of at a park, store or someone's facility - we can help you easily fix behaviors such as… pooping on the carpet, bolting out the door, barking at strangers who pass by, grabbing food off the counters, digging & scratching, chasing cats/squirrels/dogs along your walking path, etc (among plenty of others).

…And if you have a puppy who hasn’t developed many problem behaviors YET, trust us - they will over the next 60-90 days so you’ll be glad that you went with a trainer who is IN your house and training your family in how to handle those problems when they come up so that you nip them in the bud before your puppy gets too big.

TRUST - HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRUST WONDER DOG WITH YOUR DOG(S)?

Great question.  First, all of our training in done right in front of you, in your home. We will never ask you if we can train your dog behind closed doors or without your supervision (except in the singular case of the In-Home Bootcamp, which is something you must request from us where we come to your house daily to train your dog FOR you...often when the owner is not home).  

Second, all of our Dog Pros are certified experts in operant conditioning (the science behind dog training) which many dog trainers simply cannot also claim because they are doing their work as merely a hobby or side hustle or maybe because the owner of the company is certified, but not all the staff.

EXPECTATIONS - WHAT IS A TYPICAL IN-HOME DOG TRAINING LESSON LIKE?

Your Dog Pro will arrive on-time to will greet you and your dog.  We start each appointment by checking on the progress you’ve made on your daily homework assignments from last lesson to ensure that the dog can complete the challenge we gave you.  Then you’ll begin to work on the new issues for this week’s lessons.

Typically this means you’ll work on some unwanted PROBLEM behaviors (eating off the counter, bolting out the door, play-biting the kids a bit too hard, etc) and then you’ll work on your POSITIVE behaviors (sit, stay, come, heel, go to bed, etc).  Your Dog Pro will do the “heavy lifting” to teach the dog the signals and once your dog is “getting it,” then you and your family will practice too so that your Dog Pro can ensure that you are re-enforcing the right things in the right way.

After some coaching on your technique, your Dog Pro will text you the homework for this week’s challenge and then will be on their way after about a solid hour.   Plus, you'll get in some extra practice around distractions at the Wonder Dog Games later in the week, all customized to you and your dog.

EXPECTATIONS - WHAT IS A TYPICAL GROUP DOG TRAINING LESSON LIKE?

Your Dog Pro will arrive early to greet everyone and give new training equipment to all 1st-timers.  We will start on-time  by reviewing the 12 Rules for Group Lessons so that everyone is clear about what's expected.  

Next, your Dog Pro will demonstrate this week's lesson, proper technique, commands, signaling, etc and then will ask the group to do it repetitively.  As the group practices, the Dog Pro will supervise and coach each person as needed.  We cannot overstate how much the proper technique matters, the tone of your voice, the volume you use, how many times you repeat yourself, when EXACTLY you give the re-enforcement, etc.  

When you add in various personalities, intelligences, breeds, distractions in the room, etc you'll see why dog training is an entire profession.  So much can go sideways, which is why we say, "You only get one chance to train a dog the right way."   Once you and your dog are “getting it,” then we'll add duration (sit longer, stay longer, etc) and even more distraction (so that they learn to obey no matter what is going on around them).

As you leave, you'll soon get a text with that lesson's homework and it'll be up to you to practice daily for at least 20 minutes to get in repetitions AT-HOME, around your dog's particular stimuli and distractions.  The more people in your family that can practice the proper technique so that everyone is not using some slight variation and thus confusing the dog, the better.  It all talks a solid hour.  Even better, you'll have videos in the Tribe membership portal to share with your family so that everyone can learn the proper technique!

TRIBE - WHAT ARE THE WONDER DOG TRIBE EVENTS?

LOCATION - WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?

If you want the in-home dog training programs for more private, one-on-one coaching, then we come to you.  If you want the group dog training programs which are a bit more budget-friendly, then we'll gather in centralized places around town, and then you'll still do the bulk of your daily practice at-home where your pups lives.  Again, we refuse to train dogs away from their owners.  That just makes NO sense to us.  Why take dangerous risks when training a dog at-home makes more sense?

