About Lead by Love Dog Care

Lead by Love Dog Care is a home-based obedience trainer in White House, run by Steve and Mary Berthiaume out of their own house on Springbrook Boulevard and serving White House, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and Nashville.

What they publish

Three programs, distinguished by how much of the work the trainer does for you. Private Lessons are held weekly at their home in White House and are sold on results rather than a session count – the stated position is "You will be paying for results, not a certain number of sessions" – and typically complete in five to seven weeks, covering look, touch, heel, let's go, come, wait, sit and down, and leave it. The 14-Day Board and Train has the dog living in their home around the clock and typically completes in about four weeks including the transfer; it adds place, off and stay-close to the command list, with two one-hour owner sessions at pick-up. The 21-Day Board and Train is the most comprehensive, adding no-speak for barking, crate settling, furniture rules and an introduction to potty-bell training, with three owner sessions, boarding privileges and Saturday polishing classes and pack walks.

How the training runs

The method is stated outright: "I am what is referred to as a Balanced Trainer." Good behavior is rewarded with food, treats, toys, praise and the word "Yes", and unwanted behavior is corrected with the word "No", on the argument that reward-only training takes the dog longer to work out what is being asked. Training happens in a real home rather than a kennel so that the behaviors that actually cause trouble – counter surfing, door bolting, furniture, barking – come up and get addressed. All board-and-train programs carry what they call a Lifetime Guarantee: if the training slips later, they will run a lesson to get it back.

What they do not take

The FAQ is explicit that they are not currently doing aggression rehabilitation, though they do work with reactive dogs, and they draw the distinction themselves – reactive dogs being loud and over-excited around other dogs or people, aggressive dogs meaning to do harm. Board-and-train dogs are also not worked around cats or children. Boarding is available only to dogs that have already been through a program.