The best care for your best friend

Beth McGonigal —
Owner & Head Trainer

Hi there, I’m Aunt Beth! At NPAB we focus on nothing but positive reinforcement-based, fun & effective training the whole family can do. As a certified professional trainer, I offer a variety of services, including in-home dog manners training, behavior consultations and behavior modification, and group classes at our training & education facility, as well as at local veterinary offices and county parks.

I’m highly experienced in various areas of training and thoroughly enjoy working with:

  • First Time Dog Owners

  • Anxiety & Fear-Based Reactivity & Aggression

  • Rescued Dogs

  • Finicky Felines

I’d love to have you join our classes and will gladly help you determine which class is best for you and your pet.

Veronica Rigatti, Assistant Trainer

I’ve had the opportunity to work with and use positive reinforcement to train countless different species of animals since 2010, including parrots, tigers, binturongs and more! My more domesticated animal experience includes working at Animal Friends as their Canine Behavior Technician as well as a Dog Trainer at Petco. While enrolled at the Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training and Behavior, Beth McGonigal acted as my mentor. Today, I specialize in the Behavior Department at Animal Friends as well as Assistant Trainer at North Pittsburgh Animal Behavior.

My dedication fully aligns with the NPAB force free, science based, positive reinforcement training philosophy.

I love helping keep dogs out of shelters, and help those in shelters find their forever homes.

  • Kent State University, Zoology Bachelor’s Degree

  • 2019 Graduate with Distinction, Victoria Stilwell Academy’s Dog Trainer Course

  • Peaceable Paws Affiliate & Intern Level 1 Basic Canine Behavior and Training Academy

Our Humans Say It Best

“Beth is incredibly knowledgeable and patient. She brings a huge depth of experience that enables her to suggest multiple approaches to address the problems you may face with your dog. Most importantly, she is able to help you improve your dog’s behavior and manners, while enhance your dog’s confidence and the bond you share. She is great about coming from a judgment-free place, focusing on the positive and not the negative. I would (and regularly do!) highly recommend her to anyone.”

Stephanie, Sarvard

“I hired Beth for my stubborn, fearful, aggressive beagle mix Buster. After many failed attempts with other trainers, Beth gave so many insightful tips to get Buster to relax and to respond to training. Not only is she knowledgeable but she sincerely cares about the animals she trains. I have seen more progress in Buster in the last few weeks after her training than ever before! Beth equipped me for success and I am well on my way to having a well behaved boy. I couldn’t be more thrilled with her service. I highly recommend her!”

Angela, Kennedy Township

“Beth is a wonderful trainer, and truly cares about every dog she comes in contact with. She was able to help us to take our shy, timid puppy Duke and turn him into a loving, affectionate pup! We are still working on the obedience part, but he has come so far because of her two puppy courses. Her training techniques always worked out, and she seemed to have a vast knowledge of all different breeds! I would highly recommend her services to anyone looking for a wonderful and caring trainer!”

Melissa, Gibsonia

“I cannot recommend Beth highly enough. Our very wild and out of control labrador had been to 3 other trainers. From my first conversation with her on the phone, Beth put me at ease. It was immediately clear that she knew her stuff. While I previously considered other trainers as a waste of money, Beth was worth every penny and then some. She replied to me promptly when I had questions about working with Bella and even called a few weeks later to check on her. She was the most kind animal professional I’ve ever worked with, and the success we have seen with our Bella is unbelievable. I would never consider another trainer.”

Linda, Wexford

“The quality of training Beth did with our rescue dog in such short time was incredible. I have recommended her to everyone I know. She was great with our new dog and our children. She made the process very easy and was extremely affordable.”

Bill & Jeannie, Cranberry Twp
More Wagging Testimonials

Frequently Asked Questions

Find below some of our most frequently asked questions. If your question is not here, please email Beth!

Beth’s classes focus on reward-based training. She considers herself a “force-free” trainer; meaning that physical force and harmful equipment is not used in her training. As a certified professional dog trainer, Beth believes in science-based techniques which encourage the dog to repeat good behavior. Rewards such as food, praise, play, and interaction with other dogs and people are used to reinforce good choices. There is no use of aversive equipment such as choke chains or shock collars in class. Our classes are family friendly and our techniques can be practiced easily by everyone in the home.

Class sizes are limited to 8 dogs per class for Puppy 1. All other classes are limited to a maximum of 6 dogs. Specialty classes, such as dog social skills and loose leash walking are limited to 4 dogs. Limiting the class size allows for plenty of one-on-one time with the instructor.

We pride ourselves on our small class sizes & individual attention on each dog. Our average class size is 6 dogs. This means we get to know you, your pup, your goals and unique challenges.

Beth really takes pride in finding the best solution for every dog. Some dogs may need a “head start” with private instruction before being in a class with many distractions.

As a general rule, I find many dogs start out best in a basic obedience class. This is a 7 week class that focuses on the basics and introduces many skills at a base level to give you and your dog a nice working foundation.

If your dog has basic skills, but you’d like to increase the difficulty or reliability, our levels classes may be a nice choice for your dog. Here, we work on attentiveness to the owner, speed of commands, duration of positions, increased distractions, working at a distance, and off leash reliability.

Private sessions are best suited for owners who cannot commit to a class and need more flexibility with scheduling, or dogs who have human or dog aggression issues, or behavioral issues in and around the home.

The large majority of training the dog occurs when you are working with the dog in between classes or private lessons. Your results will vary depending on your commitment level to the program, the dog’s natural learning abilities (we can’t all be border collies!), and the severity of the problem behavior. All dogs (and their humans) are treated as individuals and our programs are easily worked into even the most packed schedule. Remember that practice makes perfect, and patience and hard work always prevail!

Because there are so many components of behavior, guarantees are never offered. (And you should be skeptical of any trainer that IS offering a guarantee!) Behavior in general is very complex and even small adjustments can lead to a backslide in behavior. While we can’t guarantee your dog will never bite the UPS man or steal pizza from the counter, we can promise to guide you on the right path with your dog so that you have a great life together.

(And yes, we can tell if you’ve been practicing or not!)

Hopefully! We have had a zero death count in classes over the last 10 years.

More seriously, distractions are a huge component of training and a great benefit to smaller classes. By keeping our classes small, your dog has minimal distractions compared to classes with 20-30 dogs. We put a huge emphasis on attention to the owner, and we do occasionally use greeting other dogs in class as a reward, if appropriate.

Yes, your dog may be barking and excited to see the other dogs. I really enjoy seeing their friendly spirit. We will tone them down and have them greet other dogs appropriately while allowing them to be the social animals that they are.

While many big box stores provide classes that are positive reinforcement based, they are typically not conducted by dog trainers who are nationally certified. These trainers are typically well versed in basic commands, but are not qualified to give behavioral advice.

Beth has made it her life’s work to commit to the BEST and most effective training techniques available and is a certified professional dog trainer. (For more info on that, go to ccpdt.org!) Beth spends thousands every year attending conferences to keep up to date on the best methods available, and is required to have 36 continuing education credits every 3 years. In the last 10 years, Beth has worked with at least 20,000 dog & handler teams and has seen tremendous results.

We accept cash, personal checks, credit cards and PayPal. Payment is due in full upon signing up for a class. You can reserve your spot in a class and pay in full here!

We do not offer refunds for classes once they begin. Your tuition holds the spot for you in class, and we cannot fill that spot once class has started. Under extenuating circumstances, we may offer you a place in another class at our discretion.

We do provide refunds to unused private sessions to clients whose dogs we recommend rehoming.

All phone calls are returned within 2 business days.