AGE - DO YOU TRAIN PUPPIES? DO YOU TRAIN OLDER DOGS?

We start training puppies around 8-10 weeks old and consider them ready for adult-level training around 6 months. And yes, old dogs absolutely CAN learn new tricks as we’ve trained dogs up to 13 years old before with great success!

AGGRESSION - DO YOU TRAIN AGGRESSIVE & REACTIVE DOGS?

We have in the past, but we now refer those dogs to friends of ours who specialize in that skill set. So as long as your dog has never bitten a person or dog, nor has tried to, then we will work with them. Otherwise, it’s best that you get trainers who specialize in this so that your dog gets the attention that he needs.

VISION - WHAT DOES A DOG NEED TO BE FULLY TRAINED?

We see dog training in terms of addition, subtraction and multiplication.

Addition - We need to ADD some new behaviors to your dog’s life: sit, down, stay, come, heel, go to bed, release, etc.

Subtraction - We need to REMOVE some behaviors from your dog’s life: pulling on the leash, pooping the house, jumping on guests, etc. (This, by the way, is one of the primary things that separates us from all other dog trainers. No kidding, literally NO other dog trainers in town will even offer to fix problem behaviors around your house…so if you are having dog problems, you know who to call).

Multiplication - We need to add in commotion and distraction so that you dog learns to obey you no matter what. It’s easy to train a dog to sit and stay in a peaceful living room, but will she still obey with noise and traffic and distractions swirling all around you two? This is where the Wonder Dog Tribe & Games come in. Each week we gather up a dozen or so clients and dogs to play games, but what we’re REALLY doing is teaching your dog to obey NO MATTER WHAT is going on (plus it’s super fun for the humans).

It all starts with a FREE dog training phone consultation. Click below to schedule yours.

OPTIONS - WHY WOULD WE CHOOSE WONDER DOG WHEN THERE ARE OTHER TRAINERS IN TOWN?

First, because we do the one thing most won’t do: train you and your dog to practice AT HOME!  Here is why that matters so much...

It’s this simple: if you want your dog’s PROBLEM behaviors to go away, you MUST train the dog where its triggers occur - the very triggers and places and doors and smells and backyards where she is being tempted to be bad, otherwise, how on earth can you train her to stop pooping on your carpet or grabbing pizza off the counter unless you are in front of THAT carpet and THAT counter?!?

This means that you'll need an IN-HOME dog trainer who will use both positive and corrective stimuli...and we are the only ones in town that fit that description.

Second, for the 2-3 trainers in town who WILL come out to your house, they only use the positive stimuli (treats and praise), which again, puts a strong limit on their ability to deal with PROBLEM behaviors. Why? Because you can’t praise a dog into not jumping on your guests. And you can’t give treats to him when he’s 15 feet out the front door chasing whatever (because he’s already gone!).  If you want to fix problem behaviors, you’ll need corrective stimuli, but the positive-only trainers refuse to correct a dog in any way or even raise their voice. This sounds quite loving in theory, but it just doesn’t work on dogs, or kids, or criminals, or any other mammal that rebels against the community within which it lives. What does work? See our answer to the next question.

Third, Wonder Dog is like the CarMax of dog trainers. We took all the common problems in the dog training industry and flipped them on their heads so that we could do what no one else was willing to do (and most of the trainers hate us for it!). For instance…

• In-Home - Almost no one is willing to come out to help you train you and your dog at-your-place. It’s largely unheard of in our industry.
• Payment Plans - Instead asking for a large amount of money up front, we offer a payment plan through our bank so that you can train now, but pay later. Easy.
• Guaranteed Results - We are the only trainers that we know of that offer regression insurance as a bonus to all of our in-home training programs. This means that if your dog forgets his training in any way, just call us and we’ll be out to get him back to where he was again (or if you are in the group programs, just come back to class).   Isn’t your dog obeying you really all that matters in the end?
• Games - Literally no one that we can find anywhere in the world has anything like the Wonder Dog Tribe & Games:  fun, family environments to play with your dog no matter how basic or advanced their training is, meet dog lovers and practice the commands in a crazy-fun environment.
• Price - Since we offer so much more (compare the prices of a personal fitness trainer coming to your house vs him meeting you at a gym), you would think that our prices would be DOUBLE what others charge, but instead, you’ll find that our prices are HALF of what most trainers in town charge. Combined with our payment plans, money just should never be a barrier to getting your dog what he needs.

