Announcements

• Pet Manners Class: Because of the press of other commitments, we have decided we can't do Pet Manners classes at this time. We apologize to our current and prospective clients for any inconvenience.
  

• Private In-Home Training: We're currently scheduling private training and consulting on Saturdays. If you're waiting for the Pet Manners classes to resume, please contact us about scheduling an in-home session. Contact us for more information.
  

• Puppy Class: We now offer puppy classes for pups ages 8 - 20 weeks. Topics covered include:
• What all good dogs should know: Sit, Down, Come, and walking on a loose leash
• People are cool: socializing your puppy
• Doggie social skills: playing well with others
• Those teeth! Puppy mouthing and bite inhibition
• Crate expectations: learning to love the crate
• Housetraining is no accident
• Let the games begin! Activities for exercise and mental stimulation (and ones
  to avoid)
• Kongs are king: good chew toys will save your sanity (and your furniture)
• Puppies and kids: bringing out their best

Contact us for more information.

What We Do

Happy Training! LLC offers private, in-home training for dog owners who want individualized, one-on-one help in training their dog. Also, in cooperation with the Helping Hands Humane Society, Happy Training! LLC provides various kinds of services for Shelter adopters and the general public. Our goal is to provide dog owners with help and information that

• Employs very positive, motivational training techniques
• Is professional in presentation and provides state-of-the-art training information
• Is people- and dog-friendly
• Helps students avoid behavior problems while developing good relationships with their dogs.

Following is a short description of the services we offer. Click on the links for more information.

Private, in-home training. Many people prefer to work on the basics in the privacy of their homes, with instruction tailored to their dogs' specific issues. We come to your home for an initial 2-3 hour session, with follow-up sessions scheduled as needed. Please see the private in-home training page for more details.

"My dog loved class! After the first one, I was sure it was the best day of her life! She was so excited...It's too bad everyone doesn't go through a class like this with their dogs."

--Pet Manners student

Library Seminars. In conjunction with the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library, the Helping Hands Humane Society sponsors our "Living With Your Dog" seminar series. Topics include how to avoid behavior problems, how to train using positive, motivational methods, and how to communicate with your dog.

Pet Manners classes. These are six-week training classes. We work hard to make the classes fun and informative both for the two-legged and four-legged students. See the Pet Manners page for more information.

Publications. We wrote Your Dog: An Owner's Manual, a little book given out to Humane Shelter adopters. We also wrote"Tails in Training," columns for the Helping Hands Humane Society's newsletter.

About Us

Perrin Riggs CPDT and Rick Riggs CPDT started Happy Training! dog training in 1996 to offer private in-home training, group classes, and public education seminars to dog owners in the Topeka area. We've taught classes for the Kansas Department of Corrections' Topeka Correctional Facility (in the early days of the Helping Hands Humane Society's Blue Ribbon Dog program), and for the Topeka Kennel Club. In addition, we've worked with more than 700 private clients in Topeka and northeast Kansas, providing in-home dog training and behavior counseling. Finally, for many years we've been active in competitive dog obedience and in Prairieland Visiting Animals Association, a local group involved with animal-assisted visitation activities in nursing homes, hospitals, and other area care facilities.

We are professional members of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and are Certified Pet Dog Trainers (CPDT) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. We both hold psychology degrees, and we regularly attend professional dog trainers' conferences and other professional-education activities to keep our skills sharp and our methods current.