Trust - Owner

Someone told me one time…..
“I heard if you can’t ever get the dog trainer on the phone before you meet, or they don’t offer at least a little free advice, don’t trust them.”
I belly laughed. Mostly because there’s some truth to that. I believe in vibe. I don’t want your first vibe from me to be when I show up the 1st time. I chat through text frequently, but all my pet parents know they can call me. Some don’t feel the need to get too acquainted beforehand, but some do and I welcome that. I’m pretty much coming into your personal life to help you organize. It’s important to me that you feel comfortable with me and our path before we go further.
Trust - Pet

I arrive not expecting/needing/demanding/flooding/forcing anything from the dog. Most dogs are ready to interact, but any dog has to get to know you first. With an extremely shy or timid dog, I’ve spent the whole hour just befriending sometimes. You need the trust of the owner to work with the dog, but if you don’t have the trust of the dog….then you can only instruct the owner to demo with their dog from a distance, hoping all goes ok. Knowing this, I go in with my most calm-confident heart rate and breathing pattern so I can assure the dog I’m there only for fun.
Trust - Connect

My ultimate goal is to connect your dog and you in a love language. This will include verbal and non-verbal communication. You will learn to respond timely to your dog’s cues and be able to cue your dog timely to cooperate with you. Remember it all boils down to value! The dog knows what’s valuable to you because you’ve rewarded the dog with what’s valuable to the dog. Know that the dog isn’t making things difficult for you as much as the dog is just having a hard time. It can’t speak your verbiage yet, and we tend to ask the world of them.

“You can’t help but smile when you see John”

- Sally, pet parent to Scruffy, high energy 50lb rescue

Phone Consult

Feel free to call even if you're unsure of your exact needs. I can help you figure that out. Maybe you need 6 sessions, maybe just one. You may think the dog is untrainable, when in fact it’s a minor thing. Also, you may just need someone there to answer questions during training. It’s natural to want to know you’re doing it right. And always best to ask when in doubt.

In-Person

I’m completely mobile at the moment, so I train at your home or nearby park. I’m also able to do Zoom sessions. You’ve got me for an hour to demo exercises, help you refine your training tasks/times and answer any questions.

“John would find ways to stimulate the brain if we couldn’t stimulate the body... He is all about praise and reward”

- Jill, pet grandparent to Evie, high energy yellow lab with genetic challenges

Holistic Training

Safety first always. We want to have fun and feel relaxed so let’s take out the danger factor. We always set our dogs up for success thereby setting ourselves up for success. We’ll scope the training area and make a safe plan first.

Once secure in our spot, we can let the dog know that we are calm-confident and ready for fun.

I don’t start with expectations. I start with seeing what the dog is willing to offer. If acceptable, I reward; If not, I don’t reward.

Once the dog sees my reward as valuable but conditional…they usually make the decision to engage or go further. Then I’ll begin with luring and skill exercises. I just want to make sure they’re up for training, or it will be a negative association. You don’t want to pull out your training pouch and your dog goes,” Ugh, this again”.

And we don’t want to train with fear or the dog will just avoid you, snap at you, and/or possibly bite.

We don’t ever need to dominate the dog to get the dog to listen. I’d definitely prefer a respectful boss to one that’s not. And the alpha myth is just that. No human can be an alpha to a dog. Dogs will choose between themselves to take the top spot, but the human is undoubtedly in charge. There’s no way the dog doesn’t know, the one who provides the food and water is the leader…..the one with opposable thumbs who can open the crate latch…the one who magically makes any room brighter with a touch….the one who can send a ball or frisbee into flight with a flick. Your dog isn’t trying to dominate you….they’re trying to interact with you as if you were a dog, that’s all.