As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links marked "at Amazon" are paid links.
The best online dog training programs (2026)
By Chris Y. · One dog, one apartment, a tape measure and a chest girth chart
Photo: Openverse (CC0 1.0)
If your dog is bored rather than badly behaved, start with Brain Training for Dogs — seven levels of mental games, a one-time payment rather than a subscription, and a 60-day money-back window the vendor describes as unconditional. If you have a new puppy and want a person to answer you, Baxter & Bella is the better purchase.
Online dog training is not one product. Three of the six below are recorded courses you buy once, one is an app subscription, one is a term-based school with instructor feedback, and one is a video library with a coaching club attached. They are not really competitors; they are answers to different questions about how much help you want and how often.
A note on what this page will not do. Nobody here can tell you a program will fix a specific behavior, and no program on this page publishes a study. What each one does publish is a format, an access length and a support arrangement, and those are the three things compared below. Serious aggression, biting and separation distress are veterinary behavior problems, not course material.
How to shop for an online dog training program
What the format actually is
Video, written lessons with photographs, a phone app or a term-based class are four different experiences. Brain Training for Dogs is video plus step-by-step pictures; Fenzi is lectures with assignments; Dogo is an app. Pick the one you will actually open on a Tuesday evening.
How long you keep access
One-time purchase, lifetime membership, per-term enrollment and monthly subscription all appear below. Fenzi gives a library pass for one year from enrollment; Baxter & Bella sells a lifetime membership; an app stops when you stop paying.
Whether a human ever sees your dog
This is the biggest difference in the category. Fenzi's Gold level includes instructor feedback on submitted video; Baxter & Bella publishes live one-to-one support; a recorded course gives you a forum and an email address.
What the vendor publishes about its trainer
Adrienne Farricelli publishes a CPDT-KA certification. Doggy Dan publishes certification in a named method and a list of trainers he has studied under. Fenzi publishes its whole instructor roster. Two here name nobody at all. Dogo offers only the phrase "certified experts", and Baxter & Bella publishes no credentials for its founder.
Whether the method is reward-based
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's position statement on humane dog training recommends reward-based methods and advises against tools and techniques that work through fear or discomfort. Every program on this page presents itself as reward-based; that is a floor, not a distinction.
Best for a bored dog
Photo: rawpixel (CC0 1.0)
Brain Training for Dogs
Games, not obedience drills, bought once
Model
Brain Training for Dogs, by Adrienne Farricelli
Format
Video + text
Access
One-time
Support
Forum + direct questions
Structure
Seven levels, Preschool through Einstein
Reasons to buy
Seven progressive levels — Preschool, Elementary School, High School, College, University, Graduation and Einstein — so there is a defined next thing to do rather than a pile of videos
Built around mental games rather than obedience repetitions, which is the right shape for a dog whose problem is an empty afternoon
A one-time payment rather than a subscription, which for a course you dip back into over years is the better structure
Adrienne Farricelli publishes a CPDT-KA certification and fifteen years of experience, and members can submit questions to her directly through the vendor's support system
The vendor states a 60-day money-back window and describes it as unconditional, plus a private members' forum and an archive of more than 100 behavior articles
Reasons to avoid
Sold through ClickBank rather than by the vendor directly, which means the checkout, the receipts and the refund process are a third party's
Heavier on reading and photographs than the video-first programs below, which suits some people and loses others
It is a self-directed course — nobody watches your dog, and nobody follows up if you stop
The reason this one is worth naming first is the framing. Most programs sell obedience; this one sells things to do with a dog's brain, and a large share of the behavior people want fixed — chewing, barking at nothing, digging, pestering — is a dog with nothing to think about.
Judge it as a structured library you buy once, with a forum and an email route to the trainer, and a stated 60-day window if it is not for you. Judge it as personal coaching and you will be disappointed, because it does not claim to be that.
Not the right fit if you want a trainer to answer you in person — Baxter & Bella publishes live one-to-one support.
