A Tired Dog is a Happy Dog

All Dogs are Good Dogs

 

Do you have a dog who is good and smart, but who has a few quirks that you just can’t figure out how to solve? 

We hear all the time, “He’s a good dog, but…”  Maybe he jumps, chews, gets over-excited, is mouthy, knows commands but doesn’t obey, chases cats, pulls on walks, can’t walk on leash, barks at other dogs, has separation anxiety, growled at a kid, acts aggressive, or got in a fight with another dog. 

 

We can help. We've worked with countless cases like these and more, and have successfully retrained owners and rehabilitated dogs, mitigating all these issues.

 

The running tab for a bad dog: 

Why dog training is a sound investment 

$400 New baseboard installed

$600 two new interior doors

$300 new stair rails 

$300 sod for lawn

$1000 New carpet in bedroom

$750 New couch 

$150 New comforter and pillows

$600-20,000 Torn Rotator Cuff in shoulder from dog pulling

$1,000-10,000 Emergency Room visit for dog bite

$400 trip to vet for dog-to-dog bite

$500 To get dog tested for communicable diseases

$150 in City fines for damages

$15,000 for a lawyer

 

In the end, if ill-behaved, your dog could lose his life in traffic, in an altercation with another dog, or from euthanization after the dog hurts a person. If your dog is not balanced, he is more likely to be bitten by another dog. Your dog could knock over an elderly person, and a broken hip is the beginning of the end for many elderly. The stakes are higher than mere dollars. Your dog deserves to be balanced. The cost of training is nothing, so make this investment early, before bad habits begin to take root. 

 

The First Step: Companionship Training

 

We start all dogs with a 90-minute Companionship Training session, where I meet at the place of the dog's residence (within a 5-Mile radius of Gig Harbor Proper) and work with you and your family and your dog. We all work together addressing any and all behavioral issues that you have. We focus on the underlying practices that are causing the unwanted manifesting behaviors. This is an important investment because we train your family to train your dog. Companionship Training lays the groundwork so that whatever follows, be that exercise, more behavioral training, obedience training, or a combination, will have a solid foundation to be effective.

 

At the end of that session, once we've worked with you and your dog to lay the groundwork for any future training to be successful, we'll discuss the next step, what specific training or exercise may be needed to meet any continuing needs you may have for obedience training or exercise. 

 

Puppies

 

Maybe you just got a puppy and want to start out on the right foot, so that none of those pesky behaviors develop, and you know how to raise this new creature. We do that too. 

 

While your dog is being a puppy, there are behaviors that you may like to address before they become permanent aspect of a grown-up dog.  We can help show your family ways to mitigate and change any emerging confusing or challenging behaviors gently and effectively.  We start with a session of Companionship Training in which my wife and I come to your place, meet your pack, and work with you and your puppy. We focus on teaching the owners, you, the foundation for raising a really good dog, so that all future training will be more effective because you are equipped with the knowledge to be a consistently good owner-trainer. We also tackle any underlying issues that may be causing the difficulties with housebreaking.

 

After that, we can talk about if you would want to continue with Puppy Preschool, which focuses on the basic obedience to make behavioral training (and potty training) easier. We do individual hour-long sessions, 4 Saturdays in a row, at $150 per session. 

But first let's do the Companionship Training. 

 

Price

 

This first Companionship Training session is $250 for 90 minutes. 

 

Additional Information

 

With multiple dogs in the household with different issues, we would need to schedule additional sessions. 

 

Local Community

 

Unfortunately we don't have a facility yet. We do all our training on-location. We work within a 5-mile radius of Gig Harbor Proper. Our program is based on the principle of the home-base being root of all behaviors, so the techniques we use require that the initial Companionship Training session start in the home with the dog's family, in order for root problems to be addressed. The groundwork that owners lay before stepping out the door is a major factor in how the dog relates to the outside world. If initial training takes place away from the den, we will continue to be treating symptoms, and the client will be disappointed with the results and feel s/he is not getting the benefit s/he is paying for. All our appointment times fill up, we cannot schedule appointments that would take us more than twenty minutes to get to and from, so that we can be on time for all our appointments. I know this is disappointing; we desperately wish there were another dog behaviorist, because the demand is great! We would love to be able to help with the rescue of all the troubled dogs, but we have to work with our current constraints so that we can sustain the maximum benefit we can provide to as many dogs as we can. 

 

For Inquiries about Boarding 

 

We don't know of a boarding-school option. Once we have a facility we will probably offer that service, but that is yet only a hope.

 

For Inquiries about Grooming and Supplies

 

We don't know of a Grooming and Supply options. We get our slip leads from https://leerburg.com.

 

                                                                                               Cancellations

 

Please give 72 hours notice if you need to cancel so that we have the chance to schedule someone in that time slot. If you cancel within 72 hours, we will charge a $20 fee. 

 

Call us!

 

When you call, we will ask a few basic questions, but request that you don't get into detail about the dog's issues. The less we know about the dog's situation going into it, the more spontaneous and instinctual we can be as trainers. 

 

I hope this answered your preliminary questions. We look forward to hearing from you via email or call us during business hours and we can set up an appointment. We really would love to work with your dog to help you have a calm and balanced pack.