Dog Training in Hampton Roads, Virginia

Serving Hampton Roads, Richmond, Virginia Beach, and surrounding areas.

Dog Training Services

In-Home Dog Training Lessons

Our In-Home Dog Training program includes eight private lessons focused on educating the owner while developing a well-mannered, obedient dog. This relationship-based program prioritizes clear communication, consistency, and real-life application in your dog’s everyday environment.

Typically, the first four lessons take place in the home, addressing foundational obedience, leash skills, structure, boundaries, and unwanted behaviors such as jumping, pulling, or lack of focus. The final four lessons transition into public settings to proof behaviors around distractions, build confidence, and improve reliability.

Lessons are highly customizable and tailored to your dog’s age, temperament, and specific goals. Balanced training tools, including the e-collar when appropriate, are introduced in a fair and humane manner. This program is ideal for owners who want hands-on involvement and long-term results.

3-Week Board and Train

Our 3-Week Board and Train is an immersive training program focused on real-world obedience, accountability, and reliability. During the first week, training centers on relationship building, engagement, and foundational obedience using balanced methods in and around our home and property.

In week two, we introduce the e-collar as a fair, low-level communication tool and begin transitioning training into public environments to generalize behaviors. Week three advances toward off-leash reliability, impulse control, and proofing commands in higher-distraction settings.

This program emphasizes obedience, leash manners, recall, and neutrality around people and dogs. Training concludes with a 2–3 hour in-home owner education session covering proper tool use, maintenance, and progression. A lifetime training warranty is included for ongoing support and long-term success.

Hybrid Training Program

Our Hybrid Training Program combines private in-home lessons with a modified board and train, offering the best of owner education and immersive professional training.

The program begins with four in-home lessons focused on foundational obedience, structure, and communication. This phase ensures the owner understands leash handling, expectations, and training tools before transitioning into the board and train portion.

Your dog then enters a customized three-week board and train with an increased emphasis on public training, distraction exposure, and real-world reliability. Off-leash skills, recall, and neutrality around people and dogs are a major focus. This program is ideal for owners who want faster progress without sacrificing understanding, consistency, or long-term success.

Schedule Your Hampton Roads Training Consultation

I’d love to hear about your dog and your situation. Whether you’re dealing with a serious behavior issue or just want a better relationship with your dog, we’ll work together to find a clear path forward.

What I Specialize In

Behavior modification is my specialty. I’ve worked through a wide range of real-world challenges, including:
Resource guarding
Anxiety and fear
Leash pulling
Counter surfing
Digging and nuisance barking
Over-indulgent or “spoiled” behaviors
Aggression (including serious family safety cases)
No two dogs are the same, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Craig Penny

My name is Craig Penny, and I’m the owner and head trainer of Misfits Dog Training here in Virginia.

My background in dog training began in the military, where I spent eight years working with highly trained dogs in explosive detection, drug detection, and suspect apprehension. These dogs had real jobs with real consequences, which shaped my approach to training today—clear communication, consistency, and fairness.

After leaving the military, I continued working with dogs both personally and professionally, gaining hands-on experience with family pets, rescue dogs, and complex behavior cases. I also work closely with rescues to help dogs become more adoptable and successful in their future homes.

I currently share my life with two dogs of my own—Tennessee, a three-legged German Shepherd, and Vesta, a Black Lab. They remind me daily that every dog is an individual and that training must be tailored, not forced.

During my time stationed in Germany, I was inspired by how dog-friendly everyday life was. Dogs weren’t just pets—they were welcomed as part of the family in public spaces. That experience continues to drive my mission today: helping owners build dogs they feel confident living life with, not dogs that are limited by behavior issues.

My Training Philosophy

I am a balanced dog trainer with a strong focus on building healthy, understandable relationships from the dog’s point of view.
My philosophy is simple:
Good decisions earn praise, affection, and freedom
Poor decisions come with clear, fair consequences
Dogs thrive when expectations are consistent and communication is honest

Training the Dog and the Owner

I don’t just train dogs—I teach owners.

I can build obedience and structure into any dog, but it doesn’t mean much if the owner doesn’t understand why things work or how to maintain them. Most behavior problems aren’t caused by bad dogs—they’re caused by gaps in information.

You don’t know what you don’t know—and that’s where I come in.