About Mike Preis Dog Training

Mike Preis Dog Training works from 246 Vanderbilt Ave in Clinton Hill and serves Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. The banner credentials are CSAT – Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer – and CPDT-KA, and the practice describes itself as positive reinforcement and force free. Canine Good Citizen testing is offered.

What is taught

The curriculum is published as a list rather than left vague: basic manners for puppies and adult dogs, including sit, down, stay, come, leave it and drop it; house training; polite leash walking; crate training; chewing and nipping; destructive behavior; fear and shyness; resource guarding; excessive barking; reactivity and aggression; jumping; and polite greetings.

Three ways to work

In-person private training and behavior counseling normally happens in the client's home, covering troubleshooting of unwanted behaviors alongside coaching on teaching basic manners. Walk and train is a one-to-one session between the trainer and the dog, working basic manners, leash walking and behavior modification. Online virtual sessions have the trainer coach the owner through exercises over video, and the site makes an interesting argument for them: for puppies, distractions are minimal at home and most of a young puppy's training needs are indoors anyway. It also suggests that a dog who struggles with house guests may be better served by a first session held virtually, so the behavioral intake and first skills can be covered before a stranger walks in – a small piece of judgment that shows the reactivity work is taken seriously.

Rates

In-person private sessions are sold as single sessions, three-session packages or five-session packages, with packages described as ideal for behavior modification plans, reactivity work and families wanting consistent coaching. A follow-up single session is $275 for sixty minutes, typically scheduled weekly or fortnightly. Virtual training starts at $325 for the first session with sixty-minute follow-ups.