Dog Training Fees

I offer a reduced rate of $675.00 for six one-hour long lessons*. This fee must be paid in full at your first lesson in order for the discount to apply. Your lessons will include housetraining; crate training; proper socialization to other people and other dogs; real-life outdoor meet-and-greets, some arranged with my own dogs who are friendly, healthy and current on their vaccinations. Other skills including in the Puppy Package address mouthing and puppy nipping, encouraging pups to use their mouths gently; playing with appropriate toys in the appropriate manner; learning his or her name and responding to it; jumping; obtaining your pup’s focus and attention; coming when called (aka: recall); stand; wait; up and off; encouraging your pup to walk on a loose leash without pulling; dropping items when asked to; and leaving items alone when asked to. The Puppy Package includes a 30-page Puppy Primer given to you at your second lesson, which is authored by your Trainer, Madeline Friedman. The Puppy Primer is also available for sale for hourly lessons or by special order.

Important Note: Most puppy training is straightforward. However, when I meet your puppy, if I determine that your puppy has a serious behavior issue, skills training may need to be delayed until the behavior issue is addressed. This doesn’t occur frequently, but it does sometimes occur. If I can’t get near your dog, I can’t train your dog for basic skills – so a different approach that addresses the issue of why I can’t get near your dog must be used first to change your dog’s behavior so that I can then help you train your dog. Be aware that this occurrence is infrequent, but it can and may occur! Part of what I do when I meet your puppy or dog is assess his or her ability to be trained based on the dog’s behavior. The good news is: behavior can be changed!

If this is your first puppy, I will give you a personalized schedule to enable you to house train your pup quickly and effectively. During your first lesson I will also address any questions you have about housetraining and crate training so that you can start off your relationship with your new pup on a positive note. I recommend training puppies as soon as possible, within a few days of their entering your home. Most pups enter their new homes at eight to 12 weeks of age. If you start young and you let your pup know that there are rules which are consistently followed in your home from the beginning, you can prevent many bad habits and serious issues from developing later on. Dogs are similar to children in that they thrive on constant supervision early on, consistency, structure, and routine. With pups under six months, you will also receive the 30-page Puppy Primer that I have authored as part of your package for no extra fee. The Puppy Primer is also available for sale and for gifts.

*Additonal fees may apply depending on your location (see below)

The complete Basic Manners and Skills course for adolescent/adult dogs or for more complex behaviors I offer is a package of six one-hour, or three two-hour (as appropriate for you and your dog) lessons that is reduced from my normal hourly rate. For a package of six one-hour, or three two-hour, lessons the fee is $775.00*. All package fees including this one must be paid in full at your first lesson in order for the discount to apply with no exceptions.

*Additonal fees may apply depending on your location and certain behavioral challenges your dog may have (see below). Package customers also have the option of two-hour lessons weekly or every two weeks if Trainer feels such is appropriate for you or your dog.

For owners who don’t have the time to be coached to train their own dogs and who may not want to Board and Train in a strange location for your dog, Day Training has arrived! I will come to your home several times a week for one to two weeks to train your dog while you’re at work! On the week-end, you spend one to one and a half hours with me so I can demonstrate and have you practice what your dog is learning. Material is left for you daily so that you can read what your dog has been learning. When we meet on the week-end, further hand-outs of the training highlights will be given to you. Fewer days than five per week can be arranged as well.

“Five Day Training” discounts are offered as a package session discounted from my hourly fees, depending on your location and the skills you would like your dog to learn. A neighbor or family member can let me in to your home, or you can leave me your entry key. Before training starts, you, your dog and I need to meet so that your dog “knows” me and won’t regard me as an intruder.

Dogs must be gated securely when I arrive so that I can gauge your dog’s reaction to my arrival. Day Training is a great way to “board and train” your dog in your own home! Note: “Easy” Button Day Training is not appropriate for pups and dogs to teach housebreaking skills. I can explain why not when you call.

