Positive Training for Dogs and their People

Dog training for life and competition — helping dogs and their people learn to work and play together. 

Training in Aurora, MN

Train in-person with Nicole and work on basic obedience, behavior problem solving, and dog sports.

Online Training

Nicole teaches online classes, workshops, webinars, and private training through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.

What’s New at Golden Paws

Classes are filling fast!  Register here to get your spot for the April session!!

As always, we also offer behavior and dog sports private lessons.

Want to find out more about us before you commit to training?  Read this!

 

About

Nicole Wiebusch CPDT-KA

Training dogs effectively with methods that are kind is a passion of mine. I use these methods in all forms of dog training: puppy training, pet training, and dog sports training. The challenge of evolving to become a better and more effective trainer, while still using force-free methods, is one that I enjoy. I love sharing with other people how to effectively train their dogs.

When I started training dogs many years ago, choke chains and prong collars were commonly used. Not knowing any better, I fell into this way of training my german shepherd dog for the obedience ring. Max was a good boy, but I sure didn’t make obedience fun for him! Regardless, he did his job and we earned our Companion Dog title.

Latest

Blog Posts

Fun Front Games: No More Drilling!

Are you frustrated with your fronts?  You're not alone!  Fronts can be tough to teach because they require a lot of practice.  However, you can teach fun fronts without that boring drilling!  Incorporate fun games into your practice and you'll have happier fronts in no time!   You can play...

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Get a Close Front with Your Small Dog

It’s unfortunate but it’s true - teaching a nice close front requires a bit more creativity for a small dog!  Often the littles are a bit more pressure-sensitive (and we are a lot bigger to them!) and aren’t comfortable coming into your space.  It’s a bit more difficult to reward the small dogs...

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Staying Connected in the Rally Ring

It's not easy to navigate a rally course while staying connected to your dog. Many dogs need a lot of connection from their handlers, and if we don't give it to them they will often disconnect and their attention will wander. When there are a whole bunch of distractions nearby, we don't want our...

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“I have been training with my dog Elsa through Golden Paws Dog Training since she was 12 weeks old. She is now a little over 2 years of age and we can’t get enough.
We currently take Rally Obedience Class and Advanced Agility. I decided to attend her Basic Manners class when I first got Elsa because I believe strongly in Positive Reinforcement Training and Nicole came highly recommended by my co-worker.

I was not disappointed. Nicole’s classes are kept small and she is very good at getting in one-on-one training time even in a group setting. She also is great at adapting training techniques that work best with how an individual dog learns. It’s not a one size fits all program, because no two dogs learn exactly the same way.

We have attended all the classes she has offered. Basic Manners, Advanced Manners, Dealing with Distractions, Agility, Rally Obedience, and we are now doing Private Sessions to work on getting ready for our big Rally and Agility trial in May! We love Golden Paws. 5 stars for sure!”