About Your Proper Pooch

Your Proper Pooch is a dog training business in Cairo, West Virginia, in Ritchie County east of Parkersburg. It runs group classes and private lessons, will come to your home, and puts its whole schedule on an online booking system – but the thing it says about itself first is narrower than a general obedience school: "We specialize in Service Dog & Therapy Dog Training".

Service dog training

This is the deepest program on the site and the one most worth knowing about, because very few trainers in this corner of the state publish one. The site sets out what the work involves rather than selling it: "Our Service Dog Training Program is extensive and begins with Puppy or Basic Obedience and ends with the client and dog passing the Public Access Test." Along the way a dog is expected to pass, at a minimum, the CGC, GGCA, CGCU and VHMA, and to attend between 10 and 25 field trips. The business is also candid about the timescale – "Depending on the disability, training can take 1-2 years." The tasks described include balance and walking support, retrieving, pulling wheelchairs, seizure detection and response, interrupting panic attacks, blood-sugar and heart-rate alerts, hearing alerts and acting as a buffer in crowds.

Therapy dog training

The therapy program is described as "one of our most popular training programs". It starts, like the service dog track, from puppy or basic obedience; dogs complete a required set of classes before working with the public, and the site notes that "Many go on and seek certification through registries such as Therapy Dogs International."

Puppies and obedience

Puppy Preschool is a separate, private class for puppies between 8 and 16 weeks – the site explains the reasoning plainly: "Young puppies lack the focus of older puppies and adult dogs, so a regular length training class can be overwhelming and exhausting to them." Sessions run 45 minutes, once a week for four weeks, with a scheduled potty and play break built in, and the cost is published: "The cost for a 4 week session of our Puppy Preschool class is $155." From there the site offers Puppy Group Obedience, Adult Group Obedience Classes and Private Obedience Training, and lists In Home Training for owners who would rather work at home.

Specialty classes

Beyond the core ladder the business runs what it calls specialty classes – "We offer a wide variety of Specialty Classes in addition to the classes that have earned their own pages." The published list covers reactivity toward other dogs, AKC and UKC competitive obedience, AKC and UKC rally, scent work, rodeo dog, trick dog at all levels, CGC classes at all levels, Fit Dog classes and hikes, a distraction-proofing class called Mind Your Business, field-trip style on-location classes, and Jump Start, a program aimed at breeder clients with litters between 5 and 12 weeks old.

Booking and who you will meet

Group classes can be booked online from each class page, and private classes through the Private Obedience Training page; otherwise the site gives a phone number and an email address. The Meet the Trainers page is photographs rather than biographies – it names Marilyn, Mandy and Aimee alongside their dogs; ask about their credentials and years in the trade.