About Scotch Pines Dog Training

Off-leash obedience in group classes

Scotch Pines Dog Training is an Idaho family business, "family owned since 1993," founded by Will and Vivian Stoppel on Scotch Pine Rd in Payette and now owned by their daughter, April Stoppel Jantz, its full-time trainer and behaviorist. It describes itself as the largest dog training school in Idaho, with classes of about 200 dogs per week, and its motto is "kindergarten to college in 9 weeks."

Method

The program is an owner/trainer group class: owners learn to train their own dogs among other dogs and distractions, with the goal of off-leash reliability "because gates get left open and leashes slip." Dogs first learn each command through one hundred repetitions of the cue while being gently placed in position, and corrections are reserved for willful disobedience.

Classes and prices

Each group class meets one evening a week for 9 weeks and costs $475. Dogs must be at least 6 months old at the start, and prior clients get a 10% discount. The fall 2026 classes are full, with early registration open for classes starting mid-January 2027. Private training is offered all year.