Evaluations
An evaluation is $100, it happens in your home, and it rolls into your training fee if you go ahead. There is no obligation to go ahead.
What an evaluation actually is
I come to your home and we have a face-to-face conversation about your dog and what you want changed. I watch your dog in the place the behavior actually happens, which is usually the one place nobody has been able to describe to me accurately over the phone.
It costs $100. If you go ahead with training, that $100 comes off the overall fee, so it is not an extra charge on top of the program. If you decide not to go ahead, you have paid $100 for an hour with someone who has been doing this since 2001, and you owe me nothing further.
One thing worth knowing in advance: dogs are very good at not performing their worst habit while a stranger is standing in the living room. That is not a wasted visit. How your dog handles a new person arriving is itself useful information, and we can usually set up the trigger deliberately once I am there.
Do you need one?
Most people do not. A phone call is usually enough for me to tell you which program fits and roughly what it will take.
A phone conversation is enough when:
- your dog pulls, ignores you outdoors, or will not settle
- you have a puppy and want to start properly
- you want obedience work and nobody has been hurt or frightened
- you already know which program you want and just need dates
I will usually ask for an evaluation when:
- there is aggression, a bite history, or anyone in the household is nervous of the dog
- the behavior is severe enough that a wrong plan could make it worse
- your living situation is unusual and the plan depends on the layout
- previous training did not take and we need to work out why before repeating it
If you are not sure which of those you are, call and describe it. Working that out is my job, not yours, and it takes about five minutes.
What happens afterwards
You get a straight assessment: what I think is going on, what I would do about it, which program I would use, what it would cost, and how long it is likely to take. If I think a different approach or a different professional suits your dog better, you will hear that too. Where a behavior might have a medical component, I will point you at your veterinarian rather than train through it.
If you go ahead, the work runs through one of the programs: in-home private lessons from $700, Kick Start at $1,600, or board and train from $3,600 with your dog staying in my home rather than a kennel. Compare all three.
Bear in mind that all services are non-refundable, so the evaluation is the sensible point at which to decide. That is rather the purpose of it.
Book an evaluation, or just ask
Tell me what your dog is doing and I will tell you whether you need an evaluation at all. Plenty of people do not.