You may be wondering why you see The Right Paw logo on our documents and around our website. That’s because in April 2020 we became the new owners of The Right Paw Obedience School in Princeton, MA! The Right Paw has been in business for almost 30 years and is a full-service training facility. Offering group class, board and train, private lessons, virtual lessons, and in-home training. I met the previous owner of The Right Paw, Darlynn Oberg, about a year ago. At the time I was looking to find a property that was suitable to have a training facility on. I've wanted my own training space for ..read more

I get a lot of calls from people whose dogs break out of crates. Almost every single person I talk to has a black wire crate that their dog has figured out how to get out of. I wanted to write a quick blog post about this, so hopefully I can save some of you a lot of trouble. Honestly, I more surprised when dogs stay IN those black wire crates than when they get out of them. Those crates are easy to break out of. In the beginning of crate training, it’s normal for a dog to paw or bite at the crate. The wire crates give in easily, which makes the dog try to get out even hard. Think of a time wh ..read more

How to stop unwanted behaviors and encourage good behaviors. If you’re looking to change something your dog does or doesn’t do, there are two things that need to be put in place in order to see real success. Management The first thing you want to do is prevent the dog from doing the opposite of what you want. This is an important step in breaking unwanted habits and creating new ones. Common management tools include: crate, leash, muzzle, long line. Most people manage their dogs behavior thinking it’s training. But, if you aren’t actively teaching the dog what you want, then everything will f ..read more

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people who’s dogs will aggressively protect food or objects. You may think at first, “where are all these bad dogs coming from?” But the truth is, most of the people I’ve talked to accidentally created the food aggression issue by following bad training advice. It really sucks that these dog owners were just trying to do the right thing, and someone who didn’t know what they were talking about gave them info that lead to a problem – which led to them spending lots of money to fix the problem. So, this post is for dog owners who are looking to preven ..read more

Many people ask me what treats I use for training, so I figured it’s time to write a post about it! Before we talk about treats, it’s important to know that I do most of my foundational training with my dogs meals. Foundation training can require a lot of food, and I just don’t want my dog eating that much junk. On top of that, foundation training takes place in the house with little distraction around, so I use my dog’s meals in the house and save the special stuff for when we’re out working around more distractions. Also, as a disclaimer, none of these companies are paying me to promote them ..read more

One of my favorite classes to teach is puppy class, also called puppy kindergarten. My class is open to any dog under 4 months of age. If the dog is older than 16 weeks, I don’t usually let them in to puppy class – I’ll explain why in a second. You’d think this is my favorite class to teach because puppies are so cute and fun to play with. While this may be true, puppies are actually a huge pain in the ass. Being surrounded by a group of untrained puppies and new dog owners can become chaotic quickly. It is the most challenging class I run. The reason puppy class is my favorite to teach is be ..read more

The Dog Training Tool You’re Missing. Dogs are as individual as we are. They have their strengths and weaknesses; they have their quirks. They are not machines. Most people think that if the dog learns to do XYZ then training is done; the dog “knows” what to do. But here’s the thing, even if your dog knows what to do, they will stick try to pick what is most fun or interesting. For example, my dog Bomba walks great on a loose leash around my neighborhood. I almost don’t even have to leash him up. BUT… if he sees a squashed, rotten, dead squirrel in the road he will try to pull over to it and e ..read more

Why using a crate will save your sanity Most young children don’t know enough about the world to be trusted alone for extended periods of time. They could get in to trouble, or get hurt. When left alone, kids are given something to do in the hopes that they will stay still while you get your life together. Maybe they get to use the iPad, or watch a movie. If it’s nap time, they’re put down in their crib. Bringing a new dog in to your house, regardless of the dog’s age, is similar in a lot of ways to having a young child in the house. They can’t be trusted to know right from wrong until you tea ..read more

I love beer. I also love dogs. So imagine my excitement when I learned that several local breweries were dog friendly. Beer and dogs? I’m in. I’ve not taken either of my dogs to the local breweries yet, but I’ve seen other dogs there and I’ve heard stories about dogs at these places. Then I realized that most people don’t know what to expect when they take their dogs in to public places, and the public doesn’t usually expect to see dogs inside stores and restaurants. If you don’t know, I started my dog-training career as an assistance dog trainer. It was my job to prepare dogs for all the cra ..read more

Dog Greeting Etiquette Explained “Mabel here!” My client called, her dog turned and ran back to her as she reeled in her long line. I’d been working with them for a few weeks to teach Mable to come when called and I was happy with her progress. From across the field, I saw a dog running full speed towards us. A few seconds later, a person emerged from the woods on to the field. “Reel your long line in so Mabel can’t get too far from you, but keep the leash loose.” I instructed my client. I turned towards the person, whose dog was getting closer to us, “call your dog!” I yelled. “He’s friendly ..read more