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I am so happy I found balanced dog training because it has helped me so much. In fact, my life would not be the same without it. With balanced dog training I can have control over my dogs (one of which has had some difficult behavioral issues) and take them places (hardware stores, cafes, off-leash areas like the beach, etc.). My dogs are my world and I love the freedom and results that balanced dog training has given us. My passion is to teach my clients about this incredible style of dog training so that they can get great results too.
I have accumulated my training style over the past several years and I have been “laser focused” on studying what actually works – what gets the best results the fastest for me and my clients. Of course, one must still put in the hard work and dog training takes time. However, you can have an actual lasting breakthrough with these methods if you put into practice the guidelines and continue to work at it daily.
It’s interesting to note that the most common narrative you’ll find is that “positive reinforcement only training” is best for your dog. However, what I have found is that most of my clients come to me after they have tried positive reinforcement only training and have not gotten enough results or had a significant transformation. Instead, they often find themselves “bribing” their dogs for food reward, still unable to take them places like an outdoor café. Often their lives start to revolve around their dog’s issues. It’s difficult for many of my clients to even find people to watch or walk their dogs because they don’t trust others to handle them.
The solution is balanced dog training. It utilizes all four quadrants of operant conditioning thus combining both positive reinforcement with negative reinforcement. The result is a calmer dog that listens better giving you more freedom and establishing a healthier more connected relationship with them.
Positive reinforcement only is not the reality of how life works in the natural world or even in the human world. Life throws both positive and negative things at us constantly and we are all under a fair amount of pressure. To try to shelter our dogs from this reality becomes a very unbalanced approach.
Dogs are pack animals and are always looking for leadership. If they don’t get leadership from you, they feel they have to take on that role, which is uncomfortable for them. I think they intuitively know they cannot survive on their own in the human world, and when they don’t feel the presence of a strong human they feel overwhelmed. Remember also that dogs have evolved from wolves, but they are a long way genetically from a wild animal that could actually survive on its own. This is another reason why dogs may feel anxiety without a strong human pack leader. Whenever you communicate leadership and strength to your dog, they naturally feel like they can relax and let you handle situations. This works really well for stopping unwanted behaviors, getting a better re-call with your dog and having a dog that is well behaved and listens.
Struggling with my own dogs led me to become a balanced dog trainer in Portland Oregon. The concept of balanced dog training is pretty simple – it uses the 4 quadrants of operant conditioning. In other words, lots of reward and positive reinforcement in addition to saying “no” to behaviors that are unwanted and often downright dangerous. However what I mostly utilize is gentle pressure to communicate with dogs where I need them to be and what I need them to do. Pressure is a concept also utilized in horse-back riding (which I have an extensive background in), and in my opinion, is the most effective way to get dogs into a better “state of mind,” or in other words, getting a dog to be calm.
When dogs are calm, they can make better choices – same with people. When dogs are amped up they make choices from a state of reaction. Dog leash reactivity is a perfect example of this. A state of arousal (being “amped up”) causes a dog to become overly excited with energy which can lead to anxiety, aggression and other problematic behaviors. I also assist my clients with reactive dog training in Portland Oregon.
If you are looking for a dog trainer in Portland, Oregon check out some of my videos and contact me. I help my clients with e-collar training and dog behavioral issues in NE Portland.
My personal style is a mixture of different methods from the various teachers I have studied with. For several years I have studied with world famous teachers such as Cheri Lucas (who worked extensively with Cesar Milan), Sean O’shea (from The Good Dog in L.A.) and Jeff Gellman (from Solid K9 Training). I have learned a lot about dog psychology and love teaching my clients how dogs think and perceive their environment. When this is understood, so much can change.
I teach basic obedience (sit/stay, down/stay, come (re-call) and heel. The structured heel eliminates pulling on walks. I also teach “place” which is getting your dog to stay on a raised dog cot.
