About Courteous Canine

Courteous Canine serves the Charlotte area from Uptown to Waxhaw and publishes one of the fullest price lists in this metro, along with a named team and their qualifications.

The programs and what they cost

The ladder starts before the dog arrives: a basic first-step guidance phone consultation is $85, and a guided package covering help screening breeders and rescues, assessing prospective adoptees and preparing the house and family is $395. A phone consultation is $99 and an in-home consultation $125. Private lessons come at two tiers – six lessons over six to eight weeks at $649, three lessons at $329 or a single lesson at $119; and a higher tier at $899, $490 and $169 respectively. Daycare and socialization runs $40 a day across three locations, and day training is $115 a day for dogs over six months and $125 a day for puppies aged twelve to twenty-four weeks. In-home boarding is $69 a day for one dog and $125 for two from the same family, with a puppy option at $75 that focuses on housetraining and crate training. Live virtual lessons are offered, and an Out on the Town group class is published.

What comes with a package

Every private-lesson family receives an online training manual with lesson plans, suggested reading and articles; six-lesson packages also come with a personalized training binder and a goody bag containing a ten- or twelve-foot long line and a training clicker. Supplies needed for training are provided on the in-home six-lesson package.

The team and method

The site names three trainers and their credentials. The owner is described as an NC State graduate with over twenty-five years of dog training experience, a CPDT-KA through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, who has trained her own eight dogs in obedience and agility and placed in regional and national AKC agility competitions. A second trainer is described as a certified Professional Dog Trainer who came from zoo work, and a third as a CPDT who is Fear Free certified and a graduate of Victoria Stilwell's academy. The practice is positive reinforcement and force-free, and the site makes a point about timing: the critical socialization period ends at just sixteen weeks, so proactive early training can prevent undesirable behaviors rather than fix them later.