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Are You Looking For Private, In Home Dog Obedience Training In Or Near Port Saint Lucie?

Whether you’re wrangling a new puppy, an unruly adolescent, or learning that you can teach an old dog new tricks, I can teach you how to get your dog to respond. Is he too aggressive? A little scared? Does she not listen to you? Is this your first dog, or maybe your first dog of this breed? Every dog has his own personality and needs. Group obedience classes are OK for getting some of the basics down, but for effective training that meets your needs and your dog’s needs, one-on-one time is needed–and that’s what I do.
Good behavior and manners are skills that even your dog can learn with practice – and learned much faster with the personal attention of a friendly, experienced behavior consultant and trainer. My methods will have your dog happily listening to every command, even around distractions, and you don’t need to be a skilled trainer yourself. That’s what I’m for!

Why All Dogs Need Training

DOG OBEDIENCE TRAINING

Pet dog behavior is a product not only of the culture of dogs and it’s inherited genetics, but its training and environment strongly affects it’s genetic mandate. In other words, a friendly dog can be turned into a dangerous dog thru harsh treatment, neglect (even benign neglect) and bad training. And great training and kind treatment can give confidence and calmness to nervous, fearful dogs. 

Your pet’s personality–whether he is friendly or mean, nervous or calm, happy or anxious,  is influenced not only by the genetic lottery of whatever breed the dog is but also by how he is treated. How he’s kept, whether it’s as a house dog or in solitary confinement as a yard dog; if he’s crated too much or given too much freedom; if his owner plays with him or ignores him, if his owner effectively trains him or harshly punishes him.  We can’t blame dogs or judge dogs for being the way they are because chances are they’ve been made them that way.  I think that’s true about people, too.

That’s why I like instructing–the challenge of figuring out each dog’s individual needs and bettering the dog’s circumstances, preventing serious behavior problems so that owners are happier and dogs become more responsive, relaxed, and confident family dogs. That’s not to say that every dog will be “Lassie”, but with good training they certainly will be better than they would be otherwise. There’s a certain satisfaction in helping dogs and their owners live amiably together.

Featured Services

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Private Traininglearn more
Private Training In The Comfort Of Your Home
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Boarding With Traininglearn more
We do the work, you enjoy the results.
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Comprehensive Puppy ProgramsLearn More
Instill manners to last a lifetime, avoid serious problems.
Port Saint Lucie Dog Training, AKC, Canine Good Citizen
Canine Good Citizen
Port Saint Lucie Puppy Trainer, AKC, Puppy Star
STAR Puppy
Port Saint Lucie Dog Trainer, AKC, Trick Dog Training
Trick Dog

Free Temperament Test & Evaluation

Meet Our Dog Trainers

Cathy Daugaard

Cathy Daugaard

30+ years experience

I truly love dogs and want the best for them and their owners.

Nauti

Nauti

9 years experience

Nauti gives each pet plenty of love and attention.

What Clients Say

Customer Reviews

Cathy is amazing!  On her meet and greet visit, she actually taught our puppy a few commands,  then gave me homework for the week to practice those commands.  That, in itself, was like a free session.  I hired Cathy to come out 3 times (money is tight with COVID) and my puppy and my family learned so much on those visits!  Individual attention makes such a difference versus a group class.  She asked me what my concerns were, what areas I wanted to concentrate on, and we met and exceeded my goals.  I plan to have Cathy come back to work on any new issues that may crop up as my puppy grows up.  I called her many times and she not only answered my questions, but was more than gracious with her time.

Thank you Cathy for your help and for teaching us so much!

Robyn

Our 17 month old German Shepherd was out of control. He jumped on people, pulled like crazy on his leash, and would ignore any commands we gave him. After spending a month with Cathy he is now very well behaved. Cathy is a wonderful trainer and we highly recommend her.

 

GEORGE, MARY ANNE, AND ALEXIS GARAFOLA

Cathy has been an excellent trainer for our dog and for us! She knows how a dog thinks and is able to help us understand how to communicate with our pet. We’ve been very pleased with the results of her training.

Sharon Beauchamp

Cathy,  we want to thank you for training us and our two four-legged daughters Chloe and Hanna. You’ve taken our puppies and turned them into the best dogs ever! In just six weeks, you’ve allowed us to have the control we need to be able to take them with us anywhere, and you did this while making it fun for them (and us) to learn.  Thank you so much!!

 

Dave & Jennifer

One of the things that I really liked about Cathy is that she is “all in.” This isn’t a part-time job, this is her life. She has years of knowledge about their behavior and how to get positive results!

I would highly recommend FAMILY DOG TRAINING!

Lynn Mcheffey