10/31/2026
Welcome to MJ's Pet Training Academy®! 🐾
Please take a moment to read our introduction and page policy.
You can find our dog training academy and grooming salon in Acushnet, Massachusetts. We also offer online behavior coaching, virtual training, workshops, and other opportunities to learn about dogs from wherever you are.
I'm the owner of MJ's. I opened the business in 2013, and today I work alongside a small team helping dogs and their people through training, behavior coaching, and grooming.
If you're new here, welcome! We share videos of our students, training tips, updates from the academy, and more.
We love dog training! From everyday manners to precise obedience and some pretty cool tricks, there's a lot we can teach dogs to do. We're just as interested in how dogs learn, what they're communicating to us, and what we can do to help them succeed.
Your dog is your teammate, not a machine. Training should be something you do together, not something you make your dog do.
At MJ's, we use food rewards, play, praise, and other types of rewards. We also believe dogs should learn to respond when treats aren't available. It's important for their safety when you need a response outside of a training session.
That doesn't mean we simply stop using food at a specific point. Reliable responses, with or without a pocket of treats, require clear cues, a strong training relationship, practice, proofing, and planning.
We focus on clear communication, cooperation, and helping people better understand their dogs. We also believe that training is about more than obedience. Exercise, enrichment, and opportunities to just be a dog are important, too.
A few things about our page and comments:
1. Questions and conversations are welcome! We enjoy talking about dogs, and you don't need to be a client to join the conversation. We do ask that everyone be respectful. Please understand that we can't provide individualized behavior advice in the comments.
2. We don't debate our training philosophy in the comments. We're happy to explain our methods and why we use them, but we don't engage in arguments about reward-based, evidence-informed training versus methods we choose not to use. If you'd like clarification or want to invite us for a conversation, podcast, or other opportunity, please reach out directly.
3. We don't allow comments promoting pain-based tools or training methods. This includes recommendations for physical corrections, intimidation, or techniques that rely on pain or fear to change behavior.
4. Please be respectful of our students and their dogs. Some videos show finished skills, while others show dogs and people working through the learning process. A short video doesn't tell the whole story, and we want our students to feel comfortable sharing their progress.
5. Comments that go against these guidelines may be removed. We're here to support our students and provide a positive community where people can learn together.
A note about moderation: This page is monitored by the owner and staff of MJ's Pet Training Academy. We do our best to keep up with comments, but we can't always respond to or remove inappropriate comments immediately. We reserve the right to hide or delete comments and block accounts that don't follow these guidelines.
Whether you're here to learn something new, follow our students, or just enjoy watching dogs do some pretty cool things, we're happy you're here!
MJ's Pet Training Academy® LLC
Melissa Viera (MJ)
MJ's Pet Training Academy® and Trickovation® are both registered trademarks owned by MJ's Pet Training Academy, LLC
