To help raise awareness of positive dog training practices and how they can help strengthen the bond between pets and their people, we have re-purposed our warehouse space into a dog training studio!

The Earth Pets Dog Training Studio, located just across the street from our store, is an indoor dog training facility and pet education center where the focus is on strengthening the human-dog relationship through fun, positive and effective education and training methods.

Home of Eager Pup and lead trainer Melanie Phillpot, the Earth Pets Training Center is strictly dedicated to dog trainers who use positive training techniques and who are committed to helping homeless pets within the Gainesville community.  

Melanie Phillpot is a nationally Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) and Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She served several years as an Adoption Counselor and Foster Parent with Gainesville Pet Rescue, and is passionate about being part of the solution to the national problem of "disposable" dogs.  Melanie continues to offer free and greatly discounted training services to nonprofit groups in Gainesville as well as to pet adopters and pet foster care homes. 

Melanie says, “My personal mission is to raise the standard of canine ownership throughout the community by providing accurate, up-to-date owner education and useful, necessary canine training. Dogs are companion animals and truly deserve to be treated as our best friends. We need to proactively teach our dogs how to function best in our human-oriented society so that they may enjoy a full lifetime with us. Astoundingly, 95% of dogs (purebreds and mixed breeds) relinquished to Animal Services facilities nationwide are given up because they have received no formal training and their "bad" behaviors are entirely normal, predictable, untrained dog behaviors - fixable (and preventable) with basic training! Sadly, most of these dogs are euthanized, simply because the humans in their short lives didn't spend the time and effort to train them.”

Basic Obedience and Manners 1
Begin building a cooperative relationship with your dog and enjoy your canine companion for his full lifetime. Commands taught include - watch me, find it, sit, down, stand, come, up, off, leave it, have it, go to your mat, wait, stay, loose lead walking, attentive walking, targeting, clicker method, lure/reward method and much more!

Basic Obedience and Manners 2
Continue to build distance, duration and distractions to polish your BOM 1 commands and learn new ones. Field trips, games and rally-type field courses may be included.

Basic Obedience and Manners 1/2 Combo Class
BOM1/2 Combo for dogs of all ages with little or no training AND for those with basic skills who want more practice and to add distance, distraction, and duration. Individual issues will be addressed as possible.

K9 Nose Work Beginner 1
Introduction to Nose Work (NWB1) for all ages and temperaments. This is the newest canine sport, designed for all dogs (shy, active, reactive and "normal")! There are even 3 levels of national certification though you don't have to compete to enjoy this sport! No prior obedience training or athletic skills are required and it's fun for the dog as well as the owner! Join us in the Introduction course as we develop the dog's drive to search and build its confidence in working independently. Owner observation and handling skills will also be developed. There will be practice searches for each dog at all classes but in between searches your dog must be crated. Please bring your own crate or borrow one! Safety (and fun) for everyone is a priority.

K9 Nose work introduction to Odor 1
Intro to Odor (NWB2) - Take your Nose Work to the next level! We'll be introducing a target odor and letting the dogs discover that it pays to search and find it! Owners will continue to improve observation and handling skills on and off leash. Students will work indoors and out. There will be practice searches for each dog at all classes but in between searches your dog must be crated. Please bring your own crate or borrow one! Safety (and fun) for everyone is a priority. Graduates of NWB1 will work toward readiness to pass the official Odor Recognition Test and then on becoming nationally certified as NW1 dogs.

K9 Nose Work Continuing Nose Work with 1 Odor
Continuing Nose Work with 1 Odor (NWC1) - Continue to build your Nose Work handling and observation skills while your dog increases his/her skills and drive by seaching, recognizing and clearly indicating the target odor, indoors and outdoors. Mock ORTs (Odor Recognition Trials) and practice with other classes will be included. Prerequisite NWB1, NWB2.

BigBall Herding
The dog sport of herding large, lightweight exercise balls is coming! Be on the forefront and teach your dog to drive a herd of BigBalls to the goal!

Tailblazers
TailBlazers is our Dog Hike Meetup Group for Eager Pup students and their friends. Join us on Saturday mornings to explore area trails with your canine companion! Bring your dog on leash (regular 6 foot leash or retractable leash with a harness) and bring plenty of cool water for each of you. Bring dog treats if you think you might take the opportunity to train on the trail (just look, watch me, left, right, come, sit/stay...). After the hikes TailBlazers share a potluck lunch, so bring something for all the humans to eat and something for your dog to chew on. Bring your own lunch drink. You can keep the food/drink in a cooler in your car while we hike.

Private Lessons
Setting up for a new puppy or dog, basic obedience and manners training, living with children, behavior modification (jumping, digging, barking, chewing, boredom, exercise, games, walking nicely on leash, recall [come], and more!). Call or email for details and to make arrangements.