Relationship First

The Questions

Have you ever longed for a better relationship with your dog but been unsure as to why you don’t have it?   Have you ever seen a dog/human bond and said to yourself, “I want that. How do I get it?”. These are questions that I’ve asked myself and explored for the last ten years through research, training, and many many discussions with breeders and behaviorists.

The Bond

I am a self professed dog nerd with hands on experience working with and training dogs for public access; service work including Medical Alert, PTSD, Guiding, and Psychiatric Assist; personal protection; and companion dogs. Thanks to my years of exploration, I am highly skilled at knowing what drives and genetics are needed to be successful at those jobs. The biggest factor needed in all those things, is the human-K9 bond.  I believe the bond is the It Factor, the mystical intangible thing that we so want. 

How do we get it? Is it the human, the dog, or both? That is the essential question that I will help you unpack.  If you want to deepen the relationship you have with your existing dog, I can help you to identify the issues that are getting in your way.  If it’s you, that’s easy to change!  If it’s an incompatibility with the drives that your existing dog has, I can help you learn to channel those drives into better behavior from your dog and deeper acceptance from you about who your dog is.

If you are in search of ‘the right dog’, I can help you to identify behaviors, drives,  and traits that you are wanting in a dog, and assist you in finding that dog, whatever the breed might be. 

The Solutions

Are you thinking about a service dog but feel lost in the process? There are so many things to consider, and so many questions to be asked and answered.  We’d hope that our doctors and therapists would be able to help us with these questions, but  unfortunately, many doctors and  therapists are not informed  enough about the topic to suggest a dog or to help you find one. 

I can help you figure out what your task needs are and help you train them; I can also talk you through the reality of working with and handling a dog in public. Even with a disability, you still have to be both a leader and an advocate for your dog. You have a much better chance of succeeding with an owner-trained service dog if you get the best possible pup to start with, and if you have help along the way with your expectations and emotions — which can definitely cause problems in the training process.  

I think we always have to remember that a dog is a dog, that it has feelings and preferences, and  that optimally we use those needs and preferences to create a happy working partnership with a visible It Factor.

I do not need to see you and your dog in person or over Zoom to help you.  By engaging with you and listening to you talk, I will understand the dynamic of your relationship and can support you and your dog through difficulties and successes. We often need an impartial set of eyes and ears to help us both problem solve and recognize behaviors that our dogs are offering as solutions-unbeknownst to us!