Best Dog Trainers in and Near Bridgeport, CT

Bark Busters Southern Connecticut is the New Haven County office of the Bark Busters franchise, listed in Ansonia. Trainer Michael DiStassio comes to your home for one on one lessons. His site describes the method as dog friendly and not based on food, with no shock collars or harsh methods. Listed problems include reactivity, resource guarding, separation anxiety and leash pulling, and puppy training is offered too. The service area covers dozens of towns, among them Milford, Derby, Seymour and New Haven.

Bark Busters Stamford and Greater Fairfield County is listed in Bethel and names Bridgeport, Norwalk, Westport and Danbury among the towns it covers. Michael DiStassio works with Cassidy Lewis, a certified Bark Busters trainer. Lessons happen in your home, and the site also mentions sessions at local dog parks and on busy town streets. The site says training avoids shock and prong collars and is done without treats or clickers, relying on body language and tone of voice. Listed issues include aggression, separation anxiety and getting ready for a new baby.

Club Canine, Inc. is Lisa Allan's training business in Brookfield. Our listing shows she holds the ABCDT credential and belongs to the Pet Professional Guild. Club Canine offers private sessions, virtual classes and online courses you can work through at home. Its classes and private sessions now run online. Its site has pages on socialization, aggression, reactivity and separation anxiety, and it lists AKC Canine Good Citizen work. The training is positive reinforcement, and the site states that it uses no shock, prong or choke collars.

Central Bark Danbury is a dog day care that also teaches training classes for puppies and adult dogs. Its site describes force free, positive reinforcement methods, with classes and individualized sessions that run from basic obedience to more advanced skills. You can pair training with the center's enrichment day care, which groups dogs by size, temperament and play style. Puppies at least 8 weeks old can join a free Puppy Hour, a supervised play session. The center also offers grooming and boarding.

Paws 'N Effect runs a training facility in Hamden and describes its approach as positive training for dogs of all ages. Family classes include Puppy Kindergarten, Family Dog Training: Basics, Training Games and Canine Good Citizen. For dogs who like a job, there are sport classes in agility, nosework and rally obedience, and our listing notes it hosts trials in those sports. The center also runs therapy dog classes and offers private sessions. Classes are kept small, and the site points you to its Facebook page for schedule updates.

Coastal K9 Training and Behavior is Shannon Miller's business in Hamden. Her site says she is a former police K9 handler with a CT State Police Patrol Dog certification and seven years as a professional pet trainer. She focuses on reactive, fearful and aggressive dogs, and her site describes her as balanced and trained in electronic collar use. Prices are listed on her site as $200 for a 55 minute home session, $125 for a 55 minute studio session, $3,600 to $6,000 for a three or six week board and train, and $15 for an intermediate group class at a local park. The site says rates change on January 1, 2027.

All That Canine LLC trains dogs in Monroe with game based, force free methods, and its site says the trainers never use fear, pain or intimidation. Linda Mazzeo and Erica Kasper each bring about 20 years of experience, and both are AKC Trick Dog and Canine Good Citizen evaluators. Programs include Day School, a Puppy Academy, flexible group classes, private lessons for reactive dogs and online classes. The Puppy Stay and Train keeps puppies 8 to 20 weeks old during the week and sends them home on weekends.

Cassio Pet Resort and Training Center in Newtown pairs boarding with a training program. Its site lists group classes and private lessons, which can happen at your home or while your dog boards there. The resort posts session schedules online and recently congratulated its rally class teams on earning titles. It also mentions conformation and water sports, and a fenced grass play yard is described as suited to reactive dogs. Other services include overnight boarding, day stays and grooming. The site doesn't describe training methods or name its trainers, so ask about both when you call.

The Exceptional Pet Dog Training works from a building on Route 25 in Newtown that its site calls Fairfield County's only dedicated dog training facility, with more than 3,000 square feet and agility equipment. Owner Abby Hill holds the CPDT-KA. Group classes meet weekly for 50 minutes, usually over six sessions. Puppy Day Camp takes puppies 12 to 23 weeks old for three hour supervised small group sessions. Private lessons come with a behavior plan, and packages can mix private and group work. The site describes its methods as positive reinforcement and says they never involve pain or fear.

Empire State K9 Services in Newtown offers obedience and manners training plus help with housebreaking, barking, jumping, aggression and reactivity. It also lists protection training for home and business, medical alert work and service dog programs for needs such as hearing loss and PTSD. The business offers boarding, grooming and day care, and it serves the wider tri state area, including New York and New Jersey. The site doesn't name individual trainers or describe its tools in detail, so ask about both.

Where Sit Happens is Jessica Barry's training business in Oxford. Our listing shows she has a BS in Animal Science from UConn and holds the KPA-CTP, Fear Free certification and the Family Paws Educator credential. The site describes ethical, science based methods that train both the dog and the handler. Group classes run in five Basic Manners levels, with topic classes such as loose leash walking, scent work, rally and agility. Day School is offered too. For harder cases there's private coaching, behavior consulting and reactive dog training, though its Reactive Relief series is being rebuilt.

The Obedience Dog Training Club of Waterbury was founded in 1946 and now trains in Oxford, run entirely by volunteers. Classes start with puppy training and Beginner Obedience, also called Family Manners, which covers basic commands and household problems with positive reinforcement. Manners and More prepares dogs for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, given at the end of the six week class. For owners who want to compete, the club teaches AKC and Companion Dog Sports Program obedience from beginner through Utility.

