Just a few months ago we got an adorable Lil Golden Retriever puppy, and this adorable baby turned out to be full of energy and mischief, due to which we faced some issues, the biggest one being slipping on pee and stepping on poop right after waking up.
We were trying to keep up with her behavior since she was just a baby but as she started growing our neighbors started complaining about her howling and barking, which made us look for a fix but we being protective parents didn’t want to take help from local dog trainers. So we did what a normal person does, started looking online.
After so much digging we found this program and we are so glad that we took this brain training 4 dogs program, it really did help us train our Golden Retriever and also helped us in creating an even stronger bond with our doggo.
So let me guess, just like us you also stumbled upon this brain training for dogs program while trying to find tips to train your precious. And you want to be sure that this program is not rubbish, unsafe or outdated if it is so then you came to the right place as I’ll be sharing everything about this program in detail so that you can decide whether you should get this program for your dog or not.
About the Author
Before picking up any course it was important for us to know about the author in brief, as the only negative point about looking for a solution online is stumbling upon various scams. Adrienne Farricelli is the founder of this program, her impressive qualifications had almost convinced us that the information on this course would be half decent.
She is a professional Certified Pet Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed and obtaining this credential isn’t easy. And she has been working with dogs for the last 15 years (since 2006), currently she is running a cage-free boarding and training company.
She also provides training to service dogs for military veterans, while helping thousands of struggling dog owners all around the world. Plus, she is an enthusiastic writer too, she has written various articles for online publications like eHow, Daily Puppy, and PawNation, and her work also got featured in USA Today and Every dog magazine. All this information was enough for us to move forward with this program, but you can find a lot more about her if you dig a bit harder.
How does Brain Training for Dogs Work?
Adrienne Farricelli described this course as “developing your dog’s hidden intelligence. And the reason why this program is effective is because of its force-free pattern and positive reinforcement as while searching for a solution online we came across various programs that were based on punishment or teaching you how to dominate your dog. Of course, no one should go for it as we don’t have to be hard on our adorable pets and those methods aren’t effective anyway.
The idea behind this program is that just like a human’s brain, a dog’s brain too can always adapt and mold to learn new behavior. This program provides the mental stimulation that will expand the dog’s mind and boosts development.
Plus, this science-based approach will help you create an extremely strong bond between you and your pet. And your dog will be happy to follow your command because of the strong bond and trust between you two. It uses a series of 21 fun games that are designed to engage the mind of your dog.
Even after knowing about Adrienne Farricelli we were a bit doubtful about this course, as we didn’t want to have more behavioral issues for our little bundle of joy. But after reading more about how this program works we decided to buy this course.
What’s Inside?
We liked the format of this course as it is divided into 7 modules using a school setup. All the information is laid down in a clear and easy way, you’ll be able to understand what to do with the help of videos and instructions.
And we could say that the information inside this course must have demanded time and effort, as even though the activities were simple but it seems to work in the exact way one wants it to.
The great thing about this program is that they don’t assume that your dog already has the basic training, they start from zero. But yeah you don’t have to follow the levels in order if you don’t want to or your dog already has the basic training (which wasn’t the case with us so we followed the levels in order).
In the first level, your dog will learn the most basic things and the lessons in other modules keep getting harder as you level up. So let’s see what we found in each level in brief.
Module -1 Preschool
Even though I said you don’t have to follow the levels if your dog already has the basic training, I do highly recommend you to start from here as just like real preschool this one too teaches the fundamentals that will act as a base for the rest of the training.
This module will help you learn how to get your dog to focus on you regardless of what’s going on in the surrounding. You’ll be able to keep your dog’s attention by the end of this module, you can also be able to make them shift their focus on something else by using targeting.
Fun activities like “target train”, “magic little way”, and “airplane game” made our dog look in our eyes and pay attention to us.