If you choose to pay hourly per lesson, my rate is $150 – $199.00 per hour for the first hour (depending on location and seriousness of issues) in most parts of N.J., N.Y.C. and Staten Island and for straightforward training with dogs. More serious issues may cost more per hour and will depend partly on location as well as the seriousness of the issue. After the first hour during any one visit, my price is reduced by $25.00 per hour for each fee. In other words, if you’re paying $150.00 for the first hour, your second hour and third hour during that same visit will cost $125.00. Visits rarely last over three hours. After our first meeting, visits will be billed at the rate which is reduced by $25.00. The first hour costs more because I spend time covering and checking history and evaluating your dog. Issues such as aggression and behavior modification must be paid in full at the first lesson for three lessons (three hours) in advance. During the first meeting, I evaluate your dog and your situation in the first hour. Subsequent hours are spent giving you strategies as appropriate for that period in time for starting to manage and working toward resolving your dog’s issues. The initial visit may last up to three hours. If the initial visit lasts only two hours, the payment for the third hour will go towards a subsequent visit or follow-up questions by phone up to one hour. For more about aggression please see ‘Aggression in Dogs’ on my menu choices and contact me to discuss my rates and the possibility of success in resolving your dog’s issue(s). If you know your dog has an aggression issue, you must fill out the contact form on the Aggression in Dogs page first before contacting me, and in order that I may be able to contact you. Please provide a home or cell number in addition to a work number. Please answer all the questions in the contact form.

*My fixed rate service area (where the rates quoted above apply) is 15 miles from Iselin, New Jersey, 08830. Mileage charges are $15 additional for each additional 20 miles from Iselin, New Jersey.

Issues such as house training, mouthing, nippiness, or crate training for puppies may require only one lesson, usually two hours in length. Each dog and owner are unique as are most peoples’ lifestyles and the time people can spend training their dogs varies, so it is difficult to say exactly how long a behavior may take to resolve or to train. It is also impossible for me to assess how much training your dog may need, and for how long, until I’ve met with you and your dog and done an evaluation. Please feel free to call or e-mail me for further details.

The fee for serious behavior issues addressed by the hour is higher because of the extra amount of work and follow-up correspondence involved that is required to modify these problems. Evaluations, handouts and instructions are customized and imparted to you promptly for each individual case.

All packages must be completed within seven (7) weeks. No refunds can be issued after this time period. This policy ensures the highest rate of success for you and your dog and ensures commitment and consistency. Every lesson is built upon the foundation of previous lessons, and consistency and daily practice are crucial to any dog training program’s success. You will be required to sign a training contract-agreement that states that it is your responsibility to work and practice with the dog between training lessons. This training contract-agreement is imperative to ensure the success of your and your dog’s training program. People often inquire about guarantees. What I can guarantee is that I can and will efficiently coach you on the proper training techniques and management of your dog(s), but practicing and training your dog to fluency between lessons and after lessons end, as well as proper management, is up to you. I can show and tell you what to do, but ultimately, the pleasure and benefit of training is the owner’s responsibility.

*Serious Aggression Cases:
For serious aggression cases, I have in my toolbox many effective techniques, including counter conditioning and desensitization methods, as well as shaping and other methods. My methods are positive and employ operant conditioning, which allows me to coach you and your dog in small, do-able chunks (as opposed to a “large chunk” of a behavior) which ensure the highest rate of success.

Please also note that for aggression cases it is critical that you practice daily the protocols that I will show you during your training sessions. If I see evidence that the work is not being done, if you do not follow up with me when required (within three to five days fo any meeting with me, as instructed, and at least two days before your next meeting with me), and/or you cancel more than one lesson of the six required, I have the right to terminate you as my student with no refund. Aggression is a very serious issue, as may be other behavioral issues, and commitment and dedication are imperative for everyone’s safety and for any degree of success in modifying behavior.

Having been a student myself, and a teacher in both public school and college settings as well as in peoples’ homes as a dog trainer, and having been a student of Animal Science at Rutgers University, I’ve become very well aware that owners and their dogs are similarly my students under my guidance as their teacher and coach. What I know to be true is that if I attend classes, study the material, practice the exercises given, and do my homework, I get excellent grades. This analogy is the same for you and your dog. If your commitment to working with your dog between lessons is lukewarm or cooler, your dog’s skills and behavior will reflect this less-than-ideal attitude. I cannot over-emphasize how important compliance, consistency, commitment and repetition are in any training program for a human or an animal.