More important than the obedience however, is understanding dog psychology and teaching dogs how to be in a calm state of mind. I think we have a narrative in our culture about what a “happy dog” looks like. In reality, many dogs in our country are chronically overstimulated – which is really an anxious state of mind. Giving them more structure (ex: crate time, walking in a heel position, waiting for food, stopping at doorways, place time etc.), gives them a lot of security and helps them to relax knowing you are leading.
Some dogs will make more progress than others based on two things: the strength and abilities of the owner and the genetic make-up of the dog.
Therefore, in order to give our dogs the best chance at transformation we have to change things within ourselves too. For some there may be some emotional difficulty in setting boundaries and making changes. I relate to this because years ago I was doing so many things wrong with my dogs and it caught up to me. However, when I was able to balance strength and consequences with affection and love my dogs started listening to me. Now I help coach my clients through this process.
On a structured walk, our dog walks right by our side. This also helps us to foster a calm state of mind in our dogs. Most people walk their dogs with them out in front leading the walk (which in the dog’s mind means they’re leading your pack). This means their ears are perked up, chest out, probably sniffing and assessing the area. When people walk their dogs like this, a dog easily has room to become leash reactive and aggressive towards other dogs and people on walks. I want my dogs to walk a little behind me or next to me with their ears back, relaxed and letting me lead the walk. The basic tool that helps me to achieve a walk like this is a prong collar. I believe they are a gentle and effective way to communicate where I want them to be on the walk.
When we put our dog on “place,” the command is that they stay there until we say, “break,” releasing them. Duration work helps us to work on the dog’s state of mind. We want our dogs to learn how to relax, chill and generally be calm inside our homes. Our home sets the foundational mental state from which the dog interacts with the outside world.
You can teach all the basic dog obedience with place. All of the commands can be taught here with lots of positive reinforcement. I usually use food when I teach place. Place is also where we can start to teach “stay.” If you can get a dog to start holding place for an hour or more a day, you have a dog that will be better equipped to make good choices out in the world because they have already been practicing “impulse control.”
I assist my clients with teaching basic obedience in my dog training programs in Portland Oregon. If you are looking for a dog trainer for basic obedience in Portland, contact me.
Prong collars are one of the safest and most effective dog training tools out there. They are safe because they will not cause any rubbing or scarring on the dog’s neck/trachea. They look barbaric but they actually are pretty gentle and when they’re in a relaxed position, they are loose on the dog’s neck. They are the ultimate communication device that helps to open up a conversation with your dog. They help to give gentle guidance, stop pulling on walks, and stop unwanted behaviors. The prong collar drills I teach also have an incredible calming effect on dogs. It’s like magic.
The way the prong collar works is with the concept of, “pressure on, pressure off.” I first start by teaching dogs how to turn pressure off thus showing them that they have control over the pressure that they feel. I only use Herm Sprenger prong collars which are an excellent German brand.
E-collars are an amazing tool when used fairly and with skill. I only use the Mini Educator collar from E-Collar Technologies. These collars go from levels 1-100. This means that we can work dogs on incredibly low levels (“working levels”) – which most humans can’t even feel. When using these collars I use the same concept that I use with prong collars, “pressure on, pressure off.” I use these e-collars in my dog training classes in Portland in combination with reward, and also use them for off-leash dog training outside – they are waterproof and have a 1/2 mile range. We can also use them for letting our dogs know a behavior is unwanted. Behaviors like jumping on people, leash reactivity, aggression, excessive barking and not coming back when called can all be addressed with e-collar dog training.
They’re good for difficult dogs and even easy dogs because they help to create more off-leash reliability, which for me is an important safety issue. I need to know my dogs will come back to me if we are out walking and they see a squirrel or if a car gets too close to them. E-collars actually save dogs from potentially terrible accidents and running away – from this perspective they are an incredible tool.
In addition, if you have a dog that is leash reactive e-collars are the key to stopping the reactivity. If you are looking for a leash reactive dog trainer in Portland, contact me.
