My Style of Training

A dog and their owner is a partnership. In any partnership there needs to be communication, compromise, cooperation and understanding. However we as humans often set unrealistic expectations for our partnership with our dogs. This is where most issues appear from. My job is to come in and help provide you with the skills to be able to clearly communicate, cooperate and understand your dog.

The way I do this is by helping you to see/understand all these specific issues and provide you with the skills and knowledge to get ahead of them so they don’t happen again. Instead of waiting for the problems to occur I will show you how to recognize the patterns of your dogs behavior and be able to intercept them before they happen. This method works because the less a dog is practicing an unwanted behavior, the more we can begin to show them an alternative.

I prefer to work with people and their dogs through private lessons. This is so I can see the lifestyle they have and be able to see the small details in their day to day life that can build into big behaviors or issues. For example, if your dog is struggling with jumping on guests when they come in I will work with you at your home together as you have guests come in. We’ll go over what to have your guests do, what you should do and what your dog should be doing. This way you will learn exactly how to work on jumping inside your home and with your specific dog. 

Often times when working with a dog and their owner I will notice other behaviors or situations that are contributing to their overall behavior. Even though it may not seem obvious that it is affecting the current issues you may be having there are normally lots of parts to a behavior or reaction a dog is having. I call this “peeling back the layers.” For example if a dog is pulling you on walks there are usually many other reasons why the dog is pulling. This could be that your dog is leaving the house in an excited manner and continuing that excitement throughout the walk. So instead of just focusing on the “pulling” we will work on methods to create calmness inside the house prior to your walk and maintain that calmness as we leave the front door, driveway and into the car/in your neighborhood.

You and your dog need to work together. I can provide you with the skills and knowledge but it is up to you what you do with them once I go home. If you want your dog to get better then you will need to get better as well. Dog’s do not understand if we’re tired, lazy, have no time, have a job, etc. If their needs are not being met and if you decide to not implement what we worked on together then they will not get better. No matter how much money you put towards it, or how many trainers you hire, you need be giving 100% in order to receive 100% from your dog.