Eager Pup

The days of "Yank 'em and Crank 'em" are long over! At Eager Pup we train with brains, not brawn! Living with and enjoying your dog for its full life-time is all about educated ownership. Eager Pup is a two-dog-powered effort focused on providing fun and effective positive-reinforcement-based training for dogs and their owners. The pups in Eager Pup are Holly, once a young stray puppy, now a mature and well trained (but not perfect!) 60-pound blue mutt, and Andy, a rescue Shih Tzu from Gainesville Pet Rescue. The trainer at Eager Pup is their owner, Melanie Phillpot. Melanie 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. Additionally, Melanie holds a degree in psychology from Rhodes College.

Angie Hindle is a dedicated nurse on weekdays and an exceptional (and fun!) dog trainer the rest of the week. Her recently formed training company is Seriously Fun Positive Dog Training. Angie's goal in training is to build a strong relationship between dogs and their people. Angie earned her Trainer's Certificate through Animal Behavior College and interned with Melanie at Eager Pup in 2011. She is an excellent and caring trainer. You and your dog will love her!

Sandy Johnson is a retired RN and Clinical Perfusionist. She currently has a posse of Aussies at home and has been training/competing with her dogs in Obedience, Rally Obedience, Agility, Herding and Tracking for 25 years! Sandy has learned much about dogs, dog sports and about training methods over the years. Sandy has taught pet dog obedience, competitive obedience, Rally obedience, and agility classes for the last 7 years. She uses positive reinforcement based methods and fun to teach the points of BigBall Herding (Treibball), Fun Games with a Crate (based on Susan Garrett's "Crate Games"), and fun, simple sequence tunnels and jumps of agility.



Eager Pup has a new indoor/outdoor training and education studio now, thanks to the kindness and foresight of the folks at Earth Pets Charity! Woohoo! http://earthpetsorganic.com/Charity The new place, on the southeast corner of NW 6th St and NW 10th Ave, has been a myriad of things over the years including a service station, photo lab, percussion studio and now my dog training studio. The studio is at the south end of the building facing 6th St., though the official address is 519 NW 10th Ave, Suite E. You may enter the parking lot from either NW 6th St or NW 10th Ave. I expect to use the new studio indefinitely and hope you'll join me regularly for classes and events there! Earth Pets Organic is just a few doors east on NW 10th Ave. Have no doubt I still love and recommend the original Earth Pets over by Oaks Mall, on NW 60th St! While separate entities, both Earth Pets research and carry the best pet foods and supplies available, and the folks are awesome! : )

The joint mission of Earth Pets Charity and Eager Pup is to provide up-to-date, scientifically-based canine education, and reliable, positive-reinforcement-based dog (/human) training. Families who take the time to understand and work with the nature of all the beings in their home enjoy much greater harmony and quality of life together! Our training is for all breeds and all ages of puppies/dogs, and for all their human family. Education and enjoyment at Earth Pets and Eager Pup are inclusive! Goodness has a way of rippling out to others. We hope that by educating you and your dog together, you will genuinely enjoy each other's companionship for your dog's full lifetime, and that you will be a responsible, good example for others in the community to follow!

Come by and say hello! I'm there teaching and busy fixing the place up. The class schedule is posted at http://eagerpup.com/schedule.html .


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.

For the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviorists' current (2008) statement regarding positive reinforcement based training, go here.


Training doesn't take lots of money but it does take time and educated methods. You're likely to own your dog for 12 years or more, so get started training now and enjoy all of those years. I'm eager to help you! Let's teach what we DO want your dog to do so he can successfully fit into your lifestyle. Training can and should be fun for you and your dog! In fact, learning to train your dog provides a set of life skills you'll use again and again with the humans in your life, too! Feel free to contact me at eager.pup@hotmail.com with questions, or to arrange private lessons or consultations.

Check the Courses Page for the current schedule and description of group classes. You may Register Online or by snail-mail Registration Form and pay at the first class. You may register for private lessons as well; we will contact you promptly.