Puppy Training Options

Not Sure Which Puppy Training Option Is Right for You?

I offer both group puppy classes and private puppy training, each designed to support puppies in different ways.

This page will help you decide where to start based on your puppy and your goals.

The good news? There’s no “wrong” choice here. Group classes and private training simply serve different needs, and many puppies benefit from both at different stages.

Group Puppy Classes

Best for puppies who are generally confident and ready to learn alongside others.

Puppy School group classes focus on:

Safe, structured socialization in a small group
Building strong foundations (focus, handling, calm behaviours)
Learning around real-life distractions
Supporting you as a puppy parent with guidance and reassurance

Group classes are a great fit if:

Your puppy is curious, social, or neutral around other dogs and people
You want guided socialization in a controlled, professional setting
Your puppy can recover quickly if they get a bit excited or distracted
You enjoy learning alongside other puppy parents
Your goals are prevention, confidence, and good manners

Class size is intentionally small so puppies aren’t overwhelmed and everyone gets support.

Private Puppy Training

Best for puppies (or humans!) who need more individualized support.

Private sessions are fully customized to:

Your puppy’s temperament and learning pace
Your home, routine, and lifestyle
Specific challenges you’re already seeing

Private training is often the best place to start if:

Your puppy is shy, sensitive, or easily overwhelmed
Your puppy becomes very overexcited and struggles to settle
You’re noticing early challenges (fear, intense biting, frustration, stress)
You want help tailored specifically to your household
You’d prefer 1:1 support without other dogs present

Some families choose to start with private training first, especially if their puppy is shy, sensitive, or struggling early on, and then transition into group classes once their puppy is ready.

Some families choose to start with group puppy classes to build strong foundations and social skills, and then add private training later to take a deeper dive into specific skills or challenges.

Still Unsure? You Don’t Have to Decide Alone
If you’re on the fence, that’s completely normal.

I’m happy to:

Look at your puppy’s age, temperament, and goals
Recommend a starting point
Let you know honestly if one option would serve you better than the other

Testimonials

WOOF

Amrit, Shalin & Lilah

Anji is magic, I've never seen someone as a stranger enter my home and my dog just does what she says, our dog, Lilah, who had been rambunctiously demand barking before she met Anji, somehow turned into a quite and obedient dog inside the house in 4 sessions.
Anji is very knowledgeable and teaches you how to train your dog and works with both, the owners and the dog. Anji never used force or harsh corrections, and she taught Lilah to follow commands with such ease and love, just her presence is somehow enough for dogs to just understand what we want and expect.
Thanks you so much Anji for being the best teacher for our naughty Lilah. We got the basic training but I am sure we will reach out soon for some more advanced stuff, best dog trainer in Toronto! <3

Angela & Arlo

We absolutely loved Anji Barton! Her expertise and guidance on positive reinforcement training for reactive dogs was excellent. Her was very clear and encouraging in training us to training our dog = we had been at wits end for seeing any improvement. Anji gave us both hope that things could change and a map to make this change. We would highly recommend Anji.

Peter, Matt & Toast

Anji is caring and considerate, offering a tailored plan for our dog Toast, as well as a training plan and resources for work to do in-between sessions. We saw a big improvement from our 4 session package with Toast’s temperament, polite greeting, loose leash walking, manners, and recall. We will definitely sign up for further lessons. It’s very convenient that anji comes to our condo and sees our dog in our environment. I can tell she really cares for our dog, and vice versa. The price point is well worth it for individual lessons, in your own home.

Michelle & Summer

Anji is fantastic. Her professionalism, patience, techniques and her pure love of dogs was evident in each visit. She made sure we understood each new technique, but was always available for extra support. After each visit, Anji sent us additional tips, tricks and Google links for our use. Our puppy Summer was a handful at times, but Anji was always in control. She just had a way of calming her down to focus. We will continue to be consistent in using Anji’s techniques as we already see a huge difference in Summer’s behaviour. I highly recommend Anji’s services.

Yeseul, Andres & Oli

We had the doggo manner package class with Anji and the outcome is amazing! What we really liked about her training is, she will make the training plan very personal. She will communicate with us what we would like to work on and make the plan as we progress in the training. She was also very quick to respond to our questions besides the training session and sent us lots of tips and videos that you can watch at home. Also, her way of training is very gentle and calm which we really appreciate. If anyone is looking for a trainer who enforces positive dog trainer that works, we would definitely suggest you to go for it!