Basic Obedience

     This is the basis for good manners, and how you learn to communicate with your dog.  I use a system of praise, motivation and correction in teaching every command.  Praise and corrections should be balanced with motivation as a bridge between them to connect the dots for your dog.  Of the three elements motivation is the most important, as it can be the difference between your dog still guessing and solidifying his grasp of the command.  Each command is taught through repetition and guidance.  First we show the dog what to do over and over again, until he or she starts to put it together, and that is where the motivation comes into play.  By simply saying "that's it" in an encouraging tone of voice at the right time your dog can go from "I don't get it," to "Oh! That's what you mean," in an instant.  Once you see that light go on you praise your dog.  Only after this do you correct your dog when he or she makes a mistake, though correction is just as important as praise.  You must give your dog the whole picture, and that means saying both "yes" and "no."  If you wouldn't raise your children by only telling them when they are doing the right thing, then you can't train your dogs by only telling them when they are doing the right thing.  Let's face is everyone makes mistakes, and you have to tell your dog about his mistakes or he'll never learn. 

     This is how we learn to communicate with our dogs.  By saying "yes," "no" and "almost" in teaching commands your dog is learning what those words mean in a context that is easy for him to understand.  You must learn each other's language during the basic obedience course before you can move on to more advanced training. 

     The Basic course starts with sit and progresses toward come, however the course and its contents can be modified to suit your individual needs.  Training starts indoors with as few distractions as possible and progresses toward more distractions and eventually outdoors with lots of distractions so as to simulate walking through a crowd.  When you say sit your dog will learn to obey after being told only once, as well as to stay until told to do otherwise, without you having to stand and stare at your dog and say "stay, stay, stay, stay!"  The same thing holds true for the down and stand commands.  Each new command starts simply and then we will progress toward holding it for longer periods of time, and adding more and more distractions.  Your dog will also learn to do these commands from different points of view, as well as in motion.  Other commands include a heel, which is learned after sit and includes an automatic sit when you stop, an optional finish, a square off 90°, which can be an alternative recall command, and come.

Advanced Obedience

     This course teaches your dog to listen to all the commands he learned on-leash, off-leash.  It may seem like a simple task for some, and next to impossible for others, however both cases are quite manageable.  The trick is starting indoors where your dog can't run away and isn't distracted, and building up from there.  You go slowly, starting by dropping the leash at certain points and testing your dog.  Just as with on-leash obedience you start with no distractions and then work up to large distractions.  Only after your dog listens reliably indoors should you move to outdoors.  At that point you will work outdoors on a long line.  The process is very safe and turns your dog into a reliable off leash listener.  However, you must use good judgment and know when your dog will be too distracted to listen well and simply put the leash back on for safety.

Behavior Modification

    After finishing the basic obedience course we can start to address specific behavioral problems.  It is vital that you can communicate with your dog and that you have his complete respect.  Certain behaviors, such as aggression in any form, will be supervised closely and only worked on while I am present, until the situation is properly under control.  Other behaviors such as jumping up or excessive barking will be addressed in one session and you will be able to continue to work on them on your own.  Any specific problems you have will be addressed individually.

Puppy Development

    From picking the right puppy for your household, all the way up to the day you start training, I know the right procedure to make your puppy happy, healthy and well adjusted.  I can perform temperament testing on puppies which shows us a snap shot of his or her personality to make sure that your busy family doesn't end up with high drive, high energy dog, or that a marathon runner looking for a partner doesn't end up with a couch potato.  Picking the right puppy only begins the process of making your puppy happy and well adjusted.  Socialization can make all the difference in how your puppy grows up.  You must socialize your dog to both people and objects.  Object socialization teaches your dog how to approach an unknown object without fear, making your dog more confident and ready to face the world.  People socialization teaches your dog how to approach an unknown person, as well as teaching them that the elderly and young children should not be feared, but are in fact the same as everyone else.  In addition to teaching your dog about objects and people we will incorporate sounds and touches, introducing them to being touched in unusual places such as their ears, eyes and between their toes in a positive way.  Your vet and groomer will love you for teaching your dog to be indifferent, or even to love, to be touched anywhere they need to be.  I will go over housebreaking tips as well.  I have all the tools you need to teach your dog to approach the world confidently and politely. 

Personal Protection

    Not everyone will qualify for this program.  Owners must have complete control of their dog in every situation to qualify for protection work.  Households with children are not suited for protection work, unless those children also have complete control of the dog, as well as having good enough judgment not to play with this type of training.  If you are looking into this training so your dog will be a protector of your young children please contact me directly.  Just as I evaluate your dog prior to obedience training, I will evaluate your dogs aptitude for protection work prior to starting training.  If you and your dog qualify the training is intense.  Luckily for you all of the work falls into my lap.  Your only responsibility at first will be to hold your dog and give off a sense of fear or nervousness.  We will build your dogs confidence, teaching him to turn on instantly and escalate immediately to pulling at the leash and barking.  However, your dog will not decide when to turn on; we will control it with a command of "watch 'em" or just "watch."  We will also spend quite a bit of time working the "out" or cease aggression command.   Protection work takes quite a bit of time, and requires extensive work.  Most people do not have a daily use for protection training, and if your dog doesn't practice he will loose his training.  Therefore you and your dog will need to come back periodically to keep up the training.                                                               Here's Keena in action...click to watch a video!