Personal guidance for real-life puppy challenges—from the first day home.

Bringing a puppy home is exciting—but the constant questions about housetraining, nipping, chewing, sleep, socialization, and good manners can quickly feel overwhelming. Private puppy training gives you focused, one-on-one support built around your puppy, your household, and your goals. Instead of trying to fit your family into a standard class plan, each session addresses the behaviors and routines that matter most in your daily life.

With personalized coaching, you learn how to read your puppy’s behavior, reinforce the skills you want, and respond consistently before small challenges become established habits. Sessions can move at your puppy’s pace, adapt to individual temperament and learning history, and practice skills where they are actually needed—such as settling during meals, greeting visitors politely, walking in the neighborhood, resting comfortably alone, or navigating a busy home.

Why Families Choose Private Training

1. Individual attention — A plan made for your puppy: Training is adjusted to your puppy’s age, temperament, confidence, motivation, and current skill level.
2. Practical solutions — Help with your real priorities: Use session time for the issues affecting your household now, including potty routines, nipping, chewing, jumping, handling, crate comfort, recall, and leash skills.
3. Faster clarity for people — Coaching you can use immediately: Receive direct feedback on timing, reinforcement, setup, and communication so everyone in the home can follow the same approach.
4. Thoughtful socialization — Quality over simple exposure: Build positive, carefully managed experiences with people, sounds, surfaces, environments, and appropriate dogs without overwhelming your puppy.
5. Flexible progress — Training that evolves: Sessions can shift as your puppy develops, helping you prepare for adolescence and maintain useful habits beyond the first few weeks.

The Goal

Private training is not about creating a “perfect” puppy. It is about building communication, confidence, and sustainable routines so your puppy can become a comfortable companion in the life you share.

Starting early gives your family a valuable opportunity to guide behavior during an important period of learning and development. With a supportive, reward-based approach and a plan that fits your home, private puppy training can make puppyhood more manageable today while laying the foundation for a strong relationship in the years ahead.

Private Training for Puppies ages 8 weeks – 4 months

• 90-minute Initial Consultation: I will meet you at your home to set things up for you and your pup from the beginning. Ideally, the Initial Consultation takes place BEFORE you get your puppy, but it is not mandatory.

We will cover Prevention topics such as house training, crate training, socialization, bite inhibition, handling, and alone time.

• 8, 1 hr. Training sessions at your home, in town, or at my training hub in Tesuque are relevant to our training. The schedule and locations will depend on your puppy’s age. As we work together with your puppy, we will cover the following:

• Training concepts: Basic learning theory | nothing for free | life rewards | luring | shaping | reward removal | timing | criteria | proofing/handling distraction | getting and keeping focus | rate of reinforcement | fading the lure | problem-solving at home and on the go, such as anti-jumping, visitors at your home, typical household noises, etc.
• Basic Obedience: Sit | down | stay | come | go to your mat | anti-jumping| leave it | loose-leash walking.

Fees:

• 90-minute Initial Consult: $250 plus tax. Beyond 90 min. $ 350.00 plus tax.

• 8, one-hour sessions: $1,600.00 plus tax. This fee includes:

•  An extensive handbook (PDF) with all the information you need to continue learning and practicing between sessions 
• A booklet of appropriate physical activity for your puppy.

Please note the following:

• Payment for training sessions is required in full during the Initial Consult.

• Travel charges will apply beyond 18 miles from Tesuque at $1.20 per mile/round trip.

• Puppy parents need to be present for the training.