Our Story…
IT ALL STARTED WITH ONE DOG
She changed everything I thought I knew.
Yours has a story too, and we’d love to hear it.
More than well-behaved…
You and your dog, understood
You didn’t come here for a dog that simply obeys. You came for the dog you pictured when you first brought them home: relaxed on a walk, easy around guests, settled at your feet at the end of the day. Somewhere between that picture and real life, things got complicated, and you started looking for someone who could help.
That’s the work we do. At Well Mannered Dog, we help Charleston families build calm, connected relationships with their dogs, the kind where your dog feels safe enough to make good choices on their own. We don’t train dogs to perform for you. We help them feel different, so they can be different, with you, at home, out in the world, for the rest of their life together.
You know your dog better than anyone. Our job is to give you the understanding and the plan to help them become who you both knew they could be.
Allison Allen
Founder & Head Trainer
Behavioral Science, Charleston Southern University · Training professionally since 2000 · AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
Hi, I’m Allison, founder and head trainer at Well Mannered Dog, co-owner of Chucktown Charley, and the person least likely to be in front of the camera. (That’s Chatwin in the photo. We’ll get to him.)
I came to dogs the hard way. I grew up afraid of them. Not nervous, afraid, the kind of fear that put me on the back of the couch, shrieking over a Jack Russell. So when I adopted my first dog, Hadley, while finishing my behavioral science degree at Charleston Southern, I was really adopting a challenge. Hadley became my heart dog, but she was wary of strangers and let them know it, barking loudly, lunging sharply, the works. I threw everything I had at helping her, and when I finally hired a trainer, two things happened: Hadley transformed, and I found the work I didn’t know I’d been looking for. I took a job with that trainer in 2000. Within a few months, I bought the company.
The twenty-five years since have been spent working with thousands of dogs and having one steady realization: obedience isn’t the same as peace of mind. A dog can have a beautiful sit and still be miserable inside.
Somewhere in those years came Emme, a brilliant, goofy husky and shameless escape artist whose Houdini act never needed fixing, just appreciating. She didn’t need much training, but she taught me something I carry into every lesson now: to lighten up, to lean into play, that fun is how a dog learns best. She was pointing me toward the way I train, before I knew it myself.
Then came Chatwin, pulled off a Charleston highway one frigid January night by a trainer who knew I’d take him. He was shaking and too frightened to move. He could learn anything: agility, tricks, obedience, all of it came easily, but none of it touched his fear and anxiety. He couldn’t settle. So I went all in on relaxation work, building on Mark McCabe’s Training Between the Ears, and paired it with learning games that taught him that I’m where the good things start. When we walked out our door after the COVID lockdown and passed a yard crew, the exact thing that once undid him, he didn’t even flinch. He’s the proof of how we train here: not a dog who learned to act calm, but a dog who finally felt safe.
Hadley started all of this, Emme taught me the power of play, and Chatwin showed me what the work is really for.
Outside of work, I’m probably making the best shrimp and grits on the planet for a husband who never complains about taste-testing, or ruining a movie for everyone by pausing to figure out a character’s Myers-Briggs type.
How We Train…
We change how your dog feels, not just what they do.
A dog can learn to sit, stay, and heel and still be anxious, reactive, or unable to settle. Obedience teaches a dog what to do. It doesn’t teach a dog how to feel safe. And a dog who doesn’t feel safe is always one trigger away from the behavior you were trying to fix.
So we start underneath the behavior. Using relaxation work, built on Mark McCabe’s Training Between the Ears, we help your dog learn to regulate their own nervous system, to be calm not because they were told to be, but because calm finally feels possible. Then we build connection through games, where your dog learns that you are the source of the good things, the start of the fun, the one worth checking in with. Skills come after that, and they come easily, because a settled, connected dog is a dog who can actually learn.
This is why our programs look the way they do. We’re not drilling choices into a stressed dog and hoping they hold. We’re giving your dog a different inner experience first, then teaching the skills on top of it. The result is a dog whose good behavior isn’t performance. It’s who they’ve become.
Where It Happens…
A calm place, by design
Dogs read a room before they read a person. A space that’s loud and chaotic keeps every dog a little on guard, the anxious ones especially, but even the easygoing ones. A calm space does the reverse. It lets a dog settle, breathe, and be their best self. So we built our Johns Island home to do exactly that.
Step inside, and the first thing you notice is how quiet it is. The space is laid out to keep dogs from being overstimulated, with separate areas and sightlines that prevent the wall-to-wall barking that keeps dogs wound up. Soft lighting, calming music, canine-friendly essential oils, and comfortable surfaces all work together to tell your dog’s nervous system the same thing, over and over: you’re safe here, you can relax.
