“Whomever shall find the answer to the question ‘how shall I say this to my dog?’ has won the game and can develop from his animal whatever he likes.”
-Max von Stephanitz
Private Lessons
Private lessons offer an entirely unique and custom training program specifically engineered for you and your dogs. Taught in your home, yours and your dog’s most comfortable place on earth, these classes are the most popular option, and can be taught in-person or via video chat.
Board & Train
A fabulous addition to any training program, boarding offers your dog a safe place to stay while you are away or unable to care for them. Board and train adds personal training time every day, focusing on whatever skills your dog needs to learn to become their most excellent self. Available daily, weekly, or monthly.
Obedience & Handling
Designed for puppies, as well as adults with no prior training experience or unsatisfactory results from prior training, these classes teach you and your dog the necessary skills to have not just a trained pet, but a lifelong partnership with your canine family member. Your lessons may include:
- How to better read and understand your dog’s body language and vocal communication
- Obedience cues
- Focusing techniques and distraction work
- Leash walking and public manners
- How to properly and safely use all of your training equipment
- Off-leash skills
- Recall and distance cues
- Proofing these behaviors through different environments
- Ignoring prey animals, other dogs, and other people
- And more!
Behavioral Modification
Reactivity and aggression are the most taboo words in dog training; unfortunately, this often means that owners of reactive or aggressive dogs do not seek help, endangering not only themselves and their dogs, but the general public, as well. Too often, this situation leads to something going horribly wrong.
I believe that no dog owner should fear their dog, and every person who shares their life and love with a dog deserves to have not just a pet, but a well-adjusted companion for life. Reactivity is often repairable through a carefully, individually crafted training regimen that focuses on what the dog is experiencing, why, and how to help them through it. Think of it like ‘doggie therapy’. Likewise, aggression is, in many cases, easily manageable, or even curable. Even neurological disorders that cause inappropriate behavior are often easily managed through training, sometimes in tandem with medication as prescribed by a licensed veterinary behaviorist (different from a “general practitioner” veterinarian). Remember: your reactive dog isn’t giving you a hard time, they’re having a hard time, and it’s on us as their support system to help them through it.
Service Dog Training
Please take a moment to read through the Working Dogs page for information.
Service dogs have important jobs to do, and they require a high level of training to be able to do them effectively. Service dog training may include:
- Thorough temperament and behavior testing
- A custom plan covering obedience, task work, and public access training
- Because each plan is custom to each dog, you will not be required to re-do training that has already been completed. For example, a dog who already has been partially trained for the job will not be made to re-do it under my tutelage. My goal is to get you and your dog trained, not waste your time or money.
- Training with other service dog teams in public spaces
- Training in home, public, and other places you require your service dog
- Support through access, employment, and housing disputes
- Including letters attesting to your service dog’s training, assistance seeking legal advice, intervening during disputes to help reach a resolution through education, etc.
As a disabled person and service dog handler myself, I know the unspeakably important role these amazing creatures play in the lives of my disabled brothers, sisters, and siblings. If you are struggling to afford service dog training, or have been hesitating because of the extortionary costs that have, unfortunately, been normalized for service dogs, please reach out. I promise, achieving your goal of having the assistant you need and deserve is not impossible. On average, most of my ‘start to finish’ service dog clients spend between $1-2k total for service dog training. Why so much less than most programs? Because the disabled community is my community, and it is critically important to me that no one in my community ever has a financial wall in the way of having the help and care they need.