Private lessons are one-on-one coaching for you and your dog. Rather than sending your dog away with me to do the work, I guide you through the training process, teach you what to do, and help you apply it to your everyday life.

We work together in the lessons and you do the homework. 

Both programs begin with the same foundation.

Companion Dog is a 6-lesson program focused on communication, structure, leash skills, everyday reliability, and building a dog you can confidently live with.  

Adventure Dog is a 9-lesson program that includes everything in Companion Dog and continues into distance work and off-leash reliability.

Think of it as everyday capability versus expanded freedom.

Not necessarily. We can talk about your goals, your dog, and the life you want to live together and determine which program makes the most sense.

Not every dog needs to be an Adventure Dog. A capable, enjoyable Companion Dog is a great goal in itself.

And you can always move into Advenure Dog after the Companion Dog Program.

Not really.

I'm less interested in creating a dog that can perform a long list of obedience commands than I am in developing the mindset and skills you actually need to live well together with your dog having a set of skills that are reliable in the real world.

We work on communication, movement, boundaries, reliability, responsibility, and eventually freedom. The goal isn't a dog that performs perfectly in a training session. It's a dog you can confidently share your life with.

The specific training is tailored to the individual dog and you.  We work through the different levels of learning... FIT, STRUCTURE, SKILLS & FREEDOM.  We will cover applied nutrition, movement and handling, enrichment, motivation and more along with five practical physical and mental skills every dog needs:

Move With Me — walking