It’s the same message your dog learns in training, now built into the walls. The tools that helped them find calm in their lessons are the tools we keep using every day they’re with us. That’s the advantage of training and care living under one roof. Your dog isn’t bouncing between a place that teaches calm and a place that undoes it. They’re in one consistent world, with one team, speaking one language.
Well Mannered Dog and Chucktown Charley share a home on Johns Island. Well Mannered Dog is the training; Chucktown Charley is the playcare, lodging, and spa side of the same roof. What that means for you is simple: the people who train your dog and the people who care for your dog when they board or play are one team, working from the same calm, connected approach. Here are the faces you’ll come to know.
Janie Wilkerson
Co-Owner & Trainer
Hi, I’m Janie, co-owner here, professional animal collector, and usually the first person you’ll meet when you walk through our doors.
I grew up in a family that always had dogs: German Shepherds, Boxers, Cocker Spaniels, and an assortment of mixed breeds of every shape and size. I spent my childhood pet sitting for family and friends, and at 17 I landed my first official job in pet care. I guess I was hooked, because 25 years later I still find joy in the dogs we care for and in the people who love them. Few things are more rewarding than watching a dog gain confidence, helping an owner work through something hard, or celebrating a milestone alongside the family who trusted us with their pet. When Allison and I came together to build this place, we wanted the same thing: a calm, high-quality environment where dogs feel safe, understood, and cared for.
Outside of work, my favorite title is Mom. My three boys, Sawyer, Sam, and Dean, keep life loud, busy, and endlessly entertaining. At home you’ll also find Charley, my chocolate lab and Chucktown Charley’s namesake; Lou, a dog I tried very hard to say no to and now love to pieces; Hopper, who seems determined to make every day an adventure; Roux, a former feral kitten who now runs the household; and Chip, a bottle-fed kitten who found his forever home with us. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a soft spot for the animals that need a little extra help, a little extra patience, or simply a place to belong.
Somewhere along the way, caring for animals stopped being a job and became part of who I am. I feel lucky that this is what I get to do every day.
OUR TRAINING TEAM
Along with Allison and Janie, the rest of our training team is hands-on with you and your dog through every program. Everyone here works with every dog, so your dog is known by the whole team, not just one person, and you’ll get to know all of us along the way. Whoever you’re with on a given day, it’s the same calm, patient approach and the same people invested in how far your dog can go.
Sydney Redmond
Trainer
I’m Sydney. You’ll usually find me running our group socials or working with our training dogs. I came here because I wanted a deeper relationship with my own dog, one built on trust and confidence. This work has taught me how to be the best dog mom I can be and how to help our clients give their dogs the same. My biggest goal is for your dog to come home with the foundation skills to make friends, find their own calm, and build a stronger bond with you.
OUR CARE TEAM
Every dog at our Johns Island facility has come through training first, so playcare and boarding aren’t a break from what your dog has learned. They’re where it lives. Our care team runs the play groups, looks after our overnight guests, and keeps the whole place calm, clean, and safe, surrounded by dogs who already know the rhythm. They’re the reason the work you put in at training keeps paying off long after the lessons end.
Kaitlyn “Kat” Delp
Lead Canine Care Specialist
Hi, I’m Kat, and you’ve probably met me when you drop off your pup in the mornings. I grew up in Summerville and moved to the Johns Island area in 2010. I was always the one in my family campaigning for “just one more,” so when I found a job down the road at age 16, it was perfect.
My family later moved to Michigan, where I worked as a veterinary assistant. I came back to Charleston on my own, worked at a couple of animal hospitals, and then came home to this team. It’s a joy to spend my days with such sweet dogs, lovely owners, and people I love working alongside. Outside of work, you’ll find me making a new craft, fiddling with my planted tank, or rewatching Gilmore Girls for the millionth time, always with my rescue mutt, Iroh, nearby.
Lesly Salgado
Lead Canine Care Specialist
Hi, I’m Lesly. I help keep things clean and comfortable for my teammates and your pups. I came here to gain more experience working with dogs, something I’ve always loved, and I hope to be a vet one day. I value everything I learn about the dogs in our care, who they are and what they like, whether they’re silly or stoic. A fun fact: I can copy almost anything, a sound, a drawing, especially cartoon characters.
Caroline Ginn
Lead Canine Care Specialist
I’m Caroline. You’ll usually find me running play groups and playing fetch with your dogs. I came here because I love animals and wanted to spend my days around them, and the best surprise has been the people, both my coworkers and our clients. I get to see the same dogs and their owners multiple times a week, and building those bonds is my favorite part. This job has stretched me in the best ways, and I’ve grown so much in my two years here.
Your dog’s best self is closer than you think.
Whether your dog needs help working through something hard or you simply want to build the calm, connected relationship you’ve always pictured, we’d love to meet you both.
Tell us a little about your dog and what you’re hoping for, and we’ll help you find the right place to start.