The Heeling Shepherd
Overview
Photos

About The Heeling Shepherd
About The Heeling Shepherd
The Heeling Shepherd's headline is "Empowering YOU to bring out the best in your best friend",
"Offering comprehensive dog training in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a focus on making your dog make
sense!" The head trainer is named on the site as Sarah Sweet.
Approach
"Sarah utilizes an open minded approach to dog training, marrying a diverse set of skills to make real
behavior plans that work for real dogs and families. If you've ever felt left behind by your dog's
training plan, this approach is for YOU!"
The lineage is stated: "Apprenticing under internationally renowned Jerri Scherff of Tulsa Pack
Athletics, Sarah learned and adapted the Open Minded Approach, which 'focuses on humans, dogs, and
society as being one unit that benefits from the health of each individual pillar.'"
Day to day that runs as what the site calls the Daily Method: "clients have daily access to
communication, homework, video content, and check-ins from head trainer Sarah Sweet."
Services
– **Private Lessons** — "Our most popular service, private lessons offer customized dog training
delivered right to your door, because getting to the root of our training goals starts in the home.
Offering 4- and 7- lesson private training packages." The services page adds the specific skills:
"We offer private lessons for leash-walking skills, off-leash obedience, behavioral modification,
e-collar, invisible fence training and more!" The framing is owner-taught: "In private lesson
programs, I teach you how to train your dog!"
– **Virtual Consultations / Video Consulting** — "an accessible option for pet parents that want to
receive the same great training at a lower rate! Virtual consultations start as low as $75 per
session". Aimed at owners "Out of our service area", needing help between lessons, or with
scheduling constraints.
– **Pet Sitting Drop-In Visits** — listed as new: "you can now book a trusted, professional drop-in
visit for your pet". Visit lengths published are "15 minutes", "30 minutes", "45 minutes" and
"60 minutes", and "Before starting, we'll schedule a Meet & Greet".
The published list of what the video consultations cover is long and specific: "problem behaviors like
barking, digging, jumping, chewing, and begging", "polite leash walking", "potty training", "food
guarding", "mouthing", "fear aggression", "reactivity", "anxiety, fears, and phobias", "invisible fence
training", "off-leash training", "multi-dog households" and "canine good citizen preparation".
Getting started
A free consultation is published: "Schedule a FREE Consultation".
What clients say
Three testimonials are published. Trish D: "Dog training is about training the human to train his or
her dog and Sarah is very sensitive to the fact that everyone learns differently." Danielle S: "Sarah
gives clear directions on how to do things and her explanations for why it works and how it's viewed by
a dog helps it make even more sense… her education in veterinary medicine makes her an even more
valuable resource."
What they can help with
Certifications & verification
Certified · IACP view entry ↗
Reviews
GetDogSchool NewWe’ve emailed you a confirmation link — click it and your review goes live. Check spam if it isn’t there in a minute.
23 people rated The Heeling Shepherd 5.0/5 on Google. Read them on Google →
Helpful guides
Comparing options in Grand Haven? Browse all Grand Haven dog trainers or read our full training guides.