C.A.R.E. Puppy Program

Support focused on a puppy’s well-being

When “behavior problems” arise with our family dogs, it’s not a matter of obedience, or that they simply just need more “training”. Rather, these “problems” are actually an expression of a dog’s complex needs, and often involve ‘normal’ canine-specific behaviors. These tend to occur in contexts we humans may understandably find “undesirable”, challenging and frustrating. This is especially the case with puppies!

Our C.A.R.E. Puppy Program™️ is focused on the individual puppy’s well-being and their needs - from the sensitive period of socialization (3-12 weeks), through their juvenile stage (3-6 months), and into the start of adolescence. We seek to first understand the puppy’s unique needs, or L.E.G.S.® (Learning, Environment, Genetics, Self). We then consider how that all intersects with the needs of the family, to provide support through Family Dog Mediation®. Learn more below…

Step 1: Puppy Consult

This is the starting point, where we provide individualized recommendations to support the puppy and family. This is a proactive approach, so we recommend starting your puppy at 8-10 weeks of age. Eligibility: puppies up to 6 months of age.

What’s included:

• Assessment of your puppy's history and L.E.G.S.®

• Puppy Plan- prevention/enrichment strategies, teaching life skills; instruction and feedback; handouts, text and video support; and an emailed report to you and your primary veterinarian.

Cost: $175 per 90-minute consult

A travel fee may apply for in-home puppy consults and packages; see scheduling page for more details.

Step 2: Six Session Puppy Package

With the completion of a puppy consult, you can elect for a Six Session Puppy Package to support your puppy’s well-being throughout their developmental stages. Sessions are offered as in-home, scheduled every 1-2 weeks. We recommend scheduling the first package session immediately following your puppy consult.

What’s included:

  • Positive socialization, healthy play, and social bonding for your puppy

  • Enrichment activities, refining life skills (recall, calm settle, targeting, loose leash walking), breed-specific needs and affordances

  • Environmental management, building predictable patterns in the home

  • Outdoor Adventures: leash walking, building recall, patio time

  • Cooperative care for grooming/vet visits and consent in handling

  • Support for your puppy’s transition into juvenile stage, then adolescence

  • “Hands on” Instruction and feedback, educational handouts, and text and video support— helping humans with the “puppy woes”!

Cost: $650 for six one-hour puppy sessions

Kind Words

“I initially reached out to Brian with questions to make sure Luna had the best life I could give her. By the end of the assessment, not only did Brian have recommendations for meeting Luna’s physical and emotional needs, but he also provided me with the information I needed to address the guilt I had been feeling about working so much, and not always being able to give Luna the attention I felt she deserved. Since then, Brian and Luna have gone on nature walks every week (I’m not sure how she knows when it’s a ‘walk day’, but she does!), and I have felt a considerable sense of relief, as I now know what I need to do to be the kind of mom Luna deserves.”

— Julie Boyd and Luna