About Paragon Pups LLC

Who they are

Paragon Pups is the practice of Michelle Shadwick, who lists herself on the site as a Certified Canine Athlete Specialist and an AKC Fit Dog III instructor. Her own description of the work is to think of her as a personal trainer for your dog. The About Us page says she is approved through the AKC to teach and evaluate STAR Puppy, Canine Good Citizen, CGC-Advanced, CGC-Urban and Fit Dog I, II and III, and that she has over ten years of training and assisting local trainers across STAR Puppy, pre-CGC, CGC, competition scent work, agility, rally and obedience, as well as titling her own two rescue dogs. She says she has almost completed a Sport Dog Foundation Trainer certificate through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and plans to apply for a Control Unleashed trainer certificate in 2026.

What sets the classes apart

Fitness is built into everything, including the manners classes. The stated reason is twofold: a warm-up makes it easier for the dog to focus, and pain is a common and under-recognized driver of behavior. The About Us page argues that a dog with a luxating patella may be slow to sit because it hurts rather than because it is being stubborn, and says the trainer is trained to spot subtle signs of pain such as offloading or uneven muscle mass.

The classes

The published program covers AKC STAR Puppy as a group class for dogs under a year, taking in basic obedience, socialization and puppy fitness; Canine Good Citizen and CGC prep for dogs over a year, which the site flags as particularly useful for rescues; AKC Trick Dog and Fit Dog work for strength, confidence and flexibility; specialized fitness for active pets, sport dogs, seniors and puppies; and drop-in classes with no commitment. Sport-specific conditioning is offered for FastCAT, agility, scent work and dock diving, aimed at performance and injury resistance. Private one-to-one sessions and virtual training are available alongside the groups.

Where the classes happen

Group classes run at Springfield Family Dog Training on W Hedge Tree Lane in Springfield – a separate business, also in this directory, whose premises Paragon Pups uses. Private lessons are at the owner's home or a public space.

Method

The method is positive reinforcement, and the emphasis is on coaching the handler: the site describes giving owners flashcards, habit trackers and other tools, and asking what the owner actually wants – a competition heel and a comfortable loose-leash walk being explicitly treated as different goals with different training.