Almost Everything You Need to Know About Dog Training

Life Appropriate Choices are decisions the dog makes as a socially acceptable dog. Choosing to pull on the leash, jump on people, or bite them are not socially acceptable even though they are "normal dog behaviors" - dogs get surrendered to shelters for far less. My goal is to keep dogs out of shelters by teaching them what is socially acceptable and desirable to keep them in their current loving homes.

We teach them that behaviors such as being quiet in the house, greeting people politely, walking with us, coming back when called, crating calmly, ignoring distractions, and not chasing other animals are desirable. This helps them to build habits and experiences that allow them to make better choices in the future - in essence they are learning to make choices appropriate to continued life WITH humans.

I've worked with thousands of families who were extremely satisfied, but that doesn't mean I'm the right trainer for you. It takes the right blend of personality, knowledge, understanding, and compassion to make the right match for you. Training requires trust and an honest relationship - after all you are inviting me to help you train your dog and much like a family counselor we will need to dig into your relationship with your dog and his relationship with you. You owe it to your success to find the person who's personality is such that you will enjoy working with them.

I work with devoted families who are willing to put in the work (training is a lot of work), do their homework assignments and make training not just a 20 minute session here and there but make it part of their lifestyle.  The bulk of training happens in the countless little moments throughout the day and are taught at random intervals similar to teaching a child manners - the teaching moments happen in the midst of life, not in prescheduled time slots.  To have a trained dog is to have a different mindset and commit to a lifestyle change that includes consistent attention to detail.

I would suggest you check out the rest of my site and my Facebook page to get a feel for me and the training I offer so you can make the best decision for your dog and ultimately are as excited to work with me as I am to work with you.

Nope! Your dog is never too old or too young to train. Dogs are like people - they start learning the moment that they are born, and they don't stop until they die.

​Granted, the older and more ingrained the previous behaviors and habits are, the more we have to work to unlearn them, but just like people, dogs learn new skills throughout their lives even if it takes a little more time the older we all get.

Also, like young children, puppies have shorter attention spans and need a lot more rewards, but they have fewer bad habits to unlearn and pick up new concepts incredibly fast.

​So no matter their age, your dog can and will learn!

I teach polite manners such as loose leash walking, sit, down, no, off and come.  While also fixing behavior issues like pulling on the leash, barking, chewing, digging, begging, jumping up, leash reactivity, running away, play biting, mouthing, crate training and house training - all easily fixable through the right private lesson or residency obedience training programs.

We will be using food, praise, and toys to motivate them - after all, everybody needs an incentive, a reason to want to work, or as I like to say everybody needs to get paid, including your dog or there's no incentive to work. We want your dog to want to work.

I find that temporarily asking your dog to work for each meal gives the greatest enthusiasm for training. Dogs who get normal in the bowl meals are rarely hungry and motivated enough to work on something new that might be challenging for them. This does not mean withholding food - it means offering food as an incentive to learn new behaviors.

There are some dogs who are toy OBSESSED, and we can use toys to motivate them, but most dogs are not obsessed enough to start with toys alone, so I use a combination of food and toys.

All dogs will also be receiving praise and pets.  For many dogs, this becomes their most sought after reward and for many it's the only motivator that they crave.

Don't worry if your dog doesn't care for food or toys - I still know how to help your dog learn and enjoy their training.

Most dogs will be using prong collars (Herm Sprenger, Mueller, Micro-mini prong collars) and E-Collar Technologies e-collars (Micro Educator, Mini Educator, or Boss remote collars). I find that the quality, gentleness, effectiveness, and reliability of these collars make them stand out from the pack.

Occasionally I will recommend a different piece of equipment based upon your dog's specific needs such as a martingale or regular training collar.

So please bring: a flat collar with tags, a flat 4-6 foot non-extendable leash, your dog, a toy if that's his thing, his daily food, and possibly some yummy treats. (If you are currently feeding a raw diet, please dehydrate it or bring cooked meat to facilitate handling.