Family Dog Training

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

A. I rarely get asked for references and just know if you ask any professional for a reference, they are going to give you contact with people who will of course give glowing reviews. If I were looking for a dog trainer I would love for one that allows me to come and sit in on a group class so I could see their methods and if the class is a good fit for me and my dog. I would look for a dog trainer whose people skills are equal to their dog training skills and they can communicate in a way that you, the novice dog owner understands.

If the professional has a network like Facebook or other network providers I would probably look at those as well. I think also if they have a blog you can get to know them better. People comment to me all the time about our blog at www.puppymanners.com/blog and many times that is what brought them to us.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. To be honest I think my clients get to know us and I am more then willing to share stories about my less then perfect dogs. It makes people feel good to know that even the dog trainer can make mistakes or that their dogs steal steaks off the counter. I think if I could tell my clients anything is that when you hire anyone besure there is a lot of passion behind what they do.

People all the time tell me that they love the passion I have for my job, my life and for what I do. Passion for what you do makes a difference in any job. No real "secrets" to share other then picking a dog trainer can be sometimes like picking out a puppy, you will "feel" a connection to that person and if you don't it does not mean that the dog trainer is not talanted. Just means that you need someone that meets your needs as much as the dogs. I think we do a great job at both.

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

A. We work with the people as much as the dogs. We know that good people skills matters when communicating about the dog or anything for that matter. We offer guilt free puppy dog training using positive reinforcement for both ends of the leash! It’s important to look for “better” and not “perfect” when raising a puppy or living with a dog. If you set the bar too high, especially for a dog you may both end up stressed out and miserable.

Dog training should be fun, raising a puppy should me fun and not too much stress. We work hard to make puppy raising more fun, and minimize the stress of having a fur kid that could eat your couch and swallow your socks. Lots of good dog trainers out there willing to help you and I like to think that we go the extra mile for our clients and our clients dogs. Actually I know we go the extra mile for our clients and our fur kids, hands down. Or is that paws down?

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Well, working with puppies is I would think anyone's dream job! What I love most about my job is seeing families succeed with their canine compantions.

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

A. I'm most asked about how to safely socialize puppies and for older dogs they ask a lot about how to get a dog to stop pulling so hard on the leash and "come here!"

My answer is for them to consider group classes at Puppy Manners or Board and Train to help support they efforts to train their dog. Private lessons of course can be very helpful as well. Puppies need to be socialized early but needs to be done so safely with good puppy coaches supervising. That way the puppy feels safe and so does the family.

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

A. I think they know we love dogs but would love for them to know how much we at Puppy Manners like working with people and seeing families succeed with the dogs. We also donate a lot of our time and services to charity work which many people are unaware of. Becky Bishop, owner of Puppy Manners is also the Executive Director of Reading with Rover, a non profit that helps kids with special challanges in their lives. She and others volunteer with their dogs and kids read alould to the dogs and the dogs do not judge them so it makes reading fun!

I think my students actually know me pretty well and our passion for what we do shows and they like that.

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

A. It's not all that complicated but it is different because we have group training prices, private lesson privates that may vary due to travel. And we have board and train prices that have variables depending on the age and needs of the dog. So group class pricing is easy, you pay $$ for a six week course of classes. Board and train prices are usually a "set" amount but if your dog has serious aggression or is medically fragile the cost may go up. If the dog has to sleep on my bed at night or you will not have a fun vacation, that for sure will drive up the cost! ;)