Is your dog behaviorally challenged?

Problems we are highly trained, experienced,
and specialized in:

-Leash Reactivity
-Dog Aggression
-Redirected Aggression
-Human Aggression
-Resource Guarding

Our Philosophy

We believe that dogs were descendants of wolves, and wolves live in family units, not alpha hierarchies. This is why we teach you how to be a strong leader who shapes, teaches, guides, communicates, and advocates for their dog. We believe in teaching foundation skills, including impulse control, focus, obedience, markers, and proper communication in low distraction environments, first. We teach you how to communicate with your dog using body language, verbal cues, food, and training equipment such as leashes and collars. We believe in having the dog earn what they get in life, learning to look to you as their leader, because leaders control resources.

Dog listen for two reasons. 1) To get something good. This is why we build drive and engagement, and use motivational rewards to reinforce a job well done. 2) To avoid pressure. It would be unfair and unjust to expect to train any dog without the use of pressure, because pressure is all around us; tones of voice, spatial pressure, body language, eye contact, physical touch, leash pressure, and more. This is why we take the time to teach each dog how to turn off pressure, so they are never confused when they find themselves in a pressuring situation. Our goal is always the least amount of pressure possible, which is obtainable by going through the initial foundation training period before moving on to tackle the real world triggering scenarios.

We will teach you how to train your dog to be the dog that you want and hope they can be. We will not teach you how to simply punish away unwanted behaviors; that is not dog training. We do not believe in the need to dominate or intimidate the dog, though we do believe in timely corrections and punishment where necessary. We do not want to simply say ‘no,’ we want to teach the dog what they should be doing instead.

Structure, boundaries, rules and expectations in the home are critical for success with all behavioral cases. Some of the best dogs in the home are the worst behaved in social situations; this is because their lack of expectations in the home causes confusion when they are expected to be well behaved around triggers. A dog’s behavior is a direct result of what we allow them to do day to day, because freedoms and privileges directly affect behaviors. By implementing daily routine and structure in your dog’s life, along with a tailored training program to meet your needs, behavioral problems tend to just slip away, more often than not, without any punishment at all.

Once the dog has a solid layer of foundation skills, we slowly increase distractions and decrease distance, teaching the dog to be neutral in stimulating environments and around triggering stimuli. Once the dog can have a calm state of mind, we can begin to work on socialization, and once they are capable of making appropriate decisions while in a calm state of mind, we can start to teach them how to make good decisions while in heightened states of mind. As you can see, training is a process, and we do not cut corners. We want to ensure that your results are long-lasting and effective, which is why we encourage all of our behavioral clients to attend regular Pack Classes after they graduate from private lessons/ boarding and training.

All dogs with the potential to bite are muzzle conditioned for safety. Muzzles, when properly conditioned, allow us to train and socialize the dog through situations that we otherwise could not do safely. They give confidence to the handler which transfers to the dog, allowing both human and dog to relax and achieve their full potential.

Our Behavioral Programs are specifically designed to give you the best quality results the quickest, most efficient, yet fair and fun way possible. They begin with private lessons and/or boarding and training, followed by the opportunity for real-world pack classes and walks where you will have access to higher levels of socialization and distractions in semi-controlled settings. All programs include access to our in-depth training manual, ongoing support, and lesson documents and videos for at-home study.