Absolutely! We say that training is 70% training the human, 30% training the dog. The dog is the easy part. The dog will learn the commands and expectations fairly quick, but for it to stick, the human has to hold the dog accountable. I heard a saying “we get what we tolerate”. Even with training, the dogs are going to do whatever we tolerate them doing.

In our programs not only do we have one on one sessions with you, we send out emails on what we worked on with links to videos demonstrating what you should be working on at home. With some programs we do home visits when the dog is done to also make sure that you are applying what the dog learned in training to the home environment.

We don’t want to take your money if the training isn’t going to work. The success or failure lies more on the owner than the dog or the training. When we are dealing with behavioral issues, we need to be able to tell the dog no, provide consequences, and be consistent. If your dog is your baby and you don’t think you can provide punishment for bad behaviors, then you will be wasting your money. Teaching the dogs commands isn’t what fixes behaviors. It is teaching the dog the rules/boundaries, and then providing consequences for breaking the rules, that changes behaviors. The only way an owner is wasting their money is if they struggle to issue punishment and be consistent, or they don’t follow through on what they and the dog have learned.

We do not guarantee the training will work. We have never had a dog that we have not made progress with. However, the long term success of the training will be determined by how the owners do at holding their dog accountable and keeping consistent. Dogs are opportunistic, and if you give them an inch they will push for a mile. Ultimately all dogs learn at different rates, just as humans do. The training program sets the groundwork, it is up to the owners to follow through and maintain the training.

We are a balanced training facility. What that means is we reward the dog for the behaviors we want, and we provide consequences for behaviors we don’t like. It is no different than what we do with our children. Most of the trainers at our facility, started training under a positive only system. This works great for teaching the dog new commands. But that method has its limits when we are dealing with behavioral issues such as reactivity, aggression, jumping on people, excessive barking, or pulling on leash, just to name a few. What many of us learned is the only way we could get the dog to pay attention to us was if we had a treat, and once the dog started losing it’s mind, there was no treat that was going to get the dog out of that impulsive mindset. Once we started communicating “no” to the dog, in a way the dog understood, all of a sudden, we could get past those behaviors that we just couldn’t seem to get under control before. This was eye opening to us to see something we never could rein in over 6 months of working with a dog using a reward only based system, and then within days of providing consequences the problem doesn’t exist anymore. If you are reading this, then you have a dog that you need help with. If you have been using a reward only based system, and you still struggle, the missing component is the consequence for bad behaviors.

Yes. Let me explain. For us, an e-collar is a communication device. It allows us to communicate a significant amount of information to the dog letting them know when they are doing things right, and when they aren’t. Sure, we will use it as a correction device as well, but that is a very small subset of the information we convey. But why would we use it on a friendly golden retriever, or a 5 pound shitzu? It doesn’t matter the size of a dog or it’s demeanor, if we want solid obedience when off leash, we have to have a way to communicate to the dog what we want. Our methodology is using the concept of pressure on and pressure off. Through a prong collar and e-collar we are teaching the dog that when the collar tightens up or they feel a light sensation through an e-collar, the pressure is on, and when they do what they are supposed to, the pressure is turned off. That has nothing to do with pain. There is no pain when we are utilizing this method. This method will get us to a near 100% recall on the dog when off leash. At the end of the day, if we haven’t taught our clients how to have control over their dog when the dog is off leash, we have failed our clients. Our clients should be able to go out in public with their dogs and not fear how their dog reacts. If they don’t have control of their dog, and the dog doesn’t recall but 50% of the time, then the service we are offering is pointless. We will not limit the knowledge we can pass on to our clients.

The prong collar is something we require for training. It does look barbaric, like it really would hurt the dog. However, looks can be deceiving. The reason the prong collar is our go to tool has nothing to do with having a big dog or a mean dog. We can communicate so much to a dog through the prong collar. Just because a dog is small, or a nice dog, doesn’t change the fact that we need to be able to communicate to the dog what we want or don’t want. We utilize the concept of pressure on and pressure off. Which means when the collar tightens up, if they are pulling for example, the dog understands that they can release the pressure by getting back into a heel position. They understand that they can turn off the pressure by doing what we ask. The best part of the prong collar is that it doesn’t choke the dog. There is no direct pressure on the trachea, so it doesn’t affect the ability to breathe. Sure, we will use the prong collar for a correction, but we are communicating so much more.

A dog is never too old to go through training. However if someone wants to bring a 10 year old dog through training as an example, I typically will recommend against it. The average dog lives to around 13 years old. Training is an investment. The return on that investment is fairly limited with a dog that is nearing a normal life expectancy. Typically those dogs just want to be left alone, like the grumpy old man that doesn’t want anyone on his lawn. I recommend just leaving them alone at that point. However a 7 year old dog, for sure I would recommend going through training.

Our dog trainers do not address one-off issues. It is never a one-off issue, as there is a fundamental problem that leads to issues with our dogs. In fact, we as humans are typically the problem to begin with. When we are training clients, we want to make sure the owners understand their responsibility in getting the dog to a better place. This is accomplished by establishing the rules and boundaries for the dog and teaching the owner how to consistently enforce the rules in a meaningful way.

It isn’t uncommon for us to have someone come through our program after going through another trainer. The most common reason they come to our dog trainers is that they were never able to get the bad behaviors under control. As an example, our training isn’t about getting the dog to lie down on command; it is to lie down and stay in that position until released, even with distractions. Our expectations of where we want a dog to be at the end of training are very high. We have yet to work with someone who has been to another trainer prior and we weren’t able to make their situation better. According to Dogster, 73% of dog owners rely on specific training methods for their pets. Our team can help you get your dog to behave appropriately.

Our dog trainers can’t “fix” anything. Only you, as the owner, can “fix” your dog by holding it accountable, consistently. What I can tell you is that before each dog starts our programs, the owner fills out a questionnaire, which we score. The questionnaire rates the dog on obedience and behavior issues. The average beginning score for a dog is 40, according to our team. We then ask people to complete the same form when they are done. The average completion score is 78. That is nearly double the average starting score. That means the obedience has improved greatly, and the behaviors have diminished significantly. Does the dog come out perfect? For most people, that kind of improvement makes a world of difference in the relationship between the owners and their dogs. Call Elevate Canine Academy to learn more!

We rotate the trainers daily. This allows the dog to get used to working with all the trainers rather than building a bond with just one person. For dogs that are with us because of anxiety issues, this is just another step in helping the dog come to terms with fear of new people.