About Pawsitive Training Service Dog Solutions

Pawsitive Training Service Dog Solutions is a Yorktown service dog trainer. Its site lists four service dog specialties – "Psychiatric", "Post Traumatic Stress", "Traumatic Brain Injury" and "Mobility" – and gives its mission as helping "individuals and their service dogs thrive as a team".

Service dogs and everyday training

Service dog work leads, but the same home page lists therapy dog, companion dog and "Family Dog Mediation" work, and the everyday skills it teaches: potty training, routine, manners, loose leash walking, heel, place, stay, stand and down.

How it trains

The method words are its own: "Clicker Training", "Positive Reinforcement", "Science Based" and "Data Driven". The head trainer is a Karen Pryor Academy graduate, credited on the site as KPA-CTP, and the team page says two more trainers apprenticed in-house while completing the same academy.

Dog training with coaching for the handler

A second program runs alongside the dog training: coaching for people, which the site calls IntraConnected Coaching, covering areas such as trauma, attachment, the autism spectrum, adoption, foster care and parenting. Packages are offered "with or without a canine", so a handler can book the dog training, the coaching or both. If you want dog training only, say so at the first contact.

Getting started

The first step is a paid 30-minute Zoom consultation, then a 60-minute assessment over Zoom or in person. A package is then built around your goals – the FAQ says a trainer most often offers three to choose from – and runs as 24 to 42 one-hour sessions over a year. Ask about cost after the assessment; the FAQ says no price range can be given before then.

Where it works

In person, training takes place in your home or out in the community across Northern and Southern Hampton Roads, and the site gives a Yorktown address on George Washington Memorial Pkwy. Clients farther away, including outside the US, can train virtually, or in person with the client covering the trainer's travel.

Puppies and older dogs

Puppy training can start before the puppy comes home, and the trainers will guide you in finding a service dog if you do not have one yet. For service dog candidates they prefer dogs "under the age of 3"; for all other training goals there is no age limit. How long service dog training takes depends on the dog, the handler and how often you train, so expect that answer from the assessment.