Dog Trainer

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. finding the right dog for you lifestyle, housebreaking, crate training, nipping and mouthing,socialization, leash walking, resource guarding, meet and greet behaviors, begging at the table, separation anxiety, sit,down,stay,wait,come,let's go, drop it, leave-it, managing excessive barking,digging, door darting,bell and whistle recalls, nutrition, managment, retrieving, "get it" , "go to place", building confidence in timid dogs and puppies, AKC Canine Good Citizen and TDI Therapy Dog International preparation, vaccines and parasite control, "ring bell to go out", car manners and attention seeking behaviors like barking and running away while you chase your dog !

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. At the present time, there is no universal standardization for certifying or registering dog trainers. Trainers may or may not have any certifications and neither assures the expanse of their education, experience or their effectiveness. All dog training certification programs charge students to enroll and expect each student to complete their program's individual requirements in order to receive a certification from them. Realize that each certification program is unique and some offer more challenging courses and requirements as well as continuing education requirements in order to remain certified by them. Since trainer certifications are not created equal, there also are trainers who have decided NOT to be certified by any single process and others choose to aquire multiple program certifications. Other trainers choose not to spend the thousands of dollars needed to go through a specific certification program but instead choose to attend multiple lectures from various perspectives and spend all their free time reading dog training manuals and books, watching videos, apprenticing other trainers, and attending seminars on a various topics related to behavior, health and training. Sadly the reverse is also true... that some trainers have no certifications and also do not spend time and money on educating themselves. Word of mouth is a great way to choose a trainer and witness results in order to know that a trainer is educated, dependable, humane and effective.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I’ve been involved with dog training for over 20 yrs. During my early years, my approach was quite traditional. A traditional approach basically focuses on the behaviors we wish to stop, then applying well timed corrections as a punishment. When the undesirable behavior stopped, we praised the dog.

Over the past years there has been a huge shift in how we teach our children and how we train our dogs to include a more positive approach. Many refer to this as science based training. What we have found is that by manipulating and controlling the environment and by observing behaviors, we can actually make desirable behaviors more common. Puppies raised with a positive, reward based approach actually grow up choosing the behaviors that we like, while undesirable behaviors simply fade away or don’t develop in the first place.

Remember that much of the science of how and why humans behave the way we do is based on animal studies. You will find it interesting how these fundamentals of learning apply to both humans as well as our dogs.

I have found that great dogs were most often great puppies as well. When young puppies “learn to learn”, it leads to a more biddable adult dog. The moment a puppy is born, learning begins. You don’t want to waste a moment of their early weeks as they set the foundation for learning and the social confidence that will last a lifetime.

Over the years I have shared my life with a Labrador Retriever, a Welsh Terrier, a mixed breed and 4 Golden Retrievers. I now live with a Golden Retriever, a Toy Fox Terrier and a French Bulldog. They all have been my best friends and some are now my guardian angels.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Seeing and hearing about the results and witnessing the growing relationship between an owner and a dog.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. How long will this training take?
Training your dog is a continuous process that lasts as long as your relationship with your dog, much the same way we maintain our human relationships. You can teach a dog a behavior, such as SIT within a few repetitions, but incorporating and strenghthening SITS at the right time in the right location, under certain circumstances will mean that it requires a lifetime of intermittent reinforcement using food, fun, activity, motion praise and attention. For example, you would begin teaching SIT with food rewards, Beginning with food rewards then gradually replace your food with life rewards such as "sitting in front of doors makes doors open" . This interractive concept is something that you will want to incorporate throughout your dog's life.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. The history of dog training goes hand in hand with the history of firearms. Dogs have been used for hunting, herding,guarding, retrieving, search and rescue, protection, assistance and companionship. The skills that dogs can be taught have become more and more detailed, and the ability of dogs to learn much more than we ever thought previously, has lead trainers to utilize a higher level of education in behavioral science. The great divide these days, with respect to methodology, is that we have trainers who place a lot of importance on heirarchy and dominance theories, while others prefer to look at all behavior from a scientific perspective. The science based approach addresses behavior as simply learned and driven by the consequence it produces. I personally am finding that human or canine confidence greatly influences training process. Dogs that learn to earn attention, food or fun from owners who confidently offer well timed responses get great results.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. SESSION FEES

Single 2 hr Session
$100.00
Great for tune-ups and working
on problem behaviors


Prepaid Packages

2 sessions @ 80. = $ 160.
4 sessions @ 70. = $ 280.
6 sessions @ 60. = $ 360.
8 sessions @ 50. = $ 400.

No refunds
Recommend booking sessions within the same month
Sessions in your home or in public
Mini groups of relatives and friends may choose to share a session

cash or check