About

With over 20 years in the industry, I’ve seen a lot of training fads come and go. The methods I’m using today are the best I’ve ever seen.

You may have been advised to find or stay away from a trainer who uses certain buzzwords (positive reinforcement, balanced, force free, etc.) or tools. Buzzwords don’t seem to have standard definitions, even among professionals, though, and almost any tool can be used gently or abusively. Because of that, a deeper dive into how we train and why may be helpful in determining whether we are the right fit for you and your dog.

In traditional dog training, behavior problems are typically addressed through obedience. Let’s take greeting guests as an example. A common way to address going ballistic when the doorbell rings and then jumping up and licking faces when the visitor walks in, is to teach the dog an alternate behavior such as “place,” where they go to and stay on a dog bed until released. Trainers on the positive end of the spectrum will reward the dog for going to place, and trainers who rely on compulsion will correct the dog for not doing as told. Many trainers are somewhere in the middle, rewarding the good effort and correcting the mistakes.

Regardless of the methods, once your dog has a really solid place command, you don’t have to worry about them jumping all over your company.

Unless you aren’t able to give them the command.

Or you don’t have tasty enough treats.

Or you don’t have the right leash or collar on the dog.

Or your young child is trying to give the command.

Or your attention is split, and you aren’t able to focus on dog training.

Learning the place command didn’t change your dog’s desire to enthusiastically greet your guests, so if the obedience fails for one reason or another, guess what he’s likely to do? Yep, you guessed it: go ballistic and jump all over.

In this example, it’s probably not the end of the world if things go wrong. You might suffer a little embarrassment, or your friends might end up with muddy paw prints on their Sunday best. But what if your dog’s issue is more serious? What if you’re dealing with aggression toward people or reactivity toward other dogs or a phobia that may cause him to bolt into traffic? When management and obedience fail, the results could be disastrous.

Obedience has its place, and I LOVE training it! But for most dogs, I’ve come to realize that it’s not what most dogs need. They need to change how they think and feel about the world, because most of the problems people ask me to help them fix – reactivity, separation anxiety, jumping, pulling, barking – are symptoms of overexcitement or fear.

Back to our original example, if we teach the dog to relax and manage his emotions, he will be far more likely to naturally greet people appropriately, rather than losing his mind – no command necessary! Obedience at that point is icing on the cake!

Our methods are heavily influenced by Kayce Cover of Syn Alia Training Systems (SATS), Mark and Stephanie McCabe of Training Between the Ears (TBTE), and Heather Beck of K9 Lifeline.

We use the TBTE Relaxation Triad – three specific relaxation techniques that work synergistically to teach the dog to manage their emotions in a variety of situations and recover from overwhelming events. We use a verbal Bridge & Target system to give instant feedback to the dog. We use Name & Explain to expand their vocabulary, giving us a way to tell them about people, places, things, and events in the past, present, and future.

While these methods are great for adult dogs overcoming issues, they are absolutely fantastic for puppies! When you teach these critical life skills at a young age, you are setting your pup up for success for the rest of their life. They will be better equipped to handle stressful situations, like vet and grooming appointments, thunderstorms, fireworks, and puppy fear periods, and you will understand how to help them through life’s biggest challenges. When they have a positive outlook on life, they’ll be ready and eager to learn anything you want to teach them!