About 4 Paws Canine Training, LLC

4 Paws Canine Training is a small, woman-owned training company based in Westmoreland, in Sumner County, working across Middle Tennessee under the line "Developing a bond to last a lifetime".

What they publish

Three programs. Board and Train takes dogs from five months old on a four-week-plus residency covering on-leash obedience through to advanced off-leash work, exposure work and human and dog reactivity, with a stated minimum of six weeks and no exceptions for any dog with leash or dog reactivity. Puppy Raise and Train is restricted to puppies between eight and sixteen weeks, in 14, 21, 30 and 60-day options, with the shortest covering potty and crate training plus a start on basic life skills; the site warns this program books eight to ten weeks out. Private Lessons are delivered at a location of the client's choosing, in packages of three or five-plus one-hour sessions, with a travel fee by location and payment plans available.

How the training runs

The business is explicit that it does not train indoors on mats: "No concrete training floors or rubber mats here- only the ground of the Earth for our training grounds!" Client dogs are taken to events and outings around Nashville to proof their obedience in new environments. Private lessons are framed as coaching the owner rather than the dog – the trainer's words are "I train YOU to train your dog" – and every board-and-train ends with transfer lessons plus access to free monthly training circles. The published command list across programs covers sit and down stays, recall, place, loose-leash walking and heel, engagement, potty and crate training, confidence building, impulse control, real-life exposure, leash reactivity and, where included, the transition to off-leash.

Who runs it

Anyssa Loux has been training professionally for nine years, starting in a doggy daycare in 2014 and moving into a training facility in Boise in 2017. She holds a psychology degree from Boise State University and has attended the Michael Ellis School for Dog Trainers in California. Her published specialties are leash reactivity, puppy and young-dog development, advanced off-leash obedience, and behavioral challenges and confidence building, and she has also prepared dogs for media work. She competes with her own dogs in hunt tests and dock diving.