Chasing a dog into the road at 3am in the pouring rain is not a good look, nor is it good for pet owners’ sleep, nervous system, or relationship with their pooch. As it turns out, pet owners don’t have to hit rock bottom (as I did) to avoid this situation. Pupford’s online training has been life-changing for our household. Pupford Academy offers online training solutions that allow pet owners to train Fido on their own schedule, at their own pace. The best part? There’s a FREE option!
As a first-time dog owner, I think my Leo—a one-year-old mini poodle—is the smartest, bestest dog ever (yes, I am speaking doggie talk in my head). However, once he mastered potty training, I didn’t invest the same amount of time and commitment to other types of command training.
What immediately drew me to Pupford was its mission and the infectious joy brought to both dog training and the products they create. Pupford’s mission is all about empowering dog owners to create a healthier and happier relationship with their dog, rooted in proper training, the right tools, and dog treats.
30 Day Perfect Pup with Zak George
I signed up for Pupford’s 30 Day Perfect Pup with Zak George, Your Free Game Plan for a Well-Behaved Dog. After joining, pet owners are prompted to take a pre-training class survey on both themselves and their dogs. Providing this info allows the Pupford program to be more tailored to individual needs. For example, they ask a series of questions about how well or how poorly your pup knows certain tasks or commands. Don’t worry, it’s fun and only takes a few minutes. Then you’re ready to begin with your courses.
Being the impatient person I am, I jumped straight to Day 19, Come When Called In The Yard, which features a nine-minute video with the delightful Zak George. I had not heard of him prior, but two minutes in, I was completely smitten with the energy and good nature of this (obviously) amazing dog trainer. A quick Google search proffered that George is basically dog training royalty. Getting this course for free was starting to feel like it might be too good to be true!
With over 15 years of experience working with and training dogs, George is known for his positive-reinforcement style training that’s perfect for dogs of all ages. He has a best-selling dog training book on Amazon and his YouTube channel has nearly three million subscribers.
His 30-day course covers topics like:
- Walking on a leash
- Crate training
- Biting and chewing
- Potty training
- Lure training (sit, down, up)
- Look at me
- Leave it
In addition to the aforementioned, there are more in-depth training scenarios, such as coming when called both indoors and outside and the art of “staying,” for a period of time, with a distraction, and at a distance.
One of the best parts about the video I watched was that the dog in the training session was not already trained and wasn’t going through the motions for the sake of the video. The tutorial allowed us to see the authentic struggle of training a puppy as Zak reacted to adverse reactions and the inevitable reality of stops and starts when training a dog.
The Results
It took two to three days for the training to take hold, but it was seamless, easy to follow, and Leo took to it pretty quickly. I am slowly adding on the other videos and really appreciate the move-at-your-own-pace style of training. I ordered the Puppy and Small Dog Favorites Pack, which contains everything needed to train dogs under 25 pounds. Despite being a picky dog, Leo loved the dog treats. I feel confident giving him the dog treats since I know that their simple ingredients were developed by the serious dog lovers at Pupford.
