T1
Foundation
- Loose leash walking
- Sit, down, place and wait
- Recall on a long line
- Door and greeting manners
- Puppy routines and basics
- In home
- $575$115 an hour
- At the facility
- $375$75 an hour
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- Puppy training
Puppy training in St. Augustine
Good habits start the day they come home.
Puppies learn fastest at home, where they actually live. Zac comes to your house anywhere in St. Johns County, or you can bring your puppy to his facility in St. Augustine. Either way it's 1 on 1, and the habits your puppy builds now are the ones you'll live with for years.
Puppy training
$120per hour in home$80 at Zac's facility
- Every session 1 on 1 with Zac
- Homework after every session
- Packages from 5 to 20 hours
- No travel fee in St. Johns County
What we work on
The puppy problems every family hits.
Biting hands, accidents in the house, crying in the crate and pulling on the leash are normal puppy stuff. They're also the habits that turn into adult problems when nobody teaches anything different.
- Mouthing and nipping
- Potty and house training
- Crate routines and settling
- Jumping on people
- Name, focus and markers
- Leash walking
- Sit, down, place and wait
- Recall on a long line
How it works
Three steps to a puppy you can live with.
Start at home
Zac meets your puppy where it lives, sets up the crate and potty routine, and starts the basics that day. You leave the first hour with a plan.
Short daily reps
A few minutes at a time, several times a day. Puppies learn in streaks, so the practice between sessions matters as much as the sessions.
Take it out
As your puppy grows, training moves out to your neighborhood, parks and patios around St. Augustine.
House rules
Crate first. Freedom earned.
Zac is 100% on board with the crate. Any time you can't watch your puppy, the crate keeps it from chewing, having accidents or practicing habits you'll spend months undoing.
Freedom in the house comes in steps: the crate, then place, then one room, then the run of the house. A common rule of thumb for young puppies is their age in months plus one, in hours, in the crate during the day. So a three month old pup can usually handle about four hours.
One puppy at a time
Thinking about two puppies from the same litter? Zac never sells two littermates to one family. The pups tend to bond to each other instead of to you.
Related readingCrate training vs free roam: which is right for your dog?Two puppies from the same litter? What to know about littermate syndrome
Puppy packages
Most puppies start at T1.
T1 Foundation is 5 hours of the basics every puppy needs: leash walking, place, recall, crate routines and house manners. Keep going with T2 and T3 as your puppy grows into a teenager and starts testing the rules.
T2
Reliability
- Everything in T1
- Duration, distance and distractions
- Calm around people and other dogs
- Training in public places
- Reliable recall around distractions
- A restaurant outing on a real patio
- In home
- $1,100$110 an hour
- At the facility
- $700$70 an hour
Best value
T3
Off leash
- Everything in T2
- Off leash reliability where it's safe
- Proofing at beaches, patios and downtown
- A dog you can take anywhere
- The first step toward protection work
- In home
- $2,000$100 an hour
- At the facility
- $1,300$65 an hour
Package hours work at your home or at Zac's facility in St. Augustine. No travel fee anywhere in St. Johns County; $2 per mile outside the county. All rates
Questions
Puppy training FAQ.
How old should my puppy be to start training?
Puppies are learning every day whether anyone is teaching them or not, so the habits they pick up in their first weeks at home tend to stick. T1 Foundation covers the basics every puppy needs. Tell Zac your puppy's age when you reach out.
How do I stop my puppy from biting?
Mouthing is normal, but it needs rules. Zac teaches your puppy what it can chew, what it can't and how to settle when it gets wound up, and he shows everyone in the house how to respond the same way. Consistency from the whole family is what makes it stop.
How much does puppy training cost in St. Augustine?
Puppy training is $120 an hour at your home or $80 an hour at Zac's facility in St. Augustine. The T1 package is 5 hours for $575 in home or $375 at the facility, used within 60 days. T2 and T3 lower the hourly rate further.
Do you come to my house?
Yes, anywhere in St. Johns County with no travel fee, including St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns and World Golf Village. Outside the county, travel is $2 per mile.
Should I get two puppies from the same litter?
Zac recommends against it, and he never sells two littermates to one family. Littermates raised together tend to focus on each other instead of their owners, which makes both of them harder to train.
Related readingShould you spay or neuter your dog? What to weigh firstAdopting vs buying from a breeder: a trainer's honest take
Real reviews from dog owners Zac has trained. Read them on Google, and if you've trained with Zac, add yours.
Get started
Tell us about your dog.
Call or text Zac, or send a quick note. Tell him what's going wrong, or what you want your dog to become.