ABOUT US
Learn About Our Philosophy &
Meet the Trainers
Our Philosophy
Effective Communication
We train dogs and teach people!
Dogs communicate almost solely off body language cues. We as humans communicate verbally. Now you see how easily the miscommunication comes about! I take a holistic approach to dog training- I will teach you how to “speak and understand dog”.
The way you live with your dog sends them certain messages, and by learning how all of these little things contribute to your dog’s overall behavior, you will be empowered to make changes to improve your relationship.
That paired with the obedience and manners your dog will learn with me, will allow you to communicate with your dog more clearly and effectively. This makes your expectations within the “pack” concise, helping to alleviate stress for all members. We all prefer knowing exactly what’s expected of us don’t we? Dogs are no different!
Lifestyle Training for the Real World
What good is training if it doesn’t work in real life?
My training is designed to make it easy for you to use your dog’s new skills and apply them to navigate real life situations together. When I say “training as a lifestyle,” I don’t mean you need to carve out hours a day for “dog training time” (that’s my job!). The beauty of my training style is that I make it very easy for you to apply your dog’s new skills practically; walking politely beside you in heel, relaxing on their place bed in the house during downtime, waiting politely at thresholds, laying down calmly on car rides, coming when you call them, etc. This keeps their skills sharp and makes listening to you their “normal”.
Balanced Training
I am what is called a “Balanced Trainer” within the dog training community.
I will absolutely be using positive reinforcement such as food rewards and praise to teach new behaviors and reward the things we DO want. The flip side to that is I will also be correcting bad behavior to stop the unwanted and sometimes even dangerous behaviors we don’t want. This YES/NO approach gives our dogs a crystal-clear message as to what we like (and don’t like) and how we want them to behave. This eliminates a lot of stress for our dogs by creating clarity for them, which accelerates the learning process and the overall behavior transformation.
Meet The Trainers
Hi, I’m Lauren,
Founder & Lead Trainer
I want to help you learn to communicate effectively with your dogs like I do with mine.
My personal dogs, Roxanne & Xena, are not only members of my family, they are also my “dog training dogs” and are a huge help in training and rehabbing client dogs.
I love being able to include them in as many things as possible with us humans: fun trips to the park, the beach, downtown, dog friendly stores, to the kids’ sporting events – or even just having them hang out with us in the yard while we work around the house or while the kids play. I can trust Roxanne & Xena to listen to me and behave appropriately in virtually any situation I put them in.
Do these activities sound like things you would also enjoy? Maybe they seem like impossible goals with your dog’s current behavior? If so, I want to help you!
Transforming your canine delinquent into a model citizen isn’t an impossible goal with commitment, consistency, and a little tough love! I know this firsthand – I foster failed and ending up adopting Xena, my Rottie, when she was already a stubborn and totally untrained 1 year old teenager. She pulled hard on the leash and wasn’t great with other dogs or our cat and horses. She counter surfed, got into the trash and didn’t know any commands – not even sit. I had my work cut out for me!
I immersed myself into all things dog training and philosophy, took a class with some well known senior trainers that coincidentally happened to specialize in Rottie’s, learned a whole lot about dog psychology and myself and was absolutely hooked! Along with being my inspiration for dog training, Xena went from being an endearing but holy terror, to a solid ambassador for her breed and walking testament to what quality training can do for both dog and owner alike.
Many “bad behaviors'' actually stem from a miscommunication or lack of communication between humans and dogs. If your dog understands you and sees you as a leader they respect and can trust, they will WANT to listen to you! Once you and your dog are on the same page, you can reap the benefits by having a mentally healthy and balanced dog that you can enjoy in so many more ways than you ever thought possible.
Meet Sarah
Assistant Trainer
Sarah graduated in the Spring of 2011 with a bachelor’s in Sociology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She worked as an equine veterinary assistant for 10+ years, with a brief intermission as a receptionist at a small animal practice. Sarah has always had a love of animals, both big and small.
In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her abnormally large German Wirehair Pointer named Annie and riding horses. Sarah and her husband Chris have trained their dog Annie to retrieve waterfowl and enjoy hunting with her often. Sarah hopes to begin working Annie in retrieving field trials in the upcoming year.
