About PAWSitive Experience Training

How the work is structured

PAWSitive Experience Training and Behavioral Consulting is run by Chris Lemons and is based in Luray, on the Page County side of Massanutten Mountain. The site is plain about the shape of the service: "Private In-Home Dog Training", "Behavior Consultation" and "Virtual Dog Training", booked singly or as packages. There is no facility and no group class on offer; the trainer comes to the dog.

What they take on

Two tiers are described. Everyday cases run to roughly four sessions of 45 minutes to an hour: "New puppies or older rescue dogs will benefit from basic obedience training." Behavior cases are handled separately, and the site lists "aggression, excitability, noise (and other phobias), resource guarding, and separation anxiety" as needing "a more in-depth investigation, often during a multi-hour session with possible follow up visits." Dogs with mobility problems, blindness or deafness are named as a group they work with, which is not something most listings in this catchment mention.

Approach

The method is positive reinforcement, and the site frames the trainer's job as coaching the owner rather than handling the dog: "I teach you to train your dog." Intake runs through a written form and a free fifteen-minute phone consultation before anything is booked.

Worth knowing

Rates are quoted by distance from Luray, so owners on the Harrisonburg side of the mountain should ask where they fall before booking.