# Looking for good trainer in Boston area



## John C. (Mar 6, 2013)

After waiting many months, we are scheduled to pick our puppy up this weekend. I'd like to start with some basic obedience training and early socialization as soon as possible. The puppy will be 8 weeks old when we get him. Right now, I plan to spend the first 4 weeks he's home just letting him get used to his surroundings, and doing fun play/training/bonding games with me and my wife.

However, I would like to eventually do some fairly serious obedience with him, maybe AKC or at least a BH in schutzhund and would love to find an outside trainer for some help/group training/opportunity to socialize with other dogs and people. 

First, would 12-13 weeks old be a good time to start taking the puppy to outside training classes?

Second, can someone recommend a good trainer in the Boston area? I am going to try to start doing positive reinforcement/marker training on my own, so I would need a trainer whose style would match up with this kind of training.

Third, does anyone have any experience with Kevin Lanouette or Abby Kennels. I've met Kevin and one of his training assistants briefly, watched a portion of one of his classes and know he has had a lot of success in the sport of Schutzhund, but I'm curious if anyone has had extended experience training with him. (I also suspect he is a somewhat more traditional style of trainer, who uses a fair amount of both positive and negative reinforcements in training - i.e. leash corrections, e-collars, etc.; although I'm not sure this is going to make a lot of difference if I'm only taking a puppy class).


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

I'd recommend Todd Dunlap if he is still in the area.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

Scott Carlson and I (Alexis Roy) train in Wrentham, MA and in Chelmsford, MA. You can shoot me a PM if you're interested.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Lance Woodly is a great trainer. 

The Compatible Canine Center - Brookline, MA | Yelp


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## John C. (Mar 6, 2013)

Muskeg - googled Todd Dunlap and I think he is now in Pennsylvania.

GatorDog - Thanks, I will shoot you a PM

Dawnandjr. - I've actually met Lance when I was looking into becoming involved in Schutzhund with my last GSD (but that was 13 years ago). I actually ended up training with another club (his club was taking new members). My memory is that he was a pretty knowledgeable guy. Thanks.


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