The Good Dog Yorktown

The Good Dog Yorktown Certified Dog Trainers | Yorktown VA
Helping owners struggling with leash pulling, jumping, reactivity, fear or endless energy.

Our training is simple, clear and enjoyable!

LABOR DAY SALE Receive 20% off your first class with us when you sign up this weekend! We just posted a new Puppy Fundam...
09/04/2026

LABOR DAY SALE

Receive 20% off your first class with us when you sign up this weekend! We just posted a new Puppy Fundamentals and Good Dog Basics class - available for sign up now!

Use code LaborDay26 at checkout (valid for first time clients only).

https://www.thegooddog.org/book-online

We can’t wait to meet you and your dog, email [email protected] with any questions. 🐾

09/04/2026

Don’t worry, training won’t make your dogs less weird - sincerely my trained pack of the 3 weirdest dogs ever

09/03/2026

My three favorite training treats are not just 3 specific types or brands of treats— because every dog is SO different! You should really be tailoring your training treats to your specific dog.

For 99% of your training we generally recommend using their food or freeze dried dog food. This is because we reward our dogs a LOT, you don’t want to reward them with an unbalanced treat hundreds of times a day. That will mess up their system.

Instead, utilize their food for easier training and freeze dried dog food for more challenging moments in training and subtract whatever amount you used for training from their meals so they don’t gain weight (obesity can shorten your dog’s lifespan by 2 years).

Lastly, save #3 treats for extremely impressive moments your dog has. When they do something you didn’t expect them to be able to, when they handle a sudden surprising situation amazingly well, when they go above and beyond in their training. Saving these treats for moments like this will allow them to stay extremely high value!

Do you want to see our top 3 favorite rewards that aren’t food or treats next? 👀

09/01/2026

Yes dogs can learn words, and they can even pick up on certain patterns to make it seem like they understand full sentences, even paragraphs. But your dog is not a fluent English speaking human that can understand every single word you say to them.

It’s much easier for them to understand what you want when you say LESS and when you’re more consistent with the few words you do say.

“Sit - stay - break” instead of “okay look at me, now I want you to sit down please, can you sit? Yes good girl sitting now, will you staaaay? Wait and Stay right there! Stay there! Don’t move, please stayyyy. And now come, come here, right here, come to me!”
Do you see the difference? When giving your dog information on what you want them to do- try to be simple, clear and concise!

08/30/2026

My number #1 mistake I made as a dog trainer early on was using “ok” as my release word. I said it CONSTANTLY in every day conversation. While most of the time my dogs could hear the difference between my “ok” in convo and my “ok” in their release- there would be some overlap and I only had myself to blame!

So as someone that made that mistake, I urge you to NOT use “ok” as your release word and instead use “break”, “free” or “release”.

(Keep in mind this reel is more in jest than anything, nothing is permanent and you can reteach your dog a better release word if you used “ok” at first and you’d like it to be different)

08/29/2026

Comment “commands” and we’ll send you our free, specialized videos on how to train all the commands you see in this post!

Taking your dog to a brewery or outdoor restaurant is one of the most difficult tasks for your dog to be successful! The reason why is they have to sit mostly still. They have to see all the distractions and not react intensely, they have to be comfortable with chilling for an extended period of time and they have to be able to listen to you no matter what’s happening around them. None of these tasks are “simple” or “easy” for our dogs.

Before you take your dog into a brewery you should… 1) exercise them a LOT beforehand
2) let them sniff outside a bit to get acclimated to the place
3) make sure you’ve practiced all of your training in easier environments first
4) make sure your dog doesn’t react to dogs on walks first (if they can’t walk by a dog and not react, they surely can’t sit by a dog and not react)
5) start easy first, go when it’s not busy and park yourselves away from the action so it’s less difficult for them to be successful
6) optional: bring a chew of some sort the first time or two so it’s easier for them to focus on that and not everything around them and slowly fade that out as you go.

If your dog has a tough time with any of these steps, you may need a bit more training before your dog can be successful chilling at a brewery or outdoor restaurant. To get started on this training, check out our classes: thegooddog.org

08/28/2026

Sign up for classes: https://www.thegooddog.org/book-online

Have you been putting off signing up for your first class?

Have you taken some time off of training and struggling to find the motivation to get back into it?

I know our lives are busier than ever right now, but training will actually make your life EASIER, not more difficult.

When your dog is trained you can go on walks without stressing about seeing another dog, or the garbage truck. You can go to busy or distracting places and know your dog will listen to you. You can even hang out in your yard without worry of your dog not coming when called or getting on your neighbors nerves.

Training opens up your dog’s world, and since we have such a limited time with our dogs, it’s important we give them the fullest and happiest life starting now!

Sign up for classes: https://www.thegooddog.org/book-online

Address

4909 George Washington Memorial Highway
Yorktown, VA
23692

Opening Hours

Tuesday 5pm - 8pm
Wednesday 5pm - 8pm
Thursday 5pm - 8pm
Friday 5pm - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 7pm
Sunday 10am - 8pm

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