Behavior Consulting

Yes! Many dogs demonstrate fear, phobias, anxiety, or reactivity that we can help with, even if your dog doesn't show any aggression.

We work with ALL breeds. We also work with dogs who have a history of aggression or bites. Depending on the case, we may also team up with a veterinary behaviorist or other specialist to ensure that you get the best possible support.

When dealing with challenging behavior issues, working with an expert is key. While anyone can call themselves a trainer or behaviorist, our team of certified behavior consultants have the background knowledge and experience to help you. It can be easy to make behavior issues worse by working with trainers who promise quick fixes or don't know the up-to-date, modern methods to change behaviors. We want you to get the very best support! There are many trainers out there who claim to be behavioral dog trainers, behaviorists, behavioralists, and any number of other names: but it's important to work with someone who has up-to-date knowledge and skills.

It totally depends on a variety of factors (your dog's behavior, the time you have for training, etc). We don't offer guarantees on timelines because you and your dog are individuals! Sometimes, one consultation gives you the information you need to work through an issue. Other times, we may work together over the course of months.

Nope! We train with sessions one at a time, instead of getting you to buy an expensive package that may or may not help your dog. We want to tailor the training process to YOU! We also don't offer board and train. Many commercial board and train options involve the use of shock or prong collars, which we don't recommend. Ethical board and train options are typically in-home, and most trainers are unable to accommodate dogs with behavior issues into these programs (for the safety of all dogs and people). 

We start everyone with a Virtual Behavior Consultation. In this 1-hour initial session you'll be paired with one of our certified behavior consultants to talk about your dog's behaviors in detail. Then we'll go into next steps and come up with a training plan. After the Consultation, you can continue with virtual training or move to in-person training, depending on the specifics of your situation.

We've found that this is the most successful way to do an initial consultation. Since most of our first session is talking and asking questions, we're able to take lots of notes and dig deep into the details without worrying about keeping a dog occupied. This is also important for safety and well-being, as many dogs we work with show either aggression or stress/fear toward new humans. 

We don't offer "assessments." Over the years, research has indicated that one-shot assessments of a dog's behavior are limited in their ability to successfully gauge and predict future behavior. So instead of trying to look at your dog in-person at one particular time and "assess" them, we take a more thorough and detailed approach based on their full behavior history.

Everything we do is based on up-to-date, modern science and is backed by strong ethical considerations. We do not use aversive (painful or uncomfortable) techniques in any of our training, including shock or electronic collars, pinch or prong collars, choke collars, etc. We rely on fundamental principles like positive reinforcement, classical conditioning and desensitization, differential reinforcement techniques, and management and enrichment techniques to modify behavior. The welfare of your dog (and other people and animals) will always be a priority.