dog's best friend

What dog's best friend does

A Dog's Best Friend is a privately held, for-profit dog training company founded in 1994 by Tim Mullally and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It delivers in-home, positive-reinforcement dog training to pet owners across 21 cities in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties (South Florida), and it advertises itself as the region's oldest positive-training provider. The company is co-owned by Tim Mullally (President, 32+ years experience, Purdue-certified, first APDT member in South Florida) and Teoti Anderson (Vice President, 26+ years, former APDT President, author of multiple training books); Ali McGuire has served as Office Manager since 2023.

The company's service portfolio comprises four offerings: (i) In-Home Lessons — one-hour, per-session dog training delivered at the customer's residence covering obedience, behavior modification, and puppy foundations; (ii) Super Puppy University — a four-week residential puppy program in which puppies are raised in the trainer's home, with weekly owner lessons and lifetime boarding privileges for graduates; (iii) Specialty Training — therapy dog, service dog, and emotional support animal certification and task training; and (iv) a Puppy Socialization add-on for puppies under 12 weeks. The underlying methodology is marker (clicker or verbal) training combined with reward-based reinforcement, no punishment-based tools, applied by trainers holding APDT, IAABC, CPDT-KA, AKC CGC Evaluator, and Karen Pryor Academy certifications.

The business model is direct-to-consumer professional services: customers contact the company by phone or website form, pay per lesson (no packages, no long-term contracts), and receive services at their home or the trainer's home. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market relies on local SEO, organic social (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram), and word-of-mouth rather than paid advertising. A separate e-commerce Shop (shopadogsbestfriend.com) extends monetization beyond training services. The company is entirely founder-owned with no outside investors, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds.

Name

dog's best friend

Legal name

A Dog's Best Friend

Website

https://adogsbestfriend.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Short description

A Dog's Best Friend is a privately held South Florida dog training company founded in 1994, providing in-home lessons, residential puppy programs, and therapy/service-dog specialty training using positive-reinforcement methods to pet owners across 21 cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Training Services

NAICS

Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (81291), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Pet Services (Grooming, Training, Daycare) (CRALAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Training-Integrated Dog Daycare (Day Training) (HSANAFAE)

Keywords

• In-home dog training
• Positive reinforcement training
• Puppy obedience training
• Service dog training
• Therapy dog certification

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Lauderdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. In-Home Lessons: One-hour in-home training sessions at a per-lesson rate. Customers pay for as few or as many lessons as needed without packages or long-term commitment.
2. Super Puppy University: Four-week intensive puppy boarding and training program where puppies are raised in the trainer's home. Includes weekly owner lessons. Graduates eligible for lifetime boarding.
3. Specialty Training: Therapy dog, service dog, and emotional support dog training programs with various levels of complexity and duration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

A Dog's Best Friend provides in-home positive reinforcement dog training services across South Florida, delivered through one-hour in-home lessons, the Super Puppy University four-week residential puppy program, and specialty training for therapy, service, and emotional support dogs. The company focuses on modern, science-based, reward-based methods (marker training with clicker or verbal cues, treats, praise, and petting) without the use of punishment-based equipment such as prong or shock collars.

Product overview

A Dog's Best Friend is a positive dog training company offering a portfolio of three core services: In-Home Lessons for one-on-one training at the customer's residence covering behavioral issues and obedience; Super Puppy University, an exclusive 4-week residential puppy training program with owner participation; and Specialty Training for therapy dogs, service dogs, and emotional support dogs. A supplementary Puppy Socialization Service provides early socialization before 12 weeks of age. The company follows modern scientific, reward-based training methods without punishment-based equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Super Puppy University: An exclusive puppy training program where puppies are raised in the trainer's home for four weeks, learning housetraining, crate training, basic commands, and socialization.

Products and services

• In-Home Lessons One-hour in-home dog training lessons delivered at the customer's home covering obedience, behavior modification, and puppy training (housetraining, crate training, basic commands, leash walking, and socialization). Available Monday through Saturday with flexible per-lesson scheduling across 21 South Florida cities, with no packages or long-term commitments required.
• Super Puppy University An exclusive four-week puppy training program for puppies aged 8-9 weeks, in which puppies are raised in the trainer's home and taught housetraining, crate training, obedience commands, socialization, and off-leash heeling. Includes weekly lessons for the puppy's owners during the four-week period, and graduates are eligible for lifetime boarding.
• Specialty Training (Therapy, Service, and Emotional Support Dogs) Specialized training programs for therapy dogs (preparation for visits to nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and airports), service dogs (task training including hearing assistance, seizure alert, and mobility assistance for individuals with disabilities), and emotional support dogs (documentation and access preparation).
• Puppy Socialization Services Early socialization training for puppies under 12 weeks of age, positively exposing them to different environments, people, sounds, and animals to prevent the development of fear-based and aggressive behaviors later in life.

Quantifiable outcome

• Dogs trained to stop jumping, pulling, bolting; puppies housetrained and socialized
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/adogsbestfriendinc
• Facebookfacebook.com/ADogsBestFriend
• Instagraminstagram.com/adogsbestfriendinc

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about dog's best friend