Due to being such an industry-changing offer, we plan to spread to more cities in the next few years.

What we mean is that, of all of the extreme methods and philosophies out there on all sides of the spectrum, we use the natural-based, scientifically proven methods that the VAST majority of all professional, certified dog trainers use worldwide. 

To explain…

We believe…the SAFEST WAY to train a dog is to do it right in front of the owner; not behind closed doors.

We believe…the BEST PLACE to train a dog is in its natural home environment, right where it lives everyday.

We believe…the MOST EFFECTIVE and LONGEST-LASTING RESULTS comes from using science-based stimuli from all 4 quadrants of operant conditioning (the science behind obedience dog training)…which is a fancy way of saying, we train dogs in the exact same natural way that dogs train each other and humans, using positive and corrective stimuli.

We believe…the BEST WAY to socialize a bored or anxious dog is give it a purpose, like training for the Wonder Dog Tribe & Games.

Listen, no matter what dog behavior problems you are having, we can help. Again, it all starts with a FREE dog training phone consultation so click below to lock-in your time now. 

PS. If you want to read our “official” ethics statement, then you can find it here.

GEAR - WHAT TRAIN GEAR IS NEEDED TO TRAIN WITH YOU GUYS?

Depending on your dog and the program you want, we could end up using all kinds of different tools to train your dog, but the good news is that you get to keep it all because once we train the dog in your living room, we hand you the same tools so that you can do it too - and when we come back the next week, we’ll expect that you have worked on your homework with him and have completed the challenge we gave you.

PROGRAMS - WHAT DOG TRAINING PROGRAMS DO YOU OFFER?

At Wonder Dog, we keep our obedience programs simple and fun.

Our Basic Home Life program that covers the 7 basic POSITIVE commands (sit, stay, come, down, bed, walk on leash & your password), while ALSO eliminating your dog’s various unwanted NEGATIVE behaviors as well (pulling on the leash, running out the door, jumping on people, grabbing food off the counters, etc).  Some people call this our “On-Leash” program because you’ll still have the safety net of having the dog on a leash if things ever go sideways. Easy.

Our Off Leash Freedom Life program is for families who want the freedom of TOTAL control over their dog at home and at the park, at the lake or in the country - no matter what distractions, traffic or commotion is going on around them…all with or without a leash.  Easy.

Both programs are simple, straight-forward and the most effective way to set up a lifelong partnership of learning and training for you two. It is effective with both puppies and mature dogs of any age.

We also offer other customized programs around the issues that your dog has.

EVEN BETTER, BOTH OF OUR MAIN PROGRAMS ALSO PROVIDE…

+ 30-90 Days of FREE Access to Our Tribe Membership, Which Includes...

• "Just Call Us" Regression Insurance (or "Just Come Back" Regression Insurance for Group Lessons)
• Your Dog Pro (for Basic Q&A and Troubleshooting via Phone)
• All Games, Playdates, Adventures, Excursions, Doggie Movies in the Park & Other Tribe Events
• All of Our Refresher Lesson Videos
• All of Our Dog Life Guides - Puppy, Food, Pottying, Hyper Dogs, etc
• Up to 50% Discounts on Dog Food, Treats, Supplies, Gear, Swag & Toys
  

+ All of the Training Gear that You’ll Need ($50-300 value)

+ Doggie Diplomas for Your Newly CERTIFIED Wonder Dogs.