About Top Dog Training

Top Dog Training, also published as Webster’s Obedience School, works in Johnson City and states its aim as “teaching people to create balance, obedience, and respect in their relationships with their dogs”.

Formats

Two are published. Group classes, where “dogs learn to interact with other dogs and respond to their owners despite distractions” and owners learn from watching other handlers, sold with unlimited access. And private lessons “at your home”, described as best for solving specific behavioral problems in the dog’s own environment – offered either as four weekly lessons or as one-to-one sessions, both of which include the full group class.

The curriculum, as published

Basic obedience is broken out command by command: heel, sit, down, stay, come, and a boundary exercise for stopping a dog bolting through a front door or side gate. The problems the school lists as ones it corrects are leash pulling, chewing, digging, barking, biting, timidness and dog or human aggression. Advanced work covers off-leash obedience by hand signal, long out-of-sight stays, article retrieval with a dumbbell, and scent trailing, which the site recommends specifically for “shy, introverted dogs that lack confidence when interacting with new and unfamiliar people”. Agility is listed as coming soon.

Stance on training

The site argues training is for the handler as much as the dog: “If you do not teach your pet your rules, he will invent his own… Positive training enhances the bond between dog and owner.” Ask about prices and credentials when you call.