In-Home Program · Greater Boston
Reliability where you actually need it — your doorway, your sidewalk, your walk.
Your dog knows “sit” in the kitchen. The problem is the front door, the leash, the other dog across the street, and the moment you actually need him to listen. A dog that behaves at home but falls apart the second there’s something interesting isn’t a stubborn dog — he just hasn’t been taught to hold it together where it counts.
Good Dog Boston trains adult dogs in your home and on your real streets, using reward-based methods. We come to you and build reliability in the exact places you need it — because that’s where obedience actually has to work.
Adult Obedience is built for grown dogs who are good-natured but not yet reliable — the ones who know the words but don’t listen when it matters.
If your dog is barking, lunging, or reacting out of fear or aggression, Behavior Modification is the better fit — see below.
Every plan is customized after your free evaluation, but Adult Obedience typically builds reliable, real-world behavior:
Dogs don’t generalize the way people assume. A “sit” learned on the kitchen tile is, to your dog, a kitchen-tile behavior — it doesn’t automatically transfer to a windy sidewalk with a squirrel twenty feet away. That gap is why so many owners feel like their dog is being stubborn or spiteful. He isn’t. The cue was never proofed against real distraction, so the moment the environment gets louder than you, the training evaporates.
Reliability is built by deliberately raising difficulty in the places it has to hold. We start where your dog can succeed, then add distance, duration, and distraction on purpose — the leash walk past another dog, the recall when a jogger goes by, the stay at the door when the buzzer goes off. Because we train in your home and on your block, your dog is practicing against the exact triggers that beat him today, not a tidy substitute for them.
And because you are there for every session, you leave with the timing and mechanics to keep it going. The dog isn’t the only one being trained — the goal is a handler who can hold the standard long after the seven weeks are done. If the problem is fear or aggression rather than plain disobedience, that’s behavior modification, and we’ll tell you honestly which one you need on the evaluation call.
We talk through your dog, your home, and your goals — and tell you exactly what the plan looks like before you commit.
A trainer comes to you and coaches you and your dog on your real turf, building reliability where you actually need it.
You finish with a dog you can walk, call off, and settle — around the distractions that used to win.
Every program ends with a Good Dog Boston diploma — and walks that feel like walks again.
We were having trouble training our adolescent spitz, who was quickly becoming quite reactive/aggressively territorial on regular walks around the neighborhood. We’re so grateful that we had the chance to work with Jeff at Good Dog Boston — though we’d read a handful of books and watched a few videos about how to work with reactive dogs, there’s nothing quite like having someone with a great deal of experience point out to you the specific tools to use and nuanced cues in your specific dog’s behavior to watch out for. Jeff was wonderful — worked with our busy schedules (and the weather), clearly excellent/fond of dogs, highly results-driven, and he gave us customized “homework” to do. Walking him is now pleasant instead of embarrassing and stressful.
Best for dogs who know the basics but ignore them outdoors
Transparent, flat pricing — no per-class upsells. Your trainer stays reachable between sessions if a question comes up, and every engagement starts with a free evaluation call, so you know exactly what you’re paying for before you commit. Spanish-speaking trainers available.
Adult Obedience is our core training program. Depending on your dog’s age and what you’re facing, these may fit better:
Tell us about your dog and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can help, which program fits, and what it costs. A trainer calls back within 24 hours.
Entrenadores hispanohablantes — también atendemos en español.
Free · No obligation · Know the plan and the price before you commit