Over 75 individualized lessons; more than 30 classes
Reasons to buy
Live help and support that the vendor describes as available as much as you want and as often as you need, which is the thing recorded courses cannot do
More than 75 individualized lessons and over 30 classes, broadcast live several times a year and also available on demand
A lifetime membership bought once, which covers the puppy you have now and the dog you have in five years
Hundreds of video demonstrations, so the format is watch-and-copy rather than read-and-interpret
Reasons to avoid
The page does not publish the founder's full name, certifications or professional background, which for a program sold on personal support is a real gap
Aimed squarely at puppies and new dogs; an adult dog with an established habit is not the core of the syllabus
Live classes mean scheduling, which is the opposite of the appeal of a recorded course
This is the program to buy if what you actually want is somebody to ask. Every other recorded course here gives you a forum; this one publishes live scheduled help and more than 35 weeks of structured courses to hang it on.
The missing credentials are worth pressing on before you buy. Ask who is answering the live sessions and what they are certified in — a program built on access to a person should be willing to name them.
More than 300 on-demand videos, the largest published library here, arranged by the problem you actually have
Two ways in — one-time course purchases such as the Dog Calming Code and Puppy Coach, or the Canine Coaching Club with live weekly coaching and daily support
Doggy Dan publishes his training background in detail, including certification in a named method since 2009 and the trainers he has studied under
A free masterclass is published, so the teaching style can be judged before any money moves
Reasons to avoid
The subscription club is the part with the live coaching, so the ongoing cost is where the personal help lives
The published credentials include several modalities outside mainstream veterinary behavior, which is worth reading for yourself before deciding
A 300-video library needs a plan; without one it is easy to browse instead of train
As a reference library this is the deepest thing on the page. When a specific problem appears at nine on a Sunday evening, a searchable set of videos covering barking, jumping, leash pulling and separation distress is more useful than a seven-level curriculum.
Take the free masterclass first. The method is distinctive and the site is explicit about where it comes from, which makes it unusually easy to decide whether it is for you before paying.
Not the right fit if you prefer a single structured path rather than a library — Brain Training for Dogs is seven ordered levels.
Six-week and three-week classes on alternating months
Reasons to buy
Three enrollment levels published plainly — Gold includes instructor feedback on written questions and up to six minutes of video a week, Silver allows one 90-second video a week, Bronze is materials only
Real instructors with published names and specialities, running real terms that start on fixed dates
Lecture materials transfer to your library after the class and stay available on a library pass for one year from enrollment
The academy states that all of its instructors use methods that are dog and people friendly
Bronze is cheap enough to audit a class before committing to a feedback tier
Reasons to avoid
Term-based, so you enroll when the calendar says and not when the problem starts
Built for dog sports and skilled training rather than for a puppy's first month or a household behavior emergency
The library pass is a year, not forever, which is the shortest access on this page
Fenzi is the only thing here that works like a school. Somebody qualified watches a video of your dog and tells you what to change, which no recorded course and no app can do, and the three tiers let you choose how much of that you pay for.
It is also the least suited to the most common reason people search for online dog training. If the dog is pulling, barking and jumping at guests, start elsewhere and come here when you want to get good at something.
Not the right fit if you need help this week — the recorded courses above start the moment you pay.
New Dog, No Biting, Potty Training, Basic Obedience, Impulse Control, 100 Tricks
Reasons to buy
Six named courses — New Dog, No Biting, Potty Training, Basic Obedience, Impulse Control and 100 Tricks — which is a sensible map of a first year with a dog
Lives on a phone, so a five-minute session happens while the kettle boils rather than being scheduled
Dogo says its programs are crafted by certified experts and describes gentle techniques for problems such as nipping
Reasons to avoid
Dogo publishes no subscription terms, no trainer names and no support arrangement on its own front page, which is the thinnest disclosure here
A subscription stops when you stop paying, unlike the one-time purchases above
For a new dog and a person who would rather tap through a checklist than read a curriculum, Dogo is a reasonable first month. The course names alone tell you somebody thought about the order a dog owner meets problems in.
It is bottom of this page on evidence, not on quality. A company that will not publish who wrote its courses or what a subscription includes is asking for more trust than the others on this list.
