What type of Training Do You Do?

My goal is for you to learn how to clearly communicate and understand your pet’s needs. By learning about and understanding your pet you can then live together peacefully, enriching each other’s lives. To do this I use the following modalities:

Clicker Training:
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A positive force-free method that works! 

Clicker training is an animal training method based on behavioral psychology that relies on marking a desirable behavior and rewarding it. The behavior is marked by using a clicker, which makes a distinct “clicking” sound that tells the animal exactly when they’re doing the right thing. This clear form of communication combined with positive reinforcement is an effective, safe, and humane way to teach any animal any behavior that it is physically and mentally capable of doing. Some individuals claim that you will have to use the clicker treats for the rest of the dog’s life in order for the dog to perform new behaviors; this is not the case. Once your dog has fully learned the desired behavior, the click and positive reinforcement will be replaced by a hand/verbal cue. You will no longer have to use these items when asking your dog to do a behavior, you can simply give your dog a scratch or a “Good Job!”​

Nutrition: 

There are lots of brands of dog food out in the market today. Sadly, most brands of pet food are anything but nutritious, and can even be dangerous for your pet. We exclusively use PawTree brand treats and food for training and feed it in my home to my own animals. It is an online only-home delivery food and treat company that has plan recommendations created from an algorithm developed by PawTree’s panel of Veterinarians and Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition.

Behavior Adjustment ​Training:
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Empowering animals to live with self-confidence, self-control and in harmony among humans! 

Behavioral Adjustment Training (B.A.T.) was developed to rehabilitate and prevent dog reactivity. By taking a look at the underlying cause of growling, lunging, or fleeing, we can teach the dog socially acceptable behaviors. Using this special technique in combination with clicker training, we then begin to build a dog’s confidence, which reduces the aggressive behavior. This technique is very empowering to both you and your dog. Gaining a clear understanding of your dog’s behavior will allow you to help him/her learn to safely get along with people, dogs, and triggers. Several key concepts with B.A.T. training is:
• Gaining knowledge of functional rewards
• Replacement behaviors
• Threshold levels
• Triggers and reinforcements
One of the most rewarding parts of B.A.T training is creating set-ups to practice skills and techniques in a controlled environment. This gives you a safe area to practice so when the unexpected happens in the real world, you and your dog will be ready

Feeding: 

A great way to keep your dog active, engaged, and well behaved is to have them work for at least part of their meal. Using puzzle bowls, feeders, dropping small handfuls of food for the dog to find, or using impulse control commands are all great ways for you to interact with your dog and for them to eat. After all we all have to earn our paycheck, right?

Toys:

Some dogs are not food motivated, so we move over to toys. For these dogs finding something else that they do enjoy is very important. If your dog prefers playtime, stuffies, balls, tug rope, or another fun toy we can incorporate that into their training. We will also discuss which are safe toys, and why certain household objects are not appropriate as dog toy.

Verbal Praise:

As your dog progresses in their mastery of skills and correct behavior, the use of treats and clickers is replaced with verbal cues followed by praise and physical affection.

Loose Leash Walking:

Most humans assume that to get a dog to obey on leash they must be in perfect step with their human, with the leash pulled taught (often called the heel position) This is not necessarily the case. The point of walking your dog is to provide both physical exercise as well as mental stimulation. In order to do that the dog must be able to move from your side, sniff at things on the trail, and explore their world. Taught leash walking therefore leads up to frustration and pent up energy and is a recipe for reactivity. All of my students are instructed in proper leash handling, and the benefits of cooperative walking.” Once a dog and owner have mastered the art of loose leash walking we then learn “heel” quite easily.