A safe and offleash life is what I can offer my customers. When or if I'm not sure I can help my clients attain this goal I'll meet with them and their dog first to assess the potential for success at no charge. I also like to spend a good amount of time chatting with my clients to be first. I need to find out what they would like to acheive and how to make their dog ownership more effortless and fun then ever.
We don't have 1100 levels of training here. Our primary concern before any obedience training begins is that we have a comfortable dog to work with; we welcome all dogs with comfort issues to our comfort consultations first...training always works best once we know we have BOTH a comfortable owner and dog.
If your dog has attended obedience classes before but still "won't listen"....you very well may not need any of our obedience programs but our LEADERSHIP programs have enjoyed fabulous success over the years in increasing our dogs accountablity when we give a command.
As a dog owner I practice what I preach as a trainer. I live in the heart of downtown Toronto with my dogs, we do not use leashes in most public situations.My goal as a teacher/trainer is to coach anyone and everyone who would like to achieve that goal.My dogs are Sherman, a Border Collie Border Terrier cross, Bill, a Toy Fox Terrier, and Ellie May now 6 month old Doberman who is as of July 15th 2010 on her 7th day of an off leash life.
Training Results
What is dog training? I have discovered that dog training means different things to different people. What are you looking for? If you would like a completely versatile companion whose socialization and training allow them to go anywhere with you then please read on.
To many people, a trained dog means that our dog does not urinate on our floors and does not bite people or other dogs. For many dog owners their idea of the happy life involves a dog that either stays at home and never leaves or goes out for walks around the block on leash and rarely if ever let off the leash to run and play with other dogs, either due to a lack of socialization or a lack of general obedience training or both. While this type of ownership is satisfying for many dog owners, we aspire to help our clients achieve more.
Some types of dog ownership might also be under the belief that exercise means a run in the back yard and not too many other places. While we make no judgment on this kind of ownership, because different standards make different dog owners happy, our training would probably more than they are looking for.
After 25 years of dog training, I have found that my best students always understand that most of the training is theirs, and not their dogs. I have also had very successful clients that might have been mentally or emotionally challenged in one area or another in their lives and who have also done a superb job training their dogs.
My most successful clients always have the same two qualities, the desire to have a really well-trained dog combined with a readiness to commit to their training. They also share one very important understanding- Its the humans who are being trained- much more than the dog. My unsuccessful clients never focus on themselves, and always remain focused on the dog.
The greatest misunderstanding about training that I must explain to my clients that enlightens them or alienates them is that good behavior does not originate from obedience commands. But try telling that to most of the dog owning population and for whatever reason they won't buy into it.
What is my concept of a well trained and well behaved dog?
A trained dog is a versatile dog that we can take anywhere with us. If we have socialized and trained our dog and we have bombarded our dog with so many positive and successful experiences that like accruing interest on a good investment, they keep compounding themselves during the course of the dog's life making the dog better in every way.
The well-trained, well socialized, well heeled dog does not require a leash anywhere.
However, the good reliable performance of obedience commands used as the foundation of good behavior and produces accountable obedience. What do I mean by that? Lots of dog owners attend obedience classes, yet some find that after the training is done, after all their hard work, after doing all their homework, consistently, knowing they went to that school, why is there a dog still performing poorly? Our answer to that problem is that everything we want is predicated on a three-legged table so to speak. Each important leg keeps that table standing- Here are they are.
Accountability.
What we get done at home between the ages of 8 and 16 weeks. How did we raise this puppy? Did we crate train? Did we even know that there is a correct and incorrect location for that crate? Did we socialize properly? Did we understand the full extent of socialization and what that meant?
We cannot expect accountability and good behavior when we have a dog who believes that they are our leader, because we did not know how to raise him properly or in the case of secondhand dog introduced into our home properly.
Our Leadership programs have been extremely helpful to our clients who have felt that they may wish to better prepare themselves and their dogs before beginning class with us.
Socialization.
We cannot expect accountability of commands in areas locations and situations that our dog is not already socialized to(comfortable with). We cannot expect our dog to perform obedience commands around other dogs/cats and if they are clearly not socialized with them.
It's always important to know before signing up for an obedience course that your dog is both socialized and properly prepared. And if you are not sure, please feel free to call and discuss your thoughts with me or one of my assistants first. There is nothing more excruciating from a teacher's standpoint than to see a poor student trying their hearts out to train their dog, who is clearly so fearful and unprepared, that really, it's a negative experience for both -- very sad, and with good communication first, very avoidable.
We need our dog to be comfortable anywhere and everywhere and only then can we expect reliable obedience after our training is complete.
Obedience training.
Are you looking for a good trainer? Good,why or how would I be any good for you? I focus on 3 MAJOR areas of concern and they all focus on one priority- control- the more control I have over my dog the more freedom he will be able to safely enjoy as a result of that control.
People misunderstand control to be JUST from obedience and nothing else....we recognize that this is not the case. We need to ensure we have a socialized dog with no comfort issues....that we have harnessed that dogs drives through proper practiced play of predatory games with rules....and that we have also introdued our dog/puppy to our home in a way that supports our leadership.
Am I the trainer for you?
We always do our very best to talk with each and every client first in a phone call to see if we are a good match. There are many different types of dog trainers for many different types of people, and I am certainly not for everyone. Our clients are looking for people to help them reach the promised land, sweetly, humanely and successfully.
That said our "homework" is absolutely not time comsuming....we show you how to budget your training time in a way that will not feel overwhelming to you at all! Owner empowerment is one of the key ingredients for success and we recognize that that is our responsibility to each and every client.
Our Puppy Foundations course is called the Puppy Foundations course because every week we build the foundation for what the next week’s class will cover.
Our Building the Comfort Zone course operates on the same principle. The work needs to be done in order for the next class to happen the way it needs to. Our boarding and training program is fabulous.
With this understanding we cannot stress enough....since our training is one on one....that the dynamics are different....in a large class someone who hasn't done the homework can hide...sometimes....in the group.....not in one on one training.
We spend some time over the phone or in person discussing what our clients would like to acheive first. This process has been described by some of our clients as "vetting'. We like to ensure we'll be a good empowering coach for our clients and that they will be a fun rewarding client to teach.
The most exciting and rewarding treat for us is to see our many clients living successful, safe offleash lives in our community. Its always such a treat for us to hear our clients describe the shocked whispers of surprise and delight of admiring Torontonians as they just live life with their dogs. You guys ROCK!