Module -2 Elementary School
After your dog mastered all the basics then you can start the second module, here they learn to listen to your command.mYour dog will definitely have fun with the activities in this module, like “treasure hunt”, “bail pit”, and “muffin game”. These games will help you manage your dog’s energy while having exercise and a lot of fun. If it’s hard to motivate your dog, Adrienne suggests the use of high-value treats.
Module -3 High School
After elementary comes to high school, this module is quite neat as your dog will learn how to calm down and learn self-control. It teaches the basics of scent work too, which is fun.
This level includes activities like “bobbing for treats”, “jazz up and settle down” which will teach your dog how to settle down right after being hyped, and “the bottle game” which will provide mental stimulation with a little bit of exercise.
Module -4 College
From here things start getting interesting, we started noticing a lot of changes in our dog by now and she seems to be a lot happier than she used to be. Once in a while, we redo the activities from the previous module.
This module was about teaching your dog how to concentrate on your command, plus, it was also about patience and calmness. The games included in this level are “The magic carpet game”, “the shell game”, and “the open sesame game”.
Module -5 University
This module introduced more advanced concepts, we loved the hide and seek game as it was so surprising how my dog used her intelligence during this game and helped us create a stronger bond with her.
Other than hiding and seek, there were “look at that game” which can help with barking, and “hot and cold game” which builds confidence in your dog.
Module -6 Graduation
The progress that our doggo made was very much visible by now and seeing how she was using her intelligence was impressive. By this stage we kinda started showing off how awesome and intelligent our dog was, plus, neighbors who were complaining before were now shocked.
It started to feel like she is understanding what we try to tell her. This module had activities that made her stick by our side and you won’t believe that she was actually picking toys by their name.
Module -7 Einstein
This was the final level and we were actually feeling like proud parents. As our doggo was at a genius level now. She was able to tidy her toys once she finished playing.
The activities in this module were super fun, none of my friends believed that she was actually playing piano until they saw it themselves. You must be thinking that it’s unbelievable too but this play the piano game was all about it. This module did take some time, as it was super advanced and you can skip this module.
Other than this course, there is still much more included.
- 7 trick training videos: It will teach your dog how to take a bow, cover his/her eyes, play dead, dance, shake hands, howl, and rollover.
- Obedience 101 training: It taught us to use food rewards in a positive way. Plus, there were key strategies for basic obedience commands. We recommend you to start with this and then with the main course.
- Polishing up your training: This one as the name suggests helps you polish up the training and help you learn how to maintain your dog’s attention with or without food rewards.
- Adrienne’s Archive: Here you’ll get tons of training articles written by Adrienne which can be very much insightful and help you train your dog better.
- A private forum: You can connect with other members here and ask questions if you are having any difficulty while training your dog.
Pricing
This course won’t dig a hole in your pockets as you’ll get access to all this material at just $47, which is way less than any local dog trainers or consultants’ fees.
They also offer a free bonus course “behavior training for dogs” which will help you understand the most common behavior problems in dogs. Plus, if you are still doubtful then you can go for their 60 days risk-free trial, as personally speaking if you are struggling with your dog this is not something you should miss.
Pros:
- Easy to read and understand with loads of pictures and video demonstrations.
- Affordable
- Can directly submit questions to Adrienne through their support system.
- Force-free methods.
- They offer money-back guarantees.
Cons
- There’s a lot to read, if you don’t have a habit of reading it might seem a bit too much for you.
- It will require you to buy some supplies but most of them can be found in your home only.
Final Verdict
It is more of training for us, this program not only made us understand our doggo behavior but also help to find hidden intelligence. But of course, after this program, she doesn’t behave like an angel but it’s like we have an understanding between us now.
So now we don’t have to slip over her pee or poop right after waking up and of course no complaints from neighbors instead they stop by to pet her. Of course, it didn’t go totally smoothly and there were times when we had to use the private forum and a lot of patience whenever we were stuck somewhere.
But the progress that we saw in our doggo was just amazing and we are sure that if you are having any kind of behavioral issue with your pet this program will definitely help you. If you found our review helpful, then do drop us alike.