I believe these tools are the best training tools for dog training – yes, even for aggressive and anxious dogs (also for easy happy go lucky dogs). The narrative that these collars will “mess up your dog,” is not true. There is an ideological split in the dog training world that is incredibly confusing for dog owners researching training options. I was once dealing with a difficult dog myself sifting through blogs on the internet telling me how bad e-collars were. Fast forward… and e-collar training saved my dog’s life multiple times.
These tools help to generate a pack mentality of leading and following and can be used on low and gentle levels that are very mild. I’m sure some trainers have use these tools unfairly with dogs. However, I don’t work that way. I like to start out slow and easy, allowing the dog to develop a clear understanding of what I am asking them to do so that they can be empowered to make better choices. If I need to let a dog know a behavior is unacceptable or dangerous the tools can help to give a correction as well. I think they are awesome tools and bring everyone a lot more freedom and quality of life. I also see the lives of dogs improve with these tools as clarity increases and anxiety issues reduce with their use.
The e-collar is also the key to enjoying off-leash freedom with your dog – so you can enjoy taking your dog more places. As control increases, so does freedom. In Portland Oregon there are so many places to enjoy off leash hiking with your dog. If you are looking for a dog trainer to help you with off leash training in Portland Oregon, contact me.
Yes definitely! Food and praise help to teach obedience commands, reinforce behaviors we want and build work ethic. I also believe that mindful praise is a relationship builder and aim to always increase the confidence in the dogs I work with.
Corrections are used to stop unwanted behaviors (jumping, nipping, barking, whining, resource guarding (bones/toys/food), front door issues, leash reactivity, counter surfing, blowing off a known command, not respecting human space, chasing the cat etc.) All of these things speak to bigger issues about the dog’s state of mind and often the dog/human relationship. We want to encourage a healthy relaxed and trusting state of mind and discourage an unhealthy state of mind. There are only a few tools in the field of balanced dog training that are considered industry standard best practices for humanly correcting a dog.
It is always my aim to give fair and humane corrections and I work with mindfulness techniques to guide the session and to be as precise as possible in my decisions and assessments. It is important that all clients I work with are comfortable with this concept. If you have any questions about this don’t hesitate to ask me.
I get asked this question a lot. It’s really simple. Your dog can have more freedom when you start seeing better results and choices from them. In addition, how strict you need to be, depends on the severity of your dog’s issues. It usually takes 2 – 3 months to see big behavioral shifts. Remember that it takes time to lay down new neural pathways in your dog’s brain. It also takes time for you to adjust to a more structured way of living with your dog. However, I don’t want it to feel “like a drag.” I want to encourage my clients to enjoy this process and integrate it smoothly into their day to day lives. Most of my clients find that a lot of their stress becomes alleviated in our training process. It can be an exciting time as more clarity and answers unfold.
A lot of the training drills I teach are really fun to do with your dog. They are relationship builders and I promise you will gain a lot from them. I also want my clients to walk away with a clearer understanding of dog psychology and what to do if they’re struggling. If you find down the road, you have loosed up so much with the training that old behaviors start to surface, you’ll know what to do. In addition, you’ll know how to stop unwanted behaviors and increase your dog’s belief in you as a leader.
If you are looking for a dog trainer to help you with basic obedience training in Portland Oregon, contact me.
Yes! I have worked very hard to create video content for my website and YouTube channel. On the homepage of my website you’ll see both “Before & After” and “Instructional” videos. I show as much as I can of the step-by-step process so that people can see how it works. In the Before & After videos you will see lots of crazy dogs in the beginning that are incredibly calm in the end. These are not flukes. The level of calm my client dogs achieve after they complete the program blows me away every time. I love this work and I love working with people to create breakthroughs. You can also get to my Instagram account from the header of my website where I post different content. Thanks for checking out my page!
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