About Always Faithful Dog & Puppy Training Northern MI

What it is

The Cheboygan location of a franchised training company. "Always Faithful Dog Training of Cheboygan. Appointments made to suit your schedule!" The local owner is listed as "Leanna, Owner/Pack Leader." The company describes itself as "Founded by a United States Marine!" and names the founder elsewhere on the page: "Our founder, Abraham Mashal, explains what we call Leadership Training."

The method, and what it excludes

This is the center of the site, stated as a headline: "No Treats, No Clickers, No Shock Collars, No Gimmicks." The approach is named: "The Always Faithful Dog Training method is designed to teach you the language of your dog. We call it Leadership Dog Training. Dogs are pack animals. As part of your pack, you want your dog to follow you. Our leadership-based techniques will enable you to be the pack leader."

The site gives its reasoning for excluding food: "When we exchange treats for obedience, we create a transactional relationship – a 'what's in it for me' attitude. When this attitude prevails, utilizing their instinct to follow becomes more challenging. Treat training is also unhealthy for the dog since it requires constant food." And on electronic collars: "Shock collar training creates results based on fear and has been labeled abusive by the American and Canadian Veterinary Associations."

Lessons happen at home

"Leash pulling, jumping, barking, digging, and generally not listening are signs that your dog wants to lead you. Our private in-home lessons will immediately correct these behaviors and give you the tools to maintain your leadership."

Packages and prices

Published as a ladder. "Puppy Starter Package… This is a single in-home lesson to assist you & your new puppy to get started on the right foot," covering "house training, exercise, feeding routine, crate training, socialization," for dogs "8 weeks old to 5 months old," at "Price: $195." Beginner Package covers "loose leash walking, sit, stay, come, down" plus "potty training, jumping, nipping and mouthing," "Prices start at: $495." Intermediate adds "off-leash training for the dog owner who needs their dog to listen inside and outside of the house," "Prices start at: $795." Pro adds "high distraction training for the dog owner who needs the highest level of obedience no matter where you are," "Prices start at: $1050." A Behavior Modification Package "is for dogs displaying dominant or anti-social behaviors like aggression, resource guarding or separation anxiety," priced on request, as is Board and Train: "This package enables us to bring your dog to our training location for specialized training."

A discount is stated: "WE OFFER 10% OFF ANY TRAINING TO MILITARY, POLICE OR FIRE DEPT."

Certification and scale, as the company states it

"Yes, every single Always Faithful Dog Trainer is certified through AFDT and the IDTA. Our organization has trained over 60,000 dogs in the last 20 years." The site also states no age or breed limit: "the AFDT method works on any dog, any age and any breed," and "We start our puppy training as young as 8 weeks and have no age limit to training, if the dog is healthy enough to train."

Where this location works

"Now serving the following areas: Cheboygan County and the following cities: Alanson, Harbor Springs, Levering, Mackinaw City, Onaway, Pellston, Petoskey and Rogers City."

Before you book

On therapy, service and aggression work, the company FAQ says "many of our locations offer these services. Please check out your local location to determine if that service is offered near you." Ask the Cheboygan location whether it offers them.