About Charlie’s Dog Obedience Training

Charlie's Dog Obedience Training works out of a facility on West Main Street in Richmond and organises its work as a ladder of courses rather than one-size sessions. Every new client starts with an initial evaluation, where the trainer watches the dog's behaviour and the handler's interaction with it, checks what commands the dog already knows, and recommends the course that fits.

Courses

The Puppy Course takes puppies from a minimum of eight weeks and must be finished by twenty weeks, covering rules and boundaries, potty training, crate training, socialisation and first commands. Basic Obedience picks up at four months and older, teaching the core commands that manners and calm behaviour are built on. There are two advanced tiers: one applies the foundation to social and public settings, the other teaches off-leash obedience and recall at distance using a long line and an e-collar. The school also offers puppy and litter temperament testing, single sessions for specific problems (four-session minimum for new clients), and a Drop-Off and Train option where the dog is trained while the owner watches from the sidelines or leaves the dog for the session.

Behaviour work

A separate Behaviour Modification course is aimed at dogs showing fearfulness, anxiety, aggression, leash reactivity or uncontrollable excitement. The stated approach is to build the obedience foundation and the dog's confidence first, then teach it how to respond to the things that set it off.