FirstBarkJen is a God send. Very knowledgeable and great at helping dogs become more pleasant. Thank you Jen!
A Pleasant Dog
Grand Rapids, Michigan
About A Pleasant Dog
A Pleasant Dog offers gentle, modern dog and cat training, behavior help, and grooming in keeping with the advice of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior.
Training & services
Training goals
- Behavior consultation
Program details
Resource guarding, territorial aggression, fear based aggression, conflict aggression, interdog aggression, separation anxiety, and hypersensitivity hyperarousal syndrome are all challenging behaviors. We can help you modify these behaviors using evidence based training and management strategies.
- Leash training
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- Obedience training
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- Puppy training
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- Socialization
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Behavior support
- Aggression training
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- Counter surfing
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- Reactivity training
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Reactive Dogs Are Good Dogs Too! We live by this motto at A Pleasant Dog and have a host of offerings for our reactive friends, everything from private lessons to group classes, and beyond! We are particularly proud of our group sport classes for reactive dogs!
- Resource guarding
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- Separation anxiety
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Separation anxiety is a complex behavior disorder. Our owner and head trainer, Jenn Gavin, has developed a method for treating this disorder that is the subject of a book, Pleasantly Independent, and scientific research demonstrating its efficacy. In person or virtual training available!
How training happens
- Board and train
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- Day training
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Too busy to train? Let our professional dog trainers train your dog for you with drop off day training. Drop your dog for a full or half day, and we will teach them what they need to do between fun play sessions with other dogs and/or humans. Also available for reactive dogs!
- Group classes
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- Online or virtual training
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- Private training
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Dog age
- Puppies
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Assistance and working dogs
- Therapy dog training
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Dog sports
- Agility
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Your dog’s background
- Rescue dogs
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Training approach
- Positive reinforcement
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Additional services
- Boarding
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- Daycare
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We offer luxury doggy daycare with a care ratio of four dogs per human on our 2.5 acres of rolling hills in the city! Our doggy daycare is staffed with professional trainers and offers the safest, gentlest doggy care in the city! Add training for an additional fee.
- Dog walking
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- Grooming
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Fear Free Grooming for your dog. We groom dogs one at a time and owner may be present for the grooming session. Perfect for fearful, anxious, or reactive dogs. Does your dog struggle with the groomer? We can help!
Other listed services
View 24 additional details
- Dog bathing and blow dry
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- Dog ear cleaning
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- Dog training
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We offer group classes for general obedience and dog sports, private lessons, and behavior consultations, as well as classes specifically for reactive dogs.
- Animal Behavior Consultants
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Does your dog struggle with anxiety, separation anxiety, noisephobia, reactivity, aggression directed toward humans or toward other dogs? We can help! Our behavior trainers are the best in the state, and we can help restore harmony to your household.
- Animal Learning
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- Canine Trainers Academy
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- Classical Conditioning
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- Continuing Education
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We offer continuing education to the training and veterinary industries on a diverse array of topics. Our research in animal behavior has been consistently honored with selection for presentation before the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and others. We also offer trainer workshops.
- Dog Barks
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- Dog Camping
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- Dog Parks
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- Dog Parties
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- Dog Sports
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- Dog Welfare
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- Education Seminar
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- Family Dogs
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- Flea And Tick Prevention
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- Medical Treatment
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- Play Groups
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- Private Consultation
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- Six Week Class
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- Stay & Train Program
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- Veterinary Behaviorists
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- Walk And Train
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Confirm current programs and availability directly.
Business-stated qualifications
Qualifications stated by the business, not independently verified.
- Jenn Gavin
- CPDT-KA
Questions & answers
From GoogleWhat people have asked about this business.
What are your fees for taining and what specific training do you offer?
Our fees vary depending upon the service provided! We offer positive reinforcement training in private sessions for basic skills and tough behaviors, group classes, and drop off day training; together with grooming and cooperative care training sessions! As of 7/2024, our fees start at $160 for six week outdoor agility classes, $199 for our 6 week indoor basic skills classes, and go up to $350 for or reactive dog classes. Private lessons start at $100. Behavior consultations start at $250.
Community answer · A Pleasant Dog · 2024-09-21
Public community answers. Authors are not verified as business representatives; details may have changed.
Customer reviews
Google listing4.4
216 Google reviews
Mentioned in reviews
- positive reinforcement 22
- managing reactivity 14
- reactive dog training 11
- puppy class 7
- welcoming atmosphere 6
- anxiety management 5
All 10 topics
- knowledgeable trainers 5
- private training 3
- arthritis specialist referral 2
- small class sizes 2
Google review topics, not confirmed services.
We brought Junie after a recommendation from Ms Dawn at Mindful Mutts where our puppies go to Day Care. Junie had been having a lot of issues. She could be very intense and took a long time to calm down. She is already at 50 pounds and her jumping and snapping was getting worriso…Read full reviewClose full review
We brought Junie after a recommendation from Ms Dawn at Mindful Mutts where our puppies go to Day Care. Junie had been having a lot of issues. She could be very intense and took a long time to calm down. She is already at 50 pounds and her jumping and snapping was getting worrisome. We couldn’t take her for walks without her pulling us down the road or going crazy if she saw another dog, person, or car. She would bark herself into a frenzy and nothing we were doing seemed to be working. The staff at A Pleasant Dog were wonderful and gave us some real tips to help her. After less than a week I can see progress. we still have a way to go but there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. She seems happier and that makes my heart happy. They really helped to point me in the right direction and give ongoing support which is great. I love the positive approach and no judgement. I highly recommend them. They were amazing.
Terrible…charged me $300 to go over my answers to the questions they sent me only to find out I need to see another Dr that is going to charge me $$$$ to get meds. I felt I was taken advantage of a pleasant dog. My dog doesn’t have bad behavior she is anxious:anxiety outside of her home. She needs medication.
Pleasant Dog has been awesome for our puppy. The trainers actually get young dogs, and the classes feel relaxed but super helpful. Our pup came home from camp tired, happy, and a little more confident each time. You can tell they really care about the dogs, not just running them through a program. If you’re looking for a place that makes training fun and keeps your puppy feeling safe, this is it.
Standing for ALL people and dogs. Would trust this business with my life.
Original customer experiences from the collected Google data. Ratings without comments follow written reviews.