But let’s admit that we all love well-behaved puppies even more.
While they can be amazingly cuddly and cute sometimes, they can also be absolute craziness on four paws at other times.
That’s where proper puppy obedience training comes in.
If your little bundle of fur needs to learn some manners, work on potty training, understand how to use their crate, come when they are called, what objects are toys and how not to chew on your hands, you’re in the right place.
We provide top-notch puppy training in the Greater Grand Rapids, MI area.
Casey, an ABC-Certified dog and puppy trainer, will come to your home and teach you and your puppy how to live together happily ever after.
Let’s work together to teach your puppy basic obedience and so much more!
There are so many benefits to in-home training for your puppy!
With over 10 years experience and top-of-the-class certifications, Playing Fur Keeps has a proven record of training puppies to be the best dogs they can be.
We use safe, effective, gentle training techniques that are suitable for any breed and work great for puppies of any age.
Our methods are based on positive reinforcement and proper leadership and meant to last a lifetime.
Faster Results
One-on-one puppy training gives us the ability to focus solely on your pup and individually address any quirks they may have.
Problem behaviors are addressed more easily and with more success because they are corrected right in the environments that they take place in, your home.
Convenience
In-home puppy training gives you the ability to begin at any age, regardless of your pup’s vaccination schedule (we take great care to disinfect our tools before entering your home).
Starting early helps avoid development of problem behaviors in the first place, which is much easier than correcting them later.
And you don’t have to find sitters or pack up the kids!
Longer-Lasting Results
Proper leadership and consistency throughout everyone in your household are crucial factors for long term success with puppy training.
Our in-home courses focus on getting the whole family involved in the process, setting everyone up for a lifetime of successful coexistence.
Confidence Building for Kids
Normal puppy behaviors like nipping and jumping can cause extreme fear in children, causing them to be hesitant in interacting with your dog, or any dog for that matter.
Our in-home training programs get the kids involved too, helping them not only learn how to effectively lead their dog, but also build confidence in their skills and get them even more excited about having a new puppy!
Working together with your puppy, in your own home, is absolutely invaluable to long-term success!
Get the family together once-a-week for 6 weeks so you can all learn how to properly train your puppy and maintain their new learned behaviors together.
Consistency is key and when everyone is involved, and using the same methods, words and actions, your puppy will be happier, and so will you.
You’ll learn so much about how to be a good puppy parent (or brother or sister) and your puppy will learn so much about how to be the goodest doggo!
We’ll focus on a different problem behavior each week, and weave in lessons and strategies to create better leadership from you, and obedience from your puppy.
Training to Eliminate Problem Behaviors
Each week, we’ll focus on one issue, show you how to overcome each of these challenges and help you understand how ongoing work can be done to ensure these common behaviors don’t continue.
Nipping – stop your puppy from nipping at your hands, feet and anything else that moves.
Jumping – keep your puppy from jumping up on you or visitors to your home.
Chewing – show your puppy the appropriate toys to chew on, and what isn’t a toy.
Leash Pulling – taking a walk should be enjoyable for you too, without pulling.
Barking – help your puppy understand when barking is not allowed.
Begging and Counter Surfing – teach your puppy not to beg for food or steal it off the counter.
General Obedience Training
In addition to addressing problem behaviors each week, you’ll learn valuable strategies and techniques to help you become a great dog parent, and help your puppy to grow up to be an amazing dog!
Leadership – there are endless ways to earn your dog’s respect without the use of fear or pain.
Socialization – create a foundation for a lifetime of good behavior in public.
Impulse Control – knowing when to let loose, and when to stay cool on command.
Potty Training – learn proven strategies for proper house training (add a personalized plan for $5).
Kennel Training – how to make your puppy feel at home in their crate.
Basic Commands – learn sit, stand, focus, down, stay, drop it and leave it.
Schedule weekly sessions, in the comfort of your home, on the same day and time each week for consistency.
Casey will come to your home in the Greater Grand Rapids area and each training session averages about 60 minutes. The first session is typically the longest.
We encourage you to have the whole family join! Ensuring that everyone who will interact with the dog on a daily basis knows the same commands and strategies is vital to ongoing success.
Prefer to do online puppy training courses? Playing Fur Keeps has that covered too!
We offer the same puppy training course in an online format you can work through at your own pace. Feel free to check out the “Online Training” page for more details.
The full, 6-week, in-home basic puppy training class is $275 plus mileage of $0.60/mile.
Additional puppies can be added to any 6-week package for $50 per dog. And they don’t need to be from the same family, so invite a friend to join you!
If you’d prefer to do training online via video chat, take $50 off the package price.
Online puppy training courses are $150. This includes 14 lessons, and you can add personalized coaching sessions at 50% off the standard rate.
Do you have a rescue puppy?
Take $30 off the package!
(Adoption contract from a non-profit animal shelter or rescue organization is required.)
Take your puppy training to the next level with targeted socialization training!
In my opinion, this is the most important variable to your puppy’s future wellbeing!
We’ll meet 3 times, every other week, in public areas. We will work to transfer basic obedience to stimulating environments, while building positive associations that will reduce social anxiety for many years to come.
You get all 3 sessions for $155.
Focused Socialization Training
You’ll learn how to properly introduce your pup to new and overstimulating environments and teach them to follow your lead.
Session 1 – Riverside Park
We’ll introduce your puppy to the park, and I’ll give an overview of the training. Then, we’ll work on building the dog’s focus to you, against all of the distractions. And well do some loose leash walking too, a vital skill for city dogs!
Session 2 – Pet Store
We’ll meet at Pet Supplies Plus and again, introduce your puppy to the general environment to begin. Then, work on ‘leave it’ to help them with impulse control in the midst of the sea of treats and smells, set expectations for polite greetings, plus the proofing of positional commands.
Session 3 – Hillcrest Dog Park
For the final session, we’ll join forces at a busy dog park and show you puppy the joys of being immersed with other canines, plus how to “stay” in the middle of the pack and recall commands to get them back to you, even if they still want to play.
Please note: your pup must be fully vaccinated prior to beginning the socialization package. Handlers are asked to commit to 2 additional “field trips” per week throughout the 6 week period. Locations can be changed for additional mileage costs.
In addition to the Basic Puppy Training and Extended Socialization packages, Playing Fur Keeps offers many ways to keep your puppy learning, growing and becoming the best dog ever!
We invite you to explore all that we have to offer:
“We adore Casey and our pup Archie adores her even more. We hired Casey to help us when we got Archie because we have a high energy house with 4 kids and we had never had a dog before so we had no idea what we were doing. Casey came to our house and helped train all 6 of us on how to train Archie. It was absolutely fabulous and it was great to empower the kids to be a part of the training. It helped to have us all on the same page as we integrated a dog into our family. Each week was a practical lesson with print outs so we could all learn together.” – Jennifer B.
“Casey is so knowledgeable about dogs, their stages and capabilities. As first time dog owners, we had no idea how to set our new puppy up for success and began working with her the week we brought her home (8 weeks). We were most concerned about safety around our young kids. Six week later and our energetic lab has a solid foundation of commands. She is also over her nipping and is great with our kids. We would recommend her to anyone. It’s also super convenient to do this from your own home.” – Rebecca O.
(that’s canine for let’s go!)
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In-home dog and puppy training in your home in the Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area, including…
Ada, Allendale, Caledonia, Cascade, Coopersville, Grand Rapids, Hudsonville, Jenison, Kentwood, Rockford, Sparta, Walker, Wyoming and everywhere in between!
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