Westside Portland Dog Training, Without the Kennel
If you live on Portland's west side, Happy Paws is just south of you in Tigard. We're a family-owned training business run by Brittney and Joshua Crider. If your dog is great at home but turns into a different animal the second the leash goes on, you're in the right place.
City life asks a lot of a dog. There are busy sidewalks, other dogs around every corner, delivery drivers, cafés, and crowded parks. A dog that pulls, reacts, or ignores you turns every one of those into a stressful moment. We train for exactly those moments. Dogs in our programs practice in neighborhoods, parks, stores, and everyday settings, so their manners hold up where you actually live, not just in a training room.
Board-and-train dogs live in our home with our family, not in a kennel. That's also why we keep the number small and only take a few each month. Every dog gets real attention from Brittney, our Head Trainer and Founder, who has 15+ years working with dogs of all breeds and temperaments. You'll get daily photos and videos texted to you from your trainer's personal phone for the whole stay.
For dogs with significant reactivity or aggression toward people or other dogs, we offer a 3-Week Reactive Board & Train. It starts with a free in-person evaluation, and you still get daily photo and video updates throughout the three weeks. We're honest about it: we don't promise reactivity will completely disappear. Our goal is to make the behavior more manageable and give you the confidence and tools to handle it. As long as you follow the program, we keep supporting you afterward through the lifetime warranty.
We also train service dogs and therapy dogs. Both start with solid obedience and build toward calm, reliable behavior in public. We help with therapy dog certification. Service dogs don't require certification, but we'll provide a diploma on request. Every board & train, service, and therapy program includes a lifetime warranty with weekly refreshers as needed, at your home or another location, focused on whatever you're struggling with. The warranty remains in place unless you refuse to do the training we taught you.
Private lessons come to you. We work at your home, at parks, in stores, and in other real-world spots on the west side, and we travel all over Oregon and into Washington, depending on your dog's needs. Board-and-train drop-off and pick-up are at our home in Tigard (we share the details after you book). Your free evaluation takes 15 to 30 minutes at Summerlake Park in Tigard (if the weather's bad, we meet under the covered overhang or reschedule).
Programs at a glance
-
3-Week Reactive Board & Train: $4,500. A free in-person evaluation is required first.
-
3-Week Ultimate Board & Train: $4,200. Our most complete obedience program, with an extended turnover.
-
2-Week Board & Train: $3,200 · 1-Week Board & Train: $2,000
-
Service Dog Training: from $2,500 per week · Therapy Dog Training: starting at $2,500 per week (both 3-week minimum)
-
Private Lessons: 4 for $1,200 · 8 for $1,500, at your home, at parks, in stores, and other real-world locations. Lessons don't expire.
-
Puppy Foundation: $150 per lesson (under 6 months)
-
Board & train and private lessons are for dogs 6 months and older, with standard vaccines up to date.
Spots fill by evaluation. Request your free evaluation to check this month's availability. We reply within 1 business day, and requesting is free.
Or call/text 503-683-8272
What our clients say
Brett Thompson — Sasha was reactive with people in a very positive way as she "never met a stranger" but the negative was she would jump on them to say hello. She was also a puller on her leash. She is still our loveable Sasha but her leash pulling is gone and when she sees new people on the street she just lets them walk on by. Josh and Happy Pawz transformed our Sasha and we could not be happier.
Daniel Ortiz — Josh and Brittney did an excellent job training and caring for our 1.5 year old pitbull, Chino! We received GoPro videos daily, documenting his progress, learning a lot ourselves. One of our biggest concerns was letting him go for two weeks and we could not be happier with the process.