Notes are important for keeping track of what exercises & management we discussed during sessions. If you have a gmail address, you will receive notes and other materials in the form of a Google Drive folder. If you do not have a gmail address, your notes will be sent to you in the form of a PDF through email. If you are having issues viewing your notes, please contact your trainer.

Consistency is key! How long you will need to practice each week will depend on your dog’s energy level, your expectations, & your schedule. Results are best achieved when you set aside time for training. Please plan to engage your dog in these exercises without the trainer present for 1 to 10 minutes per session, 1 to 5 times per day, 3 to 5 days per week. Your total time spent teaching training exercises without the trainer each week should total between 30 and 120 minutes. If you do not have time to practice, we will need to rely primarily on management to prevent problem behaviors.

Your trainer will ask you for an update via text or email after each training session. We need to gather information beyond the conversational “he’s good.” We love to know how your dog is doing, what changes you have noticed, & if you are having any issues with the training exercises. Providing details about your dog’s health, household changes, new experiences, & any other relevant information can also help your trainer plan for your next session together.

We recommend that every existing client track their progress in our progress tracker. You will see a Google Sheet in your Drive with multiple tabs, one for each problem behavior. Please note the date (or range of dates), the frequency this problem behavior has occurred, and the intensity (on a scale of 1-10, 1 being hardly noticeable & 10 being intolerable). Any comments are also appreciated and will help your trainer make adjustments to your plan. Tracking your dog’s progress is a great way to notice & celebrate all the successes you’ve had over the course of several months.

After your evaluation, you will receive notes on your dog’s behavior along with 1-2 quick fixes to implement before your first private lesson. Decide if you want to move forward with a package of 4, 8, or 12 weekly sessions. While we suggest making a weekly commitment to get started, we understand that real life happens, so we offer flexible scheduling for your private lessons. We also offer virtual lessons to best fit your lifestyle & budget. To move forward with your package, you may book online through our scheduler or contact the trainer who conducted your evaluation to schedule your first lesson.

The “quick fixes” you see in your Evaluation notes are quick ways to make your life with your dog(s) easier on the day of your first meeting with us. These quick fixes are not meant to be permanent fixes to complicated behavior issues - rather, they are simple adjustments you can make to stop a problem behavior right then & there. Some examples of quick fixes we may recommend are putting up a baby gate to keep your dog from running away, putting your dog on a long leash to keep them from ignoring a recall, or placing commonly stolen items in dog-proof containers. While these solutions do not keep your dog out of trouble forever, they can help you catch a break today.