Pooch Pawsitive

East Providence, United States

4.1

Open now

7 reviews

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 401-714-5652
Website:
www.poochpawsitive.com
Address:
Serving East Providence and surrounding area
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1 miSouth Main Street and Main Street
2 miOcean State Job Lot
2.6 miExit 7 Park and Ride
Categories:
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Today

Today 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Open now
Local time (East Providence) 12:43 Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Tuesday 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Wednesday 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Thursday 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Friday –
Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Have a new puppy? Not sure where to get started? We offer puppies and their families professional training and advice through group classes, workshops, private lessons and puppy preschool and daycare.

We provide a safe, controlled environment to help puppies learn good behavior right from the start and prevent bad behavior from developing so that pups will remain welcome in their forever homes. We are here to help you navigate through early puppyhood and help you understand your dog’s needs too.

History

Established in 2002.

Too many dogs are surrendered because of lack of training and socialization when the pups were young. One solution to shelter overpopulation is to socialize and train pups when they are young!

Pooch Pawsitive was created to help pups and their families get off to the right start using positive, force free methods based on current behaviorial science and research.

Meet the Business Owner

Heidi P.

Business Owner

Heidi decided to become a dog trainer when she started taking classes in 2001 with her then poodle puppy, Colby, and learned that you could get your dog’s happy cooperation without using prong collars and choke chains! Positive, reward based training created a healthy relationship between her and Colby that lasted a lifetime!

A graduate of the Jean Donaldson Academy for Dog Trainers, the owner, Heidi Palmer McNeil, also worked for Dr. Ian Dunbar, creator of the original Puppy Kindergarten classes. Heidi is formally educated in dog behavior and training, nationally certified, insured and bonded.

Pooch Pawsitive also recommends

Rumford Pet Center

19

reviews

Pet Stores

Heidi P. says,

«Rumford Pet Center has a great selection of higher quality organic and grain free pet food. The staff is very knowledgeable!»

Canine Cardio Company of Rhode Island

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reviews

Dog Walkers

Heidi P. says,

«I have personally met Clayton and was impressed that he had attended DogTec Dog Walking Academy.»

Walking Whiskers

1

review

Dog Walkers

,

Pet Boarding/​Pet Sitting

Heidi P. says,

«I’ve met Monica and several clients have used her with great feedback!»

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7 reviews of Pooch Pawsitive

No registration required
Place rating: 2
South Burlington, VT
I hired Heidi for private training for a newly adopted dog at a friends recommendation. She was quite knowledgable but unfortunately, did not quote me the correct amount and made no attempt to keep my business by compromising between the quote and end rate which was $ 30 more so would caution anyone using her to get the quote in writing prior to hiring her. Though I will not give her any future business I did pick up enough guidance to move forward.
Place rating: 5
Cranston, RI
Update: We have now completed three training courses with Heidi, and literally everywhere we go with Cooper people comment on how well behaved he is and how well he obeys our commands. With Heidi’s help Cooper has achieved his AKC Canine «Good Citizen» certificate, and will be testing for hospital visits/​therapy dog work soon.
I highly highly recommend!
Place rating: 5
Riverside, RI
Thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday Puppy Social Group. She allows the puppies to play while explaining their behavior. I look forward to more training with her.
Place rating: 5
Smithfield, RI
I found Heidi when looking for a puppy kindergarten class for my Jack Russell terrier puppy. I was recommended to her by a local agility instructor and decided to make the commute to East Providence when I saw how flexible her scheduling was. As a mom of two small kids and having a crazy schedule, I was unable to commit to one day a week for every week so having the flexibility to go to different days and times was huge.
Once I met Heidi, I was impressed with her knowledge of animal behavior and different breeds. Her business is very well-​run and organized. She was great and very encouraging, especially for someone who couldn’t make a new puppy my «life» (as I did with my older dog 9 years ago). She’s realistic and supportive. I hope to get back there for another class with my pup!
Place rating: 5
Swansea, MA
My puppy, Hunter, (German Shepherd) has attended both the puppy play groups and is currently in the puppy pre-​school/​day care. He LOVES it! He has his friends there he plays with and Heidi and Steve work with them on some training as well as introducing them to things like fireworks noise so they will no be afraid. When we arrive at Rumford Pet Center in the mornings, he paws at the door and when she takes the leash, he does not even look back at me leaving! He comes home a very tired puppy! Heidi is great with giving you a report card for the day to let you know what they worked on that day and who he played with. She also takes the time to let you know what you need to work on your puppy with more. I have had nothing but an EXCELLENT experience. The sad part is Hunter is 17 weeks old now, so his days at pre-​school are limited. He will miss going, he so looks forward to it! I cannot recommend Heidi and Pooch Pawsitive enough.
Place rating: 5
Cranston, RI
Heidi is the teacher up there. I actually went to the ASPCA down the street and asked if they had a list of highly recommended instructors. Hands down a whole group of their staff referred me to pooch pawsitive. My 3 lbs shih tzu has been going to class there since she was 9 weeks old. Heidi did a slow integration with the whole group for many weeks until my dog felt confident enough to play effectively with other puppies. She is extremely intuitive when it comes to dogs and she has tons of experience. We also look forward to going to her preschool. She does a lot better than even kids daycare in taking care of the puppies. She does activities, and is always supervising/​observing them.
Place rating: 2
Rochester, NY
The owner runs puppy playgroups Friday, Saturday, and Mondays. I think that proper socialization of young puppies is key to a well-​trained dog, so it’s wonderful that she does that. However, because she is a small business owner the number of dogs at any one playgroup can be small (i.e. even just your dog), and that means that the puppies who are there can have mismatched sizes and play styles. If you want to take your puppy to a playgroup, you might try Canine Mastery — they have well attended playgroup sessions split into different sizes and activity levels.
I like the positive training Heidi espouses, but the way the playgroup was run didn’t jive too well with me. When puppies get too uppity or scared she has owners pick them up and cradle them in their laps, which isn’t something that other trainers I’ve worked with have recommended. Also, during the playgroup when I asked other behavior/​training questions Heidi was rather rude and uncommunicative — I know that I wasn’t technically paying for a training session, but we were all just standing around.
Also, she works with and advertises for Rumford Pet Center, known seller of puppy mill puppies. Boo!