We give Pupford Academy a rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars.
About Pupford Academy
Pupford Academy offers a training academy that covers all major aspects of training, from how to train for behaviors, teach tricks, read body language, enrich your dog’s life and more. Several super videos and PDF files are available for free, then significantly more are available via subscription to the Academy+ program.
Which Types of Pets Is Pupford Academy Best Suited For?
Pupford Academy is designed for every dog. They have a lot of resources for puppies or newly introduced dogs, but the variety of content means there’s something useful for all sizes, shapes, and lifestages.
Pupford Academy Overview
Specs
- Accessible on any smartphone or computer
- App available on any smartphone
- 25 courses available, 7 free courses
- Treat recommendations also provided
- Content consists of interchangeable video and written resources
Plans & Pricing
Pupford Academy is completely free! There are seven free training courses in the Academy, each with several modules.
To access even more content, Academy+ is available via three pricing options.
A monthly subscription fee is $9.99, the semi-annual 6-month subscription is $59.94 one-time (or $40.16 with subscribe and save), and lifetime access was $199.99 but is currently available for just $99.99!
Pupford Academy is accessible via their app or website. Free courses are clearly identified, as are those under the Academy+ program. The free training courses include 30-Day Perfect Pup, New Dog Starter Course, Train By Behavior, Train Your Dog With Me, Dog Training POV Series, Basic Puppy Nutrition, and Impulse Control: A Taste Course with Kevin and Ellie.
Each training course has several modules and each module is generally under 10 minutes long. A written overview of the video and a downloadable PDF explaining everything you need to know in writing are also available with each module.
Pupford Academy also includes access to training articles and training sounds, all for free.
Academy+ functions the same way but gives you access to significantly more content.
Quality
All Pupford Academy videos are high-quality in terms of clarity and sound. They do a great job of showing you exactly what you need, sometimes even presenting different ways to reach success depending on your dog and their personality and interests. I found their training advice to be spot-on and up-to-date as well.
Variety
There is so much content available to you, even without signing up for Academy+. Each course topic breaks down into several modules and they give you written resources for everything. The free courses teach the basics of how training works, for you, so you can be the trainer your pup needs you to be, and then some of the most important basics for puppies.
If you want to get into troubleshooting behaviors at home other than impulse control, expanding your dog’s trick repertoire, or even start in on service dog training, you’ll need to opt for Academy+.
Once you include Academy+ in the mix, there are hours upon hours of content that covers every aspect of training a pet dog at home that you could ever need.
Usefulness
Pupford goes above and beyond to make sure their training resources will actually be useful. They focus on the most important things you’ll need, make the absolute most important information free, present everything clearly so as not to overwhelm you, and can also provide the training treats and tools you also need. They even have a free clicker sound you can use.
By helping you with all aspects of training instead of just one, they’ve set you and your pup up for success. Once you start on a course, you’ll get check-in emails from the Academy, to help you stay on top of your goals.
In Summary
- High-quality training videos
- Safe, accurate training instruction
- Highly qualified trainers in each course
- Written versions of everything also available
- Treat recommendations also provided
- Modules aren’t very long
- Can mark modules complete as you go
- Paid tier for most of the content
- No 1:1 support
Is Pupford Academy a Good Value?
The free courses in Pupford Academy are an amazing resource to know about. Pupford Academy+ is an affordable and comprehensive training course. The lifetime access to Academy+ for $99.99 is a fantastic value and allows you to keep coming back to the courses every time you add a new dog to your household or a new problem arises.
The only thing I noticed is that if you are having any trouble succeeding with training, this subscription fee doesn’t gain you access to contact with any sort of coach.
What Pupford instead focuses on providing you that others don’t is their suite of specially crafted training treats and tools so you’ll have everything you need, all from one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I watch Pupford Academy videos?
Video links are available on Pupford’s website or in their app, and you’ll watch them right there and can mark when you’re finished so you know if you’ve already watched a video in the future.
How do I pay for Pupford Academy+?
Pupford Academy+ accepts debit and credit cards, Paypal, or Afterpay.
Our Experience With Pupford Academy
I really enjoyed the simple layout of Pupford Academy. I worked mostly within their app, which keeps a tab right at the middle bottom of the screen for the Academy. I signed up for the 30-Day Perfect Pup course and received daily emails with the next step in the course.
If you feel like jumping around or moving ahead, all the days are still available in the course from the start. This course goes over every possible basic training tool you need for any dog, new or established in your home, which was great since I’ve had all of my dogs for at least 5 years.
I jumped around a bit to focus on my dogs’ weakest behaviors, and not to toot our own horn or anything, but everyone improved significantly by following the training instructions from Pupford Academy. In particular, everyone’s Stay With Duration, Distraction, and Distance are now all on-point, which were three separate days of content in the course.
Pupford’s training treats really helped with this because my dogs would sell their siblings for even a single one of these treats. They’re obsessed!
We spent a good amount of time on leash-walking from the Perfect Pup course. My girls are all pretty good but not perfect, and they will lose their skills fast if not constantly reinforced.
I really liked that these videos didn’t just focus on what to do during the actual leash training, but also on how to set yourself up for success by explaining why dogs pull on leashes and how to help work off extra energy before trying to work on this behavior, which is just fair to the dogs. It really showed a perspective of looking to meet both a dog and dog owner’s needs that I thoroughly appreciated.
In Conclusion
Pupford Academy is a fantastic resource to pair with their training treats and tools or to use independently. Academy+ is well worth the cost to have access to so much additional information, though it’s worth running through the free resources first since you may find everything you need there for the average pup.
Be sure to keep track of which modules you’ve completed as you go so it’s one less thing to keep track of between breaks. Pairing both the Pupford Training Treats with Pupford Academy did wonders for my dogs and even my cat, who never likes to be left out.
