Private Training
How does it work?
We have many options to choose from depending on the behaviors and type of training you are seeking. Please review the list of options below and feel free to email us with questions. Once you have determined the type of service you want, please register and pay. We will then connect you with a trainer to schedule your sessions.
Read This First - Important Information
Transparency matters. Details about our policies.
- The first step is to register for a specific service and pay. Registrations are processed within 2 business days (M-F).
- Once we confirm payment has been received, we will connect you via email with the trainer that best matches your training goals.
- The trainer will schedule with you directly. Each trainer has different work hours and manage their schedules independently. Please be sure to include your general availability on your registration in order to expedite the scheduling process.
- At home dog training is available within a small travel radius of our facility in Shirlington, VA. Primary areas include: Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Annandale, and McLean. The travel proximity will vary by trainer.
- We reserve the right to add a travel surcharge based on distance, high-traffic periods, or time of day.
- We offer a discount on packages for private training at our facility. The trainer is able to accommodate private training sessions more easily in their schedule if they do not have to spend additional time commuting.
- In many cases, our facility is the preferred location as it offers additional space, access to equipment and supplies, and a controlled training setting for particularly challenging behaviors.
If you are unsure where to begin, we recommend registering for a Phone Consult.
If you have additional questions, please contact the training department.
Individual Training Options.
If you are unsure where to start, begin with a Phone Consult.
Phone Consult, $55
Not sure where to start? Book a 30 minute phone call with the trainer for advice and next steps!
Register NowThe trainer will review your registration, ask questions, and provide suggestions on next steps unique to your goals. This is a great option if you are unsure which direction to start. It is also helpful if you miss a group class or want additional individual time to discuss with a trainer, that perhaps a group class cannot accommodate. A phone consult can also be used as a good check in on progress, or if you've taken a break from active training and find some behaviors are regressing, a trainer can help you develop a plan to get back on a goal oriented path.
Consult at Home, $205
One 60-minute private training session.
Register NowBegin your training journey with a personalized consultation designed to set you and your dog up for success. During this one-hour session, we will discuss your goals and any current challenges. Your trainer will offer guidance about management and training exercises to begin addressing your and your dog's needs. You'll receive practical strategies and training exercises you can start using right away to help you manage challenges, build new skills, and strengthen your partnership with your dog.
- Have you recently brought a new dog into your home?
- Are you struggling with your dog's behavior?
- Do you want individualized advice and support?
- Are you unsure where to start, or what your dog needs?
After the session, you will receive a personalized action plan to help you confidently apply the strategies and guidance discussed during your consultation. This is a great first step for anyone seeking professional guidance, one-on-one support and coaching, and a personalized approach tailored to you and your dog.
Consult at Facility, $180
One 60-minute private training session.
Register NowBegin your training journey with a personalized consultation designed to set you and your dog up for success. During this one-hour session, we will discuss your goals and any current challenges. Your trainer will offer guidance about management and training exercises to begin addressing your and your dog's needs. You'll receive practical strategies and training exercises you can start using right away to help you manage challenges, build new skills, and strengthen your partnership with your dog.
- Have you recently brought a new dog into your home?
- Are you struggling with your dog's behavior?
- Do you want individualized advice and support?
- Are you unsure where to start, or what your dog needs?
After the session, you will receive a personalized action plan to help you confidently apply the strategies and guidance discussed during your consultation. This is a great first step for anyone seeking professional guidance, one-on-one support and coaching, and a personalized approach tailored to you and your dog.
Behavior Training Options.
Complex training solutions to address the big feelings that come out when dogs are anxious, frustrated, or fearful and that they do not quite know how to process those feelings so they end up reacting in other ways. Reactivity can look like many things but in general it could be a dog pulling away, retreating, or disengaging. Or a dog that pulls, barks, and lunges towards another dog or person in an forward motion.
Separation Behavior Package - 8 pack, $825
Package of eight 15-minute virtual sessions.