Escape the Crate, LLC is Janis Copes's force free training business in Prospect. Our listing shows she holds the ABCDT and belongs to the Pet Professional Guild. Her group classes meet at Prospect Parks and Recreation and move in steps. Beginner 1 covers housebreaking, mouthing and jumping, and Beginner 2 adds cues under distraction and recall from a distance. Intermediate 1 works on loose leash walking, and Intermediate Plus adds heelwork and distance work, and there are agility games and trick training classes too. Private or online lessons are available, and the site offers private help for shy or fearful dogs.

Bark and Soul Dog is a woman owned training and care facility in Prospect. Its site describes balanced dog training fitted to each dog, with private sessions plus day camps and bootcamps. Training covers puppies, basic and advanced obedience, off leash reliability, confidence building and behavior modification. The business also offers overnight boarding, day stays and grooming for dogs and cats. The site doesn't name its trainers or say how long it has been open, so ask who will work with your dog and what a day camp includes.

Canine College in Redding dates to 1946, when its site says Army K9 Corps pioneer John Behan founded it, and it describes 80 years of family ownership. Sharon Lanoue and Stephanie Kassner own it today. The college offers individualized training built around each dog's temperament and goals, and its site says training dogs begins with educating owners. Boarding is the other main service, with walks and one on one attention in a calm setting. Booking is by phone only, and the college is closed Sundays. The site doesn't describe its training methods, so ask on your first call.

Follow My Lead Pets is Beth Hrnciar's business in Riverside, part of Greenwich. Our listing shows she holds the CPDT-KA and belongs to the Pet Professional Guild. Her site pairs positive reinforcement training with pet health coaching, and training starts with a whole pet health assessment. She also coaches owners on nutrition and teaches pet emergency preparedness classes. The site says she has more than 20 years of animal rescue experience. She offers a free 15 minute consultation, which is a good time to ask how a training plan would work for your dog.

Clark's Companion Dog Training is a veteran owned business in Shelton serving Fairfield and New Haven counties. Trainer Lee works one on one only, with no group classes. Programs move from Puppy Training for puppies about 10 to 14 weeks old through Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels, which add off leash work. Day Training is a three hour drop off program, and Board and Train has your dog stay with the trainer's family dogs. The site lists positive reinforcement and clicker training, plus pick up, drop off and in home options. It says its trainers are ABCDT certified.

Pawsitive Approach is a dog training business in Shelton. Our listing shows it runs group classes and one on one programs, plus puppy prep for new owners and a walking club. It also offers pet sitting. Its website did not load when we checked, so this blurb comes from our listing data alone. When you call, ask which training methods it uses and who teaches the classes. It's also worth asking where classes meet and whether the walking club is open to dogs who haven't taken a class yet.

High Ten Dog Training is Kate Naito's in home training business in Stamford. She holds the CDBC from the IAABC and the CPDT-KA, plus Fear Free certification and a master's degree in education. Her site says she has written three award winning training books and trains therapy teams with The Good Dog Foundation. High Ten offers in home lessons and private courses for puppies and manners, and the site says it specializes in manners and behavior modification. Training is force free. It is not taking new clients whose dogs show aggression toward people right now.

Off Leash K9 Training Stamford serves Stamford, Westchester and nearby Connecticut towns. Its main program is a two week board and train covering distraction work, off leash walking, recall and place, ending with a two hour private session for the owner. It also lists private lessons and an eight week advanced obedience course. An eight class course covers behavior modification and aggression, and a separate therapy dog course leads to certification through Therapy Pets Unlimited. The trainers describe themselves as balanced and list treat, clicker and electronic collar training.

Room For Paws Pet Resort in Stamford sells training alongside day care, boarding and grooming. Its site describes private training and group classes for pups of all ages, and our listing notes a puppy socialization and training preschool. The site mentions five week puppy obedience sessions that cover basic commands and leash walking. You can book training on its own or add it to a day care or boarding stay. The site says staff are certified but doesn't describe training methods on its main page, so ask about methods and who teaches the classes when you call.

Talking Animal Language, Inc. is Sabine Hellge's training and behavior business in Stamford. Her website is a short "launching soon" page for now, but it describes private training in your home and group classes offered through DogGoneSmart. Her focus is behavior problems involving aggression, reactivity and fear, and our listing adds separation anxiety and behavior consulting. The site describes reward based, force free training that uses counterconditioning, nose work and Tellington Touch. It says her training experience goes back to 1997 and that she serves southern Fairfield County and southern Westchester County. She is a member of the Pet Professional Guild.

203K9 Training Service, LLC trains dogs on Courtland Avenue in Stamford. Trainers Steven Cordoba and Marc DiCicco both completed the National K9 School's Master Trainer Program, and the team has competed in USMRA dog sports. The business has been an IACP associate member since 2016 and is an AKC Canine Good Citizen approved evaluator. Services start with a free evaluation and include obedience, competition training, private lessons, protection and sport training, and day training. Its site calls board and train the most popular program, with dogs living with the trainers for a set number of days.

Creature Comfort LLC is Lisé Polard's training business in Trumbull. Our listing shows she holds the CPDT-KA and Elite Fear Free certification. Her site says she currently offers teletraining and private outdoor training in Trumbull and nearby towns. She works with puppies, obedience from basic through advanced, Canine Good Citizen prep and leash reactivity. She also teaches scent detection and cooperative care, and the site names German Shepherd Dogs as a strength. Her methods are positive reinforcement and force free, with a plan built around each dog.

Pet Degree Dog Training Center is a training center on Corporate Drive in Trumbull. Its site says it is licensed and insured and an APDT member. Services include obedience lessons and a board and train program, and the center also lists pre trained puppies. Grooming and day care run under the same roof. The site doesn't name individual trainers or describe its methods and tools, so ask about both on your first call, along with how long the board and train program lasts.