What type of training are you looking for? It it's general pet and/or competition obedience, there is the Houston Obedience Training Club HOT Dog Club and the West Houston Obedience Club https://www.whodogclub.com/ HOT Dog also has agility and tracking classes, I believe.

You also might be interested in online learning, via the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/

 

My priority is obedience training and leash training. He's very obedient and knows most standard commands well, but the leash training would be very helpful. He knows "heel", but when we go for walks, he won't stay at heal. He doesn't pull the leash, but he likes to be out front of me. I've heard this is very common for Dobies, but ultimately, I'd like to be able to walk him off leash, and I'm nowhere near that.

Secondarily, I'd like to see about guard dog training.

 

There is a vast difference between heeling and loose leash walking. Heeling is a very formal, focused, intense behavior that requires a lot of concentration on the dog's part. Loose leash walking is for casual locomotion from point a to point B, and IMO, as long as the dog isn't trying to rip your arm out of it's socket, they don't need to be in any particular position.

When you say "guard dog training" are you talking about property guardian, personal protection dog, or bite sports? Each one of those has different requirements, and aren't exactly interchangeable. Since Dobes are "Velcro dogs", and prefer to be with their people, they tend to do poorly as property guardians (other than being that "scary looking dog down the street"). A personal protection dog and a sport dog, while they do undergo somewhat similar training, are not the same. And finding a good trainer for a PP dogs is difficult, and can be extremely expensive.

 

He's good with loose leash walking. He just likes to lead rather than heel. I think I walk too slow for him.

On the guard dog training, I'm definitely meaning personal protection.

 

Since you need a foundation of obedience to start with, I would focus on that first. I don't know what part of Houston either of these are in, but I have personal recommendations for either the Houston Obedience Training Dog Club or Smart Dog Training Center.

For what it's worth, making a longer drive for a better training is WELL worth it. Don't skimp on good training when it comes to your dog...what you put into your training is what you get back, and a better trainer is well worth an extra time driving. I have driven an hour to train with a great trainer (and longer, if need be)...the extra drive time is VERY WORTH IT.). Just my two cents.

 

Well, #1, I'm looking for something in my area because driving an hour in Houston really means about 2 hours when traffic is bad(which is regularly). And #2, I'm not even sure how good the company is that's an hour away. I found some of their videos on Youtube, but that's it. I have a hard time believing there's not something as good much closer to home in a city like this.