Register NowA dog that pants, drools, whines, or barks when you're not home is a dog that needs help. Your dog might be having the equivalent of a human panic attack every time you leave. There are many causes, taken from mom too early, lack of socialization, general lack of confidence. There is also an answer, the Separation Package.
With this package, you will meet with your trainer weekly for 15 minutes online to discuss how the past week went. Your trainer will provide you exercises in between the face to face sessions. The exercises will be based on the progress or the diversion of your dog over the week.
Coached Playdates, $550
Package of five 45-minute sessions.
Register NowDogs do benefit from dog to dog interaction. While we don't recommend that experience be getting tangled in leashes, we do want you to be able to see what is good play and what is compatible and what isn't.
Does your dog have leash reactivity and no friends? Did a new love in your life just get a dog? This package is designed for you to introduce your dog and a partner or friend's dog to ensure you can have playdates, and maybe more, in the future.
Over five sessions we will explore best practices for introducing your dog to this other dog. We will leverage the facility and its playgroup setups. We want to see the dogs playing with parallel activity and energy. Ideally, the dogs are taking their own breaks. If one dog taps out and the other doesn't understand, we interrupt so the tapped out dog's cues can be respected and preserved for future play. We will show you when or how to guide the dogs and specific body displays of each dog to tell you how the play is going.
Behavior Modification Packages
Package of four or eight 45-minute sessions.
Some dogs, for a variety of reasons, may struggle to cope with the world and the things they experience. This may look like a dog that lunges, barks, growls, or bites. It may also look like a dog that flees, hides, trembles, and avoids. These behaviors may be challenging to live with. They indicate a dog in distress. This package is designed to help build confidence, resilience, and coping skills in dogs that struggle in our human-world.
Behavior packages include 45-minute private training sessions that are highly customized to your situation and your dog's needs. You'll learn practical techniques you can start using right away to manage and prevent reactive responses, learn how to predict your dog's next move and what triggers them, and start building confidence and adaptive coping skills for you and your dog.
We may use some exposure therapy and skirt the edge of being under threshold. Despite best efforts to keep the exercises within grasp of what your dog will accept without shutting down progress, your dog may get a bit worn out. These sessions are a bit shorter than general sessions, simply because we are working with emotional triggers and those will be more taxing and tiring for the dog.
Sessions can be held at your home allowing us to work in your dog's everyday environment, however we have a small travel radius for in-home sessions. In most cases, our facility is the preferred location as it offers additional space, access to equipment and supplies, and a controlled training setting for particularly challenging behaviors. However if your dog suffers from car illness, or has high anxiety with new surroundings, it is recommended we start at home.
Behavioral Walk & Train Packages
Package of five or ten 30-minute sessions.
In an ideal world, a dog walker is able to come into the home, whether or not their humans are home. They would be able to do the same functions you would if you were home (release the dog from the crate, put on their equipment such as a harness, collar and leash) and be able to walk out the door together for a typical walk. When the journey has ended, they return home, take off the equipment, secure the dog, and leave the home.
However, if a dog is consistently challenged by one or more of the above steps, it is time to incorporate a professional dog trainer. With this service, the trainer's role is to develop a protocol for the specific walker, whether from Fur-Get Me Not dog walking service or other providers, to acclimate the dog comfortability with this particular walker. For example, some dogs might need a slow introduction to a new walker. The trainer will identify the triggers that are making your dog react in a particular way and provide a recommended protocol to keep the dog walker safe and ensure your dog is comfortable. Our ultimate goal will be to reach a point where your dog can retain dog walks, when previously it was difficult.
- Are you concerned that your dog won't be comfortable with a dog walker?
- Does your dog hide from visitors in your home?
- Is it difficult for others to walk your dog (e.g., dog walkers, friends, neighbors, family)
- Has your dog tried to bite a dog walker in the past?
- Is your dog reactive to other dogs and the dog walker is having difficulty walking the dog?
