About Pawsome Pups Dog Training

Who runs it

Pawsome Pups is Bridget A. Taber, who holds the CPDT-KA credential from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. The site describes her as "a certified dog trainer with CPDT-KA with the CCPDT" and as an internationally known rewards-based trainer.

Her route into the work is set out at length on the About page. She started retraining retired racehorses in her twenties and came to "natural horsemanship" first; a bad moment with a prong collar on her own German Shepherd, and then watching a dog choked by the trainer she was studying under, pushed her away from correction-based methods for good. She later took a 60-hour college-equivalent course in science-based positive reinforcement training. She also trains her own dogs in nose work and has titled three of them at NW1.

How they train

Rewards-based, and the site is direct about what that rules out: she wants to teach owners "there is a kinder and gentler way to train dogs without the old fashion ways of the past with choke collars, pinch collars and shock collars." The emphasis is on teaching the owner – understanding "the science of how dogs learn" and communicating expectations clearly.

What they work on

The current front page names house training, loose leash walking, behavior issues and basic manners, plus socialization and exercise guidance. Training is described as in-home, for all breeds.

One thing to know before you call

The class descriptions page still lists a full group curriculum – Puppy Kindergarten, Elementary and Intermediate Manners, an AKC Canine Good Citizen class, an Out On The Town class and a Tricks class – but it opens with a notice that classes have stopped: "I am no longer are doing classes, I have found that private training one on one is much more successful for the pups and their parents and the cost is about the same." Treat the class list as history and ask about private sessions.

Coverage

The address is on Cider Mill Road in Hillsboro, and the published service area runs across western Loudoun (Purcellville, Waterford, Lovettsville, Round Hill, Hamilton, Middleburg, Aldie), east to Leesburg, Ashburn and Sterling, and over the lines into Maryland and West Virginia.

Before you book

The class page shows prices as blank placeholders, so ask about current rates for private sessions.