About Wipe Your Paws

Wipe Your Paws in Yorktown Heights sits at 2013 Crompond Road and is the company's second location, with its own phone line and its own class dates – the Yorktown puppy class and the Mount Kisco puppy class run on different Sundays, so an owner can pick whichever start date suits.

The classes

Classes run six sessions a semester, about fifty minutes each, and they are taught as much to the owner as to the dog. The Basic Obedience puppy class takes puppies from twelve weeks to a year old and costs $350 for the six sessions, with a $100 non-refundable deposit and a limit of two handlers per dog. There is an advanced obedience class, and a Dog Distraction class for owners who struggle to walk their dog past other dogs and are not sure whether the dog is excited, fearful or reactive – that one runs two sessions for $300. Fifteen-minute training consultations are offered free to work out which class fits.

Who teaches

Kate Schroer-Shepord has been with Wipe Your Paws since 2018, works as both store manager and in-house dog trainer, has seventeen years of dog training experience and is a certified guide dog mobility instructor. Judith De Maria holds a BSc in animal behavior from the University of London, works as a guide dog mobility instructor at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and has run her own training business.

The rest of the business

Grooming is the largest side of the operation and has won local best-groomer awards most years since 2012; daycare and a pet boutique share the building. The training program has also taken best-trainer awards in several of those years.