If you are experiencing a serious behavior issue with your dog, or struggling with household dynamics such as behavior with other dogs, family members, or other animals, we can help. With our holistic approach to training and behavior we can help to identify the root cause of your dog’s behavioral issue and work with you to come up with a long term solution. This will almost always include a training program but may (and often will) include other aspects of your dog’s life such as home and other environmental management and modification, nutrition, health and wellness, and finally, we also take a close look at the behavior of US, the HUMANS, in the dog’s life. Our actions, energy, and habits are going to strongly affect how our dogs behave, and if we expect them to change, we may have to be willing to do the same.
Board & Train options are available for dogs who can be safely handled by our staff members. For dogs exhibiting extreme human-focused fear or aggression, in-home private lesson programs are also available.
ALL BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAMS REQUIRE AN IN-PERSON TRAINING EVALUATION.
Does my dog need a Behavior Modication Program?
Your needs might fall into the behavior modification category if your dog is displaying extreme FEAR, TIMIDNESS, ANXIETY (INCLUDING SEPARATION ANXIETY), or DOG OR HUMAN AGGRESSION. These are not the only things that might fall into this category, but they are the main offenders. Sometimes leash or barrier reactivity can be severe enough to be need this program, and sometimes social skills issues can fall here, but the main ones are listed above. Your Training Evaluation will help nail down exactly what you and your dog need.
FEAR, TIMIDNESS, EXTREME ANXIETY
Do you have a dog who is afraid of their own shadow? Or maybe they have an over-expressed sense of stranger-danger?
Dogs who display signs of extreme fear, timidness, or anxiety (including separation anxiety!) are often lacking confidence, clear structure, or both. Some of this stems from a base temperament, and other times it can come from a lack of proper socialization. Most times, dogs like this need a strong human partner they can trust to handle the tough stuff so they can relax.
When designing a behavior modification program to address one of these issues, we will focus on confidence building exercises for the dog, relationship-building exercises for the dog and human, and making sure our handlers have the tools they need to communicate clearly.
In addition to that, we will most often implement counter-conditioning protocols to address the focus of your dog’s fear or anxiety, and strive to turn a negative association into a positive one.
DOG AND HUMAN AGGRESSION
Aggression is an intent to do harm to a target, usually in the form of a bite; however, there are multiple other signs and signals that can lead up to that event that still fall under the umbrella of this topic. It can stem from multiple sources, including from fear, predatory instincts, territorialness, guarding of resources, and more.
Fixing or rehabilitating aggression can be a complicated situation that may not have a perfect ending, and often relies on a combination of training and environmental management for long-term success. Because of this, we are very selective about which aggression cases we will take on.
For dogs displaying dog-focused aggression, both board & train and private lesson options are available, on a case by case basis.
For dogs displaying human-focused aggression, we only offer in-home private lessons.
Every aggression rehabilitation program we consider must begin with an in-person evaluation and consultation.
COST AND FORMAT
While no two dogs or behavior issues are alike, we recognize that it takes both time and commitment from the owners and trainers for a behavior modification program to be successful. Therefore, we have implemented a minimum standard for board & trains or sets of private lessons we require our owners to commit to.
While we understand the cost of these programs is significant, we also want to ensure that any dogs we take under our care and training have long term success, and oftentimes the fallout of not following through completely with a behavior modification program can have worse results than never attempting it at all.
TRAINING EVALUATION – $75 ON-SITE / $95 IN-HOME or OFF SITE
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- Includes an evaluation of you, your dog, and your relationship, as well as a comprehensive history of your dog’s home life and routine, and relationships with other family members/pets/etc.
- Will include a written training plan including time, cost, and special requirements for lessons and follow-up training submitted before beginning a program.
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BOARD & TRAIN – 4 WEEKS / $3200
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- 4 Weeks of Boarding and training at our facility, with daily handling.
- May include elements of obedience training as well as addressing behavior modification
- May inlude adjustments to feeding and sleeping schedules and routine
- Handlers may be required to participate in lessons during the board & train based on dog’s progress.
- May involve in-home training near the end, depending on needs
- Regular photo and video updates to keep up with progress and for use as reference material after going home
- 3 consecutive days of handler lessons prior to dog going home.
- 3 required follow-up lessons within 90 days of going home
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PRIVATE LESSONS – 8 LESSONS / $800
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- Lessons must be booked and scheduled up front, based on training plan recommendation
- First 4 lessons are typically scheduled 1x per week, while lessons 5-8 are generally scheduled every other week
- Detailed homework/training assignments required between lessons
- Failure to demonstrate application of skills learned during lessons may require additional lessons for success
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Board & Train programs require a 50% nonrefundable deposit paid at the time of scheduling, with the remaining 50% due on pickup. Private lesson programs require payment and scheduling of lessons up front.