Brain Training for Dogs by Adrienne Farricelli: Full Review

If you’re looking to eliminate negative behaviors in your furry friends and strengthen your bond with them through mental stimulation, Brain Training for Dogs is an online course worth considering. 

Created by Adrienne Farricelli, a certified dog trainer with CPDT-KA credentials, this course is designed to offer mental stimulation to your furry friend. It’s based on the principle that dogs who lack mental stimulation may become bored and engage in destructive behaviors. 

The course offers several benefits, including promoting physical well-being, keeping your furry friend’s mind sharp, and preventing cognitive decline in senior dogs.

Content and Topics

This program includes two e-books that will help you train and improve your furry friend’s behavior. The first e-book, Brain Training for Dogs, features 21 games and puzzles divided into seven modules based on difficulty level. From Preschool to Einstein, your dog will be able to develop their mental capacity and improve their skills. 

Each game offers modifications to increase the challenge, and at the end of each one, your dog will receive a grade from A to F based on how fast they solved the puzzle. You can always practice more to help them improve their skills and master the games. 

The program gives you the option to follow the curriculum while your dog’s abilities progress or you could just select their favorite games. 

This e-book also includes a section called “Obedience 101” which covers basic obedience cues –such as “sit,” “down,” and “stay,” etc. These commands will be used while performing the games, so this chapter is helpful whether you are training a dog that’s new to these cues or needs a refresher. 

Finally, the chapter called “Polishing up Training” will teach you how to fade food lures, simplify hand signals, add verbal cues, and fade treats from every success to every now and then. 

The second e-book, Behavior Training for Dogs, addresses common behavior problems like whining, digging, barking, chewing, and jumping. You’ll learn how to reduce these behaviors and improve your furry friend’s overall behavior.

Instructor Expertise

Adrienne Farricelli, a certified dog trainer and behavior consultant, designed this program. She holds dual certification from the Italian Association for Dog Trainers and Canine Consultants and the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA®) in the United States. 

Throughout her career, she has successfully trained many dogs with behavioral problems and has even trained service dogs for military veterans. Her insightful work has been featured in renowned publications such as USA Today and Every Dog magazine. She follows force-free and positive reinforcement training techniques.

User Experience

The course contains PDFs with comprehensive instructions, pictures, and a glossary with simple explanations of dog training jargon. I found the information very easy to follow, but I recommend having the PDFs open on your computer or iPad when you are testing the games with your pet. You could technically open the PDFs on your phone too, but I prefer having a bigger screen. 

There are 21 short videos, one per game, where Adrienne and her dog Einstein demonstrate the exercise. I tested the audio using both my computer speakers and headphones, and although the quality could have been better, it was still audible. 

Most of the games require food as a reward and household items such as muffin tins, rugs, and plastic bottles, which are easy to find and probably already in your home. They suggest other items, but they are optional and can be easily replaced. For example, a verbal marker can replace a clicker, and they will teach you many other modifications.

Community and Support

Each game and exercise has a helpful troubleshooting section that provides tips to tackle common issues. Additionally, the company offers customer support through email.

They also have a private forum, where dog owners can discuss behavior, training, and all things related to dogs with other enthusiasts. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an opportunity to test the forum for the purposes of this review.

Learning Outcomes

I tried playing some games with three of my senior boarding dogs, who are 8, 14, and 15 years old. Since their training levels varied and they had physical conditions such as hearing impairment and joint problems, I had to consider their abilities when selecting games to play. But honestly, I had no trouble because there are plenty of options suitable for older dogs. 

For the dog with limited training, we played “Targeting” and “Look into My Eyes” from the Preschool module. The objective of “Targeting” is to teach the dog to touch a designated target with their nose, while “Look into My Eyes” helps the dog learn to focus on their owner’s cues. First, we created an association between the verbal mark “yes” and rewards, and practiced the luring technique. Once those were established, the games were easy to play.

For the other two dogs, we played “Treasure Hunt” and “The Magic Carpet” from the Elementary and College modules. Since both dogs had some training experience, we only practiced some basic obedience commands as a refresher before playing the games. In “Treasure Hunt”, we hid treats in the corners of a small room to encourage the dogs to use their sense of smell to find them. In “The Magic Carpet”, we used a yoga mat instead of a carpet runner and taught the dogs to use their noses to unroll it and find hidden treats. The Magic Carpet is probably my favorite!

For treats, we used kibble, cheese, and dried liver according to the dog’s preference and dietary restrictions. 

After four training sessions with the dogs, my takeaways are:

• The games are a fun way to help them develop their skills and improve their obedience.
• We strengthen our bond. 
• They are good for releasing anxiety and improving their mood.
• Be patient and supportive because they probably won’t get it right at first.
• The success is not measured by how fast they perform the games but by how much they use their senses and minds to solve each of the puzzles.

Pricing and Value

This course comes at a reasonable cost of $67, which is a one-time payment for lifetime access to all the course materials. The price is fair, considering that it is a compilation of years of knowledge. Additionally, they provide a generous policy of a 60-day money-back guarantee. 

Conclusion

The Brain Training for Dog course stands out for its emphasis on mental stimulation to achieve positive outcomes. Unlike other courses that only address behavioral issues without addressing the underlying causes, this course provides long-term solutions. While the audio quality could be improved, the value of the course lies in its insightful content and proven techniques that are accessible to you.

Where you can get it

Full Review Gallery

Disclosure: Independent review by Katherine Ortega from Furryaging.com. We participate in affiliate programs, and we may earn income when you use our links. We hope you think that is fair, based on the amount of work that goes into our reviews. 

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