Important Pricing Updates for the New Year

Hello everyone —

Happy holiday season! It is hard to believe that the winter holidays are already upon us, but here we are dressing our dogs in ugly sweaters and snowflake bandanas.

As we head into the new year, we need to share with you some important news about our pricing at The Urban Hound. To cut right to the chase: The Urban Hound will be raising our prices across the board in 2020.

Below, you can find a comprehensive list of our pricing changes, but first we’d like to take a moment and explain why this decision is necessary.

Beginning in 2020, the rent for our building is doubling. When The Urban Hound opened, we were in a part of the South End that hadn’t yet been developed to the extent that many other neighborhoods had. A lot has changed in ten years, and our neighborhood is now home to many luxury condo buildings, hot new restaurants, and exciting local businesses.

We are so proud to be a part of this booming, bustling neighborhood, and we would not trade it for the world. Which is why we chose to renew our lease despite the tremendous increase in our rent. But, in order to afford this increase, to continue to provide you with the standard of care you are used to for your dogs, and to be able to pay our staff a livable wage in Boston, we must raise our prices in the new year.

We did not make this decision lightly and we wanted to make sure that we could give you all as much notice as possible before making these changes. Our new pricing will be effective starting Monday, January 6, 2020.

Providing you and your dogs with excellent care is our number one priority, and we know that raising our prices in 2020 will allow us to continue to do so for many years to come. We so appreciate your support since the very beginning, and appreciate your understanding as we make this change. Below you will find the prices for all of our services, effective January 6th.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. We wish you and your families a happy and healthy holiday season, and look forward to seeing your dogs’ best holiday looks over the next few weeks.

Thank you,

Rebecca & the Urban Hound Team

Puppy Kindergarten Galore!

Welcome to Puppy Kindergarten at the Urban Hound!

Training your puppy starts the moment you bring him or her home. Start off on the right paw and join us for our 6-week Puppy Kindergarten class. This class runs Tuesday nights from 7-8PM, and is the perfect beginner course for your new pup. Please check our class schedule for the next 6-week session. A 6-week session is $250.

During our weekly one hour class we will help you navigate the critical stages of puppyhood and start you and your puppy off on the right path for enhanced communication and mutual understanding!

What makes our Puppy Kindergarten unique?

  • Individual attention will be given to your puppy and you
  • 6-week structured program
  • Class sessions are tailored for our group

Each class offers:

  • Confidence building agility exercises
  • Socialization designed to foster appropriate manners and play
  • One on one obedience instruction
  • A Q&A troubleshooting session
  • And much more!

Call us today to register your dog for our next session! Reach us at 617-755-5775.

Next session starts: August 14th @ 7pm

Setting the Tone

It’s going to happen either way. The tone of the interaction with our dog will be set. Is it going to be excited energy or calm? Are we nervous about how our dog will behave, or quietly confident in the work we’ve put in? Is our dog making all of the decisions (and are we just reacting?), or are we taking the approach of being the calm and patient teachers, thinking one step ahead and working with the dog?
The general tone is set by the rules we establish for our dogs. These are the basic rules of life.  Does the dog think to get permission from us before jumping up on a couch? Does he wait patiently for food? Does she pull on the leash at whatever might be more interesting and more rewarding than what we have to offer her? Have we established a basic level of respect?
The general tone then sets us up for success (or doesn’t) with the specific tones. And this is where the practice of obedience training comes into play. The down-stay, the loose leash walk and the off leash recall. Essentially, teaching the dog to control their impulses – acts that may feel very unnatural to them.
It is up to us. We can decide the tone we want. Or we can be bystanders to our relationship with our dog. It’s going to happen either way.

Introducing Our Revamped Puppy Kindergarten Course!

Welcome to Puppy Kindergarten at the Urban Hound!

Training your puppy starts the moment you bring him or her home. Start off on the right paw and join us for our 6-week Puppy Kindergarten class. This class runs Tuesday nights from 7-8PM, and is the perfect beginner course for your new pup. Please check our class schedule for the next 6-week session. A 6-week session is $250.

During our weekly one hour class we will help you navigate the critical stages of puppyhood and start you and your puppy off on the right path for enhanced communication and mutual understanding!

What makes our Puppy Kindergarten unique?

  • Individual attention will be given to your puppy and you
  • 6-week structured program
  • Class sessions are tailored for our group

Each class offers:

  • Confidence building agility exercises
  • Socialization designed to foster appropriate manners and play
  • One on one obedience instruction
  • A Q&A troubleshooting session
  • And much more!

Call us today to register your dog for our next session! Reach us at 617-755-5775.

Next session starts: Tuesday, June 19th @ 7pm

At Some Point, The Behavior Was Allowed

At some point the behavior was allowed. At some point the behavior was encouraged. Whatever the behavior is that we want to change in our dog, the first step is realizing that at some point our dog heard us say “Yes!”

True, we might not have actually said it, but in our inaction that’s what we communicated.
Because we let the puppy wander into another room and go potty, and it was another five minutes before we figured out what happened: the puppy heard “yes.”
Because we let the young dog jump up on us for a moment (I know, I know, it was only for a SECOND!) and we gave them affection for it: our dog heard “yes.”
I can’t tell you how many dogs I’ve met that can hold the worlds longest sit stay in their house right before dinner. Any other time, it’s a hopeless cause. Why is that? Because we rehearsed it, we practiced it and the dog has a very clear idea of what the “yes” looks like.
Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes a behavior has been going on for a long time and we will have to tell our dog “no.” But after that, once we move closer to the behavior that we want, let us always remember to tell our dog “yes.”