About For Social Graces

For Social Graces works from a ten-acre property on Linwood Road in Watertown, and is led by Chelle Ziegler.

What they publish

Private sessions are one-hour, in-home, and sold in packages starting at $150. Board and train comes in one, two or three-week programs starting at $1,800. Alongside the training the business runs daycare at $25 for a half day and $35 for a full day, boarding from $50 a night with a multi-dog discount, and grooming. The site states plainly that group classes are not being held at present. What is offered in their place is Canine Good Citizen training and testing: they practice all ten CGC test items in public until the dog is ready, and the full item list – from accepting a friendly stranger through supervised separation – is published on the classes page.

Where they work

The stated service area is unusually wide for a small operation and reaches well past Wilson County: Watertown, Lebanon, Mt. Juliet, Old Hickory, Hermitage, East Nashville, Carthage, Hartsville, Gordonsville, Gallatin, Smyrna and Smithville. In-home work is central to how the business runs rather than an add-on – visiting clients at home to address problems that only appear in that environment is described as a regular part of the service.

Who runs it

Chelle Ziegler began training in Indiana after studying at Animal Behavior College, and started out running classes in a church basement. She moved to Mt Juliet in 2011 and built a program around the schedules of working people and mothers, initially running classes at the back of Tractor Supply stores. In 2013 she tested with the Council for Certified Professional Dog Trainers and earned her certification, which she has maintained through the CCPDT's three-year recertification cycle, and she also holds a canine first-aid certification and is an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator. The site dates her training career to 2007.