Not the right fit if you want to know what you are paying for before you pay — every other pick here publishes its terms.
Dog Trainer Foundations, Concept Training, Smart Reinforcement, Better Veterinary Visits and more
Reasons to buy
The clearest published course catalog here — each course names its format, its subject and whether it includes one-to-one coaching
Dog Trainer Foundations is described as the entry point for anyone looking to broaden their dog training skills and knowledge, not only for would-be professionals
Better Veterinary Visits is the cheapest course in the catalog and solves a problem most owners never think to train for
Courses teach the underlying method rather than a fixed routine, which transfers to any problem the dog invents next
Reasons to avoid
Priced per course, so covering several subjects costs several times over
Written for people who want to understand training, which is more work than following a video
Several of the catalog's courses are aimed at instructors rather than at owners, so read the description before buying
This is the one to buy if you would rather learn the principles than memorize a sequence. Clicker and concept training taught properly means you can teach the next behavior yourself instead of looking for a video about it.
Not the right fit if you want a step-by-step plan for this week's problem — the video library is arranged that way.
Every claim about format, access, module structure, support and refund terms on this page is quoted from the vendor's own published page, read on September 12, 2026, with each source linked below. Where a vendor publishes nothing — Dogo on subscription terms and support, Baxter & Bella on its founder's credentials — the page says so rather than filling the gap.
No price bands are printed on this page, because the six programs are priced three different ways — one-time purchase, per-course, and monthly subscription — and a single band would compare things that are not comparable. Each button goes to the vendor's own page for the current figure.
The photographs on this page are public-domain stock images of dogs, credited below the fold. They are illustrations, not screenshots of the programs.
No program here has been bought or completed for this guide, and nothing on this page is a claim that any program will change a specific dog's behavior. These are published descriptions, compared against each other.
The verdict
Best for a bored dog: Brain Training for Dogs, on seven ordered levels of mental games, a one-time payment and a named CPDT-KA trainer you can email. Best for a new puppy: Baxter & Bella, because live human help is the thing recorded courses structurally cannot provide.
Best library: The Online Dog Trainer, with more than 300 videos arranged by problem. Best real teaching: Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, whose Gold tier puts an instructor's eyes on video of your own dog. Best on a phone: Dogo, with the thinnest disclosure here. And Karen Pryor Academy if you would rather learn the method than follow a plan.
It can teach you a method and give you a plan, which for everyday problems — pulling, jumping, barking at the door, recall — is most of the job. What it cannot do is watch your dog. Fenzi's Gold tier and Baxter & Bella's live support are the two answers on this page to that limitation.
One-time purchase or subscription?
One-time if you will dip back in over years, subscription if you want ongoing coaching. Brain Training for Dogs and Baxter & Bella are bought once; Dogo and Doggy Dan's coaching club are ongoing; Fenzi is per term with a one-year library pass.
Are these programs humane?
All six present themselves as reward-based, and the AVSAB position statement on humane dog training recommends exactly that. The statement is linked in the sources; read it before buying anything that promises fast results through correction.
My dog has bitten someone. Is a course the answer?
No. Aggression, resource guarding and severe separation distress are veterinary behavior problems. Start with your veterinarian, who can rule out pain and refer you to a board-certified veterinary behaviorist. No program on this page is a substitute for that.
How long should I expect to spend on this?
Five to fifteen minutes a day, most days, is the shape that works. Dogo is built around that length; Fenzi's three-week and six-week terms assume homework between sessions; a recorded course will sit unopened without a habit around it.
Also considered
Free video platforms — There is excellent free dog training online and no way for a beginner to tell it from the rest. The reason to pay for any of the above is a sequence and somebody accountable for it, which a search result does not give you.
Programs selling shock or prong collar methods — Excluded on method. The AVSAB position statement recommends reward-based training and advises against techniques that work through fear, pain or discomfort.
Programs whose vendor page could not be read — Several well-known programs answered no automated request when checked. If a vendor's own claims could not be quoted from the vendor's own page, the program is not on this page, because every other row here is built from those quotes.
