Living with a dog who has trouble controlling her whims? Perhaps he’s a barker, shouting at you for attention, food, and walkies. Or maybe he’s a jumper, jumping on you and the family for attention, jumping on visitors and strangers to say hello. Or is he dashing—flying past you to be the first to get outside or jump out of the car or step off the curb. Or perhaps a counter surfer? Did the sandwich you made for lunch just disappear from the table? Whatever impulse control issues you’re struggling with, we’ll help you replace these undesirable behaviors with calm focus and acceptable behaviors. Your dog will learn new ways to politely ask for what he wants—and how to wait for it, too.
Impulse Control (Barking, Jumping, Counter Surfing, Oh My!)

Choose the impulse control program that works best for you:
Impulse Control Day Training
- We train your dog for you
- Our trainer will train your dog for you in your home and out and about where you need him to be on his best calm behavior.
- We’ll do the training so you have more time to focus on all the other tasks on your to-do list.
- Watch us train your dog, participate in training or work on your task list.
- We’ll meet with you once a week to transfer the training results and give you tools to maintain your dog’s behavior.
Impulse Control Private Coaching
- Learn to train your dog in your home – We’ll be your private coach
- Our trainer will meet you at a time and location convenient to you.
- These fun sessions with you and your dog will focus on the behaviors you want most. (Or those you’d most like to be rid of!)
Impulse Control Board & Train
- Your dog lives & learns with our Trainer
- Sometimes you need a fast track to relief and results. Board & Train is that ticket.
- Your dog comes to stay with our loving, certified professional trainer.
- Learning in a home environment means a faster, easier transfer of results when it’s time for your dog to come home.
- We’ll customize training to your needs, goals, and lifestyle to maximize success.
Program Fee:
Assessment Consult & Goal Setting: $230
Impulse Control Day Training
2 weeks of training: $1300
(7 training sessions, 2 transfer and 1 fine tuning session)
Impulse Control Private Coaching
3 sessions @150: $450
6 sessions @140: $840
9 sessions @130: $1170
or Add individual lessons for $165
Impulse Control Board & Train
10 days of board and train (includes 4 maintenance sessions to maximize success back home): $3290
Private Training + Class Combo Packs
Want it all? Combine Group Classes & Private Training
Having trouble deciding between group classes and private training? You don’t have to. With our Combo pack you can have the benefits of both.
Impulse Control Combo Pack
10 weeks of About Town Impulse Control Class + 3 private coaching sessions: $650
What’s with all the energy?
Our clients and students often ask us why their dogs behave the way they do. Generally the answers are actually pretty simple. When it comes to impulse control issues like barking, jumping, and dashing, there are two usual suspects:
It works
Dogs are simple creatures. We humans have all sorts of emotional motivations behind our behavior. Dogs just do what works. If you feed them or throw the ball when they bark at you, they bark more often. If you pay them attention when they jump on you, they’ll jump more often. It’s really that simple.
One of the secret tricks behind training is learning to control a dog’s coveted resources—food, toys, walkies, attention, etc.—and only provide access when a dog is doing something you like. If you “pay” a dog for unwanted behavior, even accidentally, you get more unwanted behavior—and then you have to un-train it.
Not enough outlets
Impulse control issues are often exacerbated by a lack of regular, vigorous exercise. Exercise won’t cure all, but our clients are always amazed by what a difference it can make. If you’re looking for more chill time from your dog, add more mental & physical exercise.
If your schedule doesn’t allow for regular canine exercise time, consider hiring a professional dog walker and use interactive food dispensing toys to get the job done for you. The peace at home will be worth every penny.