Relationships between owners and dogs can often be a hit or miss proposition. Impulsive decision making, lack of knowledge about the real needs of your pure or mixed breed pet, or just a bad match are not necessarily indicative of either human or owner being "bad". Just as in some human relationships, break ups sometimes happen.

Maximize the potential by getting better in touch with what the perfect canine addition to your family would look like.

For more information, please call 216-321-7654 or contact us

Service Dog Training is available through A Better Pet LLC.

1. For adults and/or children interested in help acquiring a suitable puppy who is then raised/trained and placed with customized support to provide function for a person with special needs.
2. For adults and/or children who already have their own dog and want to have that dog evaluated for possible service and/or training for function.

   At present, direct service service dog training (face to face contact) is limited to a 75 mile radius of Cleveland, Ohio but distance training is available when appropriate. While hands on service is always best, there are those who can work effectively using telephone, IM or email contact. This is especially helpful for those who live in areas with no suitable trainers. Please email to discuss if this is a suitable option for your needs.

What is a service dog?

A service dog is a dog trained to mitigate the disability of his owner. The disability could be visible or invisible, medical, emotional or psychiatric in origin. It could fit into more than one category. The dog could be functional as a service dog within the home only, and in some cases the dog would be an appropriate support 24/7. Service dogs have the same rights as guide dogs and can go anywhere the owner goes.

Service dogs must have a solid foundation of basic good manners/general obedience for out of home work which includes work in public settings and lots of socialization. Training for service dog work includes identifying functions and setting up a treatment plan with realistic goals and techniques.

UPDATE: AS OF SEPTEMBER 9, EARLY FALL CLASSES HAVE BEGUN AND ARE QUITE FULL. IT LOOKS LIKE A GREAT  GROUP. PEOPLE CONSIDERING TAKING A GROUP CLASS WITH TRAINERS FROM A BETTER PET LLC ARE WELCOME TO OBSERVE THESE CLASSES IF ADVANCE NOTICE IS TAKEN (you can't bring your dog). PEOPLE WHO GOT LOCKED OUT ARE NOW STARTING TO SIGN UP FOR THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER CLASS. CONTACT SELREC IF YOU WANT TO BE WAIT LISTED BECAUSE, AS ALWAYS, PUPPY GROUP CLASSES ARE BASED ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS.

PUPPY KINDERGARTEN and PUPPY NEXT STEP offer similar services as private but emphasis is more on working with distractions and social opportunities with other dogs over a 6 week period of time. There is an expectation of completed homework assignments. There is less individualized attention in a group session and problems within the home can only be addressed generally. We strive to make classes fun, educational and informative.

Classes are held in the gym at the South Euclid Board of Education Building (SELREC) at 5044 Mayfield Rd., located on the SW corner of Richmond and Mayfield Rds. in Lyndhurst, OH

Puppy Kindergarten: for puppies between 8 weeks - 4.5 months at start of class

Monday Nights 7:45-9:00

Puppy Next Step: for puppies from 4.5 months to 2 years at start of class

Monday nights 6:15-7:30

COST: $140 for either age level for the 6 week series. Up to 10 dogs per class.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED. REGISTRATION THROUGH SELREC.

UNDERWAY/FULL    Early Fall 2008 Group: September 8, 15, 22. *BREAK DURING WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 29th with an extended homework assignment. Resumes in October for the last 3 classes on October 6, 13, 20.

Most pet dog training inquiries fall into three general categories - new pup/dog stuff; general unruly adolescent/adult dog stuff; behavioral problem cases (aggression, severe anxiety, abnormal development, etc).
The first two are generally resolved in a 3 hour single session model in your home (up to four hours for 2 or more dogs):

1. Introductions - New pup stuff
   Help in transitioning a new canine addition, whether a young puppy or an older dog, into the family. Here the focus is on basic manners that include but are not limited to housetraining, management and the foundation work of coming when called (recall), sit, down, stay, settle, and walking nicely on leash.
2. Adolescent or adult dogs
   Your dog jumps where he or she is not supposed to jump; your dog has difficulties with leashes, strangers, high-pitched sounds, thunderstorms, fireworks, other dogs, cats, or kids. Your dog is defiant, unruly, and not part of the pack. Your dog will stand at attention, but she won't sit down. Your dog eats toy trucks and the cheese and cracker platter meant for your important guests. Your dog is spending way too much time crated but you can't think what else to do. Get on track and learn how to effectively communicate with your dog..
3. Behavioral Problem Cases
   These are evaluated on a case by case basis and may require more than one session. All services are explained before hand and ongoing support in these cases is required.

WE TEACH YOU HOW TO TEACH YOUR DOG TO DO WHAT YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO DO AND HAVE YOUR DOG WANT TO DO IT USING POSITIVE, NON-FORCE BASED TECHNIQUES.
We help owners better understand their dog’s temperament type and learning curve, where the animal is socially and emotionally, and how best to prepare for the different developmental phases dogs go through.
Services begin with an initial phone intake session. The intake is used to gather information to best understand the main issues for your call. From this information a treatment plan is developed. The treatment plan includes problem behavior(s), frequency/trigger for the problem behavior, goals (add, reduce or eliminate the behavior by replacing it with a desired behavior) and the all important technique. At A Better Pet LLC emphasis is on positive reinforcement clicker training. We first teach owners how to identify what, in their mind, is a well behaved companion animal, and then teach the owners how to train their dog using positive, non force based methods. This method is not only fun but also enhances the human animal bond. Available for purchase are a number of products including no-pull harnesses, euroleashes and martingale collars, all of which help enhance the human/canine bond in positive ways. 

TRAINING METHODS