A 90-minute working workshop where you and your dog practice calm walks together, outside, with Pam coaching you through every rep. You'll learn to read your dog, catch stress early, and handle real moments while they're actually happening.
Workshop Details
Wednesday, July 22
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
In Person, Walpole, MA
Exact location sent before the workshop
Limited to 10 Working Teams
Individual coaching for every team
Registration
$99
Each registration covers one dog and up to two people from the same household.
You've Been Doing the Work
You've watched the videos. Maybe you joined the free workshop. You understand thresholds and triggers now. Understanding was supposed to be the hard part.
Then a dog rounds the corner and your brain empties out. Treats in the wrong hand. Leash tight. Every plan you had is gone in half a second.
You replay it on the way home. "I should have turned earlier. I should have stayed calm." You knew what to do. You just couldn't do it in the moment.
That's not a knowledge problem. That's a practice problem.
And practice is exactly what this workshop is.
The Down 4 Paws Method
Every family I work with moves through the same four stages. The free online workshop covered the first one, what I call Behavior Translation: why your dog reacts and what they're feeling when it happens.
This workshop is where it becomes real. Your hands on the leash, your dog at your side, and me right there coaching your timing, your spacing, and your decisions.
Haven't seen the free online workshop yet? Register anyway and I'll send you the replay, so you arrive ready.
Behavior Translation™
You see
"My dog stopped listening."
Your dog is experiencing
"The environment suddenly became more valuable than staying connected."
That shift, from correcting behavior to understanding it, changes the whole conversation.
1. Understand
Learn why the behavior happens and what your dog is experiencing. Understanding creates clarity. Everything else builds on it.
2. Structure
Build routines and predictability that lower stress for your dog and your family.
3. Practice
Apply the skills where life actually happens, with coaching in the moment. Progress over perfection.
4. Support
Keep building confidence through adolescence, changes, and every new stage of life.
Why Families Choose Down 4 Paws
Most dog training focuses on controlling behavior. We focus on understanding it first. Instead of asking "How do I stop this?", we ask "Why does this behavior make sense to my dog?" Once behavior makes sense, training gets much easier.
And before any of it, we help your dog become calm enough to learn. A calm brain learns better than an overwhelmed one.
90 Minutes, Hands-On
This is a coaching workshop, not a lecture. Throughout the 90 minutes, I'll coach your leash handling, your timing, your reward placement, how you read your dog's body language, and the decisions you make in the moment. Here's how it runs.
Before anyone takes a step, you'll practice Behavior Translation: reading your dog's emotional state (and checking your own). Then you'll set up your leash and rewards properly, and use sniffing resets and treat scatters to find your dog's personal reset button. Preparation creates success.
The Name Game, check-ins, eye contact, and engagement work. The goal: your dog starts voluntarily checking in with you before the walk even begins. You'll practice your reinforcement timing until it clicks.
Starting calmly, pacing, loose leash handling, stopping, changing direction, emergency U-turns, and walking away from pressure. The moves you'll actually use, drilled until they're in your hands and not just your head.
The heart of the workshop. Your dog notices a trigger, you stay calm, create space, re-engage, and your dog recovers. You'll run that sequence in a controlled setting with coaching in real time. We celebrate recovery, not perfection.
Every team leaves with one strength to keep building, one priority to focus on, one homework assignment, and one specific recommendation for your very next walk. Not generic advice. Yours.
Can your dog:
Notice another dog?
Take a breath?
Look back at you?
Choose to keep walking?
Those moments tell us your dog is learning. That's real progress.
Walking Out the Door
The Down 4 Paws Walk Checklist
Your Calm Walk Routine
Dog Body Language Guide
Recovery Tracker to log progress between walks
A personalized homework plan for your dog
Pam's individual coaching notes from your session
The shift you'll feel
Walking in
"I tense up before my dog does. I never know when to turn, when to treat, or what to do once the barking starts."
Walking out
"I can read my dog before they react. I know my reset moves. And when a hard moment happens, I know how to help us both recover and keep going."
Real Dogs, Real Walks
Graham
Mini Goldendoodle, 11 mo
Couldn't walk past another dog without lunging. Through parallel walking practice at decreasing distances, he walked just 5 feet from a barking dog without pulling.
Proximity practice changed everything.
Moose
Standard Poodle, Adult
Snapped at unfamiliar dogs on leash. His owner learned loose-leash looping, barrier positioning, and the frozen cheese method during hands-on sessions with another dog present.
The owner needed the practice, not just the dog.
Archie
Mixed Breed, Young Adult
Great in training class. Total mess on real walks. The breakthrough came when Pam coached his owner through real neighborhood scenarios: timing, spacing, and decision-making in the moment.
Skills only transfer when you practice them outside.
Your Coach
Most dogs aren't trying to misbehave. They're trying to make sense of the world around them. For the past seven years, I've helped hundreds of families stop asking "How do I stop this behavior?" and start asking "What is my dog trying to tell me?" That shift changes everything.
I'm a CPDT-KA certified dog trainer and owner of Down 4 Paws Dog Training in the Boston suburbs. This workshop is how I train every day: outside, in real conditions, coaching families through real moments as they happen.
I keep this group small on purpose. Ten teams means I can watch your leash handling, your timing, and your dog's body language, and coach you individually through all of it.
"You don't need a perfect dog. You need a better understanding of the one you already have, and the reps to put that understanding to work. Every moment of recovery builds trust. Small wins become lasting habits."
Pam Brown
CPDT-KA Certified Trainer
Down 4 Paws Dog Training
Good Questions
That's exactly why the group is capped at 10 teams with generous spacing between dogs. Every exercise is set up so your dog can succeed at their own distance. If you're not sure your dog is a fit, email pamela@down4paws.com and tell me about them before registering.
It helps a lot, and it's free. If you missed it, register for this workshop and I'll send you the replay so you arrive with the "why" already covered. We spend our 90 minutes together on the "how."
Your dog, a flat collar or front-clip harness, a six-foot leash (no retractables), high-value treats, water, poop bags, and comfortable walking shoes. A full checklist comes with your confirmation email.
Yes. Each registration covers one dog and up to two people from the same household. If more than one person walks the dog at home, bring them both. Everyone should learn the same moves.
Reserve Your Spot
Wednesday, July 22, 6:30 PM. Walpole, MA. $99 registration, one dog and up to two people.
Limited to 10 working teams. Exact location sent before the workshop.
This isn't about creating a perfectly obedient dog. It's about understanding your dog, building confidence together, and enjoying everyday life. Every calm choice, every recovery, every check-in becomes another building block toward the relationship you're trying to create. That's what Down 4 Paws is all about.
90 minutes. 10 teams. Individual coaching on every exercise, and a personal plan for your very next walk. This is where calm walks start.
Reserve My Spot for $99