About Playful Pups & Performance Training, Inc.

Playful Pups & Performance Training is the most methodologically explicit school in this metro, and it publishes an actual timetable rather than an invitation to call.

The method, explained rather than labeled

"Our force-free methods are designed to help you build a wonderful and fulfilling relationship with your dog. Training begins with our veterinarian-recommended Puppy Manners classes, when your dog is just 8 weeks old. In these classes-as in all our classes–we use empirically-proven, science-based techniques that involve reinforcing your dog's correct choices. We use markers (a click or a word) to clarify exactly what decision is being reinforced, because dogs learn up to three times faster with such specific feedback. Though we use treat rewards to introduce new behaviors, we always move toward weaning your dog off needing food to perform learned behaviors." That last clause answers the commonest objection to reward-based training before anyone raises it.

The classes, with times

The published schedule names the ladder: "Puppy Manners (rolling enrollment) Puppies between 9 and 20 weeks should start immediately , as long as they are on track with age-appropriate vaccinations", then "Basic Obed L", "Basic Obed S", "Intro to Force-Free Obed", "Intermediate Obed" and "Adolescent Puppy Obed", each with a weekday and a start time. "Dog About Town" runs on Saturdays and is enrolled per day rather than as a six-week block – useful for practicing in public without committing to a course. Beyond obedience there is "Just-for-Fun Agility", "Rally Obedience", "Therapy Dog Prep", "Specialized Classes" and "Private & Day Training".

Puppy work is the specializm

"New puppy? Our puppy classes implement the strategies advocated by behavioral veterinarians, including teaching your puppy to problem-solve and think ! Decades of research support this approach to developing a puppy's potential."

The trainer

"Deborah Lankford, CPDT-KA, ABCDT" – and the about page spells out what that means: "A graduate of the Animal Behavior College, Deborah is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), a Certified Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, and a member of both the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the Pet Professional Guild." Continuing education is documented rather than asserted – she "attends clinics and seminars all over the country, learning from dog experts such as Patricia McConnell, Jean Donaldson, Ken Ramirez, Susan Garrett, and Kathy Sdao."

Where it happens

"We provide dog training in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk, offering in-home private training and day training, as well as group classes held in a climate-controlled facility in Virginia Beach", at "412 Investors Place, Suite 103".

What is not here

No board and train, and no aggression or bite-history program – the encouragement is to carry on "into dog sports, trick-training, and therapy dog certification" rather than into behavior rehabilitation.