For each dog, the progression will be unique. The first session will usually be with the trainer. Subsequent sessions will be with the trainer alone, the trainer and the dog walker, or the dog walker will come alone. This is a sample schedule (if using our dog walking service, the cost to include our dog walker is covered in this package):
- 1st visit - dog, client, and trainer
- 2nd visit - dog and trainer
- 3rd visit - dog, client, dog walker, and trainer
- 4th visit - dog, dog walker, and trainer
- 5th visit - dog and dog walker
- conclusion - client and dog trainer phone consult
The solution path and pace of the training will vary by dog. Your trainer will take steps to increase the likelihood of your dog's success for a smooth transition with the dog walker. Your trainer will meet with you and your dog initially for history and observation. Once your dog is comfortable with the trainer, through the subsequent sessions, the trainer will be developing a protocol for entering your home, introducing the walker to your dog, and finally having the walker practice being alone with your dog. Some sessions may involve the trainer working remotely with the walker. The overall goal is to provide physical and emotional safety of all in mind.
Manners Training Options.
Perfect for the puppy, adolescent, adult or senior dog parent who would like more guidance on manners behaviors like leash pulling, coming when called, jumping, controlling impulses, waiting at doors, potty or crate training, etc.
Manners Packages
Package of four or eight 60-minute sessions.
This package includes four one-hour private lessons designed to support your dog's learning and strengthen your partnership. We'll focus on your specific goals, address current challenges, and provide personalized guidance on training exercises and management strategies. You'll learn practical techniques you can start using right away to build new skills, address challenging behaviors, and enhance your bond with your dog. This package is ideal for anyone seeking one-on-one coaching, professional guidance, and a customized approach tailored to you and your dog.
This package is designed to address challenges related to general manners, mild impulsivity, enrichment and development, or age-specific behaviors. For a puppy, your needs might be house training, nipping, and assured well-being. For a new adult dog, maybe it's leash manners, recalls, or acclimating to the home and bonding. You pick the goals, we present a path to get there.
For more complex behaviors such as anxiety, reactivity, fear, or anything related to intense emotions, we recommend registering for a Behavior Package.
Sessions can be held in the comfort of your home, which allows us to work in your dog's everyday environment, however we have a small travel radius for at home sessions. In many cases, our facility is the preferred location as it offers additional space, access to equipment and supplies, and a controlled training setting for particularly challenging behaviors.
Continuing Support Options.
For returning clients that have completed a Manners Package or Behavioral Walk & Train Package within the last 6 months. These sessions are helpful when you need a refresh and are struggling with new or continuing behavior challenges. We will continue to support you through each stage of your training journey.
Behavioral Walk & Train - Support Session, $95
Acclimate a temporary substitute dog walker or refresh goals after having completed a package in the the last 6 months.
Register NowOne 30-minute Support Session for returning clients that previously completed a package of 5 or 10 sessions.
- Did you complete a package with us in the past 6 months?
- Are you having difficulty acclimating your dog with a new walker since we last worked together?
- Do you want a refresher on protocols? (e.g. dog walkers, friends, neighbors, family)
- Has something changed since we last worked together?
Continued Support Session at Home (non-reactive), $185
One 60-minute follow up support session for returning clients that completed a Manners Package in the past 6 months.
Register NowThis consultation is for returning clients that have completed a (non-reactive) private package or group class within the last 6 months. During this one-hour session, your trainer can refresh your knowledge of previously learned exercises, introduce additional concepts to advance your skills, and guide you through the next step in your training journey.
- Have you reached a plateau in your training?
- Are you struggling with new or continued behavior challenges?
- Are there additional skills that you would like to learn?
Continued Support Session at Facility (non-reactive), $160
One 60-minute follow up support session for returning clients that completed a Manners Package in the past 6 months.
Register NowThis consultation is for returning clients that have completed a (non-reactive) private package or group class within the last 6 months. During this one-hour session, your trainer can refresh your knowledge of previously learned exercises, introduce additional concepts to advance your skills, and guide you through the next step in your training journey.
- Have you reached a plateau in your training?
- Are you struggling with new or continued behavior challenges?
- Are there additional skills that you would like to learn?