Professional Dog Training Boston

The Best Dog Training in Boston 

We are a local dog training company with the goal of helping Boston dog owners with all of their dog training needs through our private training. We have a variety of dog training programs ranging from puppy training, basic obedience training, aggressive dog training and training for dogs with anxiety. Our programs are commitment based and proven to work and get long lasting results. 

Meet the Dog Trainers in Boston

Jackie O’Neil -Head Trainer 

Jackie is a professional dog trainer and dog behavior expert. Before training dogs and becoming a dog trainer, Jackie spent 8 years in the fitness industry as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor. When she and her husband adopted their German Shepherd mix, Melvin, they quickly learned that he had some behavioral issues. To help Melvin, Jackie began to learn about poor dog behavior patterns, what causes them and how proper dog training could make a real difference.

Because of her fitness background and interest in dog behavior, Jackie was drawn to Jill Bowers’ Thank Dog! Training and Thank Dog! Bootcamp.  Through Jill, Jackie learned how to teach basic dog obedience. As she watched Jill work with ALL breeds of dogs with ease, including those with extremely high levels of aggression, she felt called to pursue a career in dog training, too. Jill introduced Jackie to her mentor, John Van Olden, the owner of Canine Trade Group. As an  accomplished dog trainer, John has taught some of the country’s most successful professional dog trainers.

Jenna Micieli – Professional Dog Trainer

From a young age, Jenna felt a strong connection with dogs.  As a child, she would walk neighbors’ dogs and watch every dog show she could find on Animal Planet.  Since she was not allowed to own any dogs when she lived with her parents, when she was finally of age, she began to volunteer at Islip Animal Shelter on Long Island, NY and became disillusioned with the number of dogs surrendered and euthanized.  She came to the realization that it was not so much the number of unwanted dogs that was the problem but a lack of understanding of dog behavior and how to help them.

Once she moved to Boston, she finally got her own dog, a purebred Australian Shepherd named Remy.  Remy had a few quirks but surely with treats and love, all would go well, right?  Wrong.  As Remy matured, he started to become aggressive with other people as well as reactive on leash.  It became so bad, she couldn’t walk Remy during the daytime hours when people were outside.  It was miserable both for her and Remy.  She couldn’t understand how she had done all the work, all the purely positive training videos on Youtube she had watched and yet was still having these major problems!  After realizing food was not enough, she called Jackie O’Neil as a last resort which turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made.  She could not believe the progress Remy was able to make and did a complete 180 and was able to live peacefully without being anxious and aggressive.

Jamie Nikstad – Professional Dog Trainer

Jamie has been surrounded by dogs her entire life, leading her to spend five years as a trainer at PetSmart. During her time there, she attended training seminars and took online courses from Dr. Ian Dunbar to further her understanding of canine teaching theory and behavior, she is also a certified AKC CGC Evaluator.

During college, Jamie got a Rottweiler named Axel, and it was Axel that got her interested in service dog training. She trained him from 8 weeks old to be a psychiatric service dog for her anxiety. He became her rock and inspired her to keep training new tasks and cues.

Soon, she decided to switch careers to focus on private, in-home behavioral dog training. Jamie combined her existing knowledge with the canine behavior modification techniques taught by Canine Trade Group. Now that she’s received her official CTG certification, she can’t wait to help fellow dog owners foster positive relationships with their pups.

Jamie believes in making training fun and meaningful for everyone involved.

Kim Lancaster – Professional Dog Trainer in Maine

Kim graduated from Stonehill College in 2016 with a B.A degree in Psychology where she enjoyed studying human behavior & learning processes; yet, had always had more interest in these studies as they would apply to dogs. She has further completed certificate courses in both Animal-Assisted Therapy and Canine Cognition.

Kim has always been around dogs and has always had an affinity for animals. She currently lives in Boston with her Golden Retriever, Abbey. Kim started her professional career with dogs during her undergraduate career where she worked at a local animal shelter as an Animal Care Technician, interacting with all different breeds with varying behavioral problems and temperaments. This ultimately led her to pursue a career where she could use her educational background and prior experience to help dogs in need of behavioral modification and training. By helping dogs in need of training, she believes that the relationship between dog and owner can be greatly enhanced, leading to a happier life for both. Kim is extremely interested in the human-animal bond and enhancing the partnership and communication between human and beloved pet.

Three Reasons to Train with Colonial Dog Training

The first is that each dog is an individual, so they deserve individualized attention. This means we will design a training plan just for you and your dog, to meet the training goals you desire. How are we able to achieve this? We get to know you and your dog. First, we meet with you for an in-home consultation during which time we can witness your dog’s problems for ourselves and uncover the root cause. This allows everyone to begin the training with as much information as possible, setting you and your dog up for success from the start.

Our second philosophy is that dog training should be commitment-based. This means that we will be available to you for one flat fee until the dog is trained.

The third philosophy is that of in-home training. We believe in training a dog within their own home, in their comfort zone, around the people they know. Since you as the owner will be handling your dog the majority of the time, you will need to to learn how to teach your dog under our guidance. In-home training allows us to put you in a position of leadership, and the sooner that’s established, the sooner your dog will learn to look to you for cues rather than to their own instincts.