A: 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 understand, 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 reign 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.   Want to know more, please watch the video below.

A: Yes.  Let me explain.  For us, an ecollar 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 ecollar 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, that has excellent results.   Below is a video explanation of how we utilize the tools.

A:  Yes, 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.     For more of an explanation, please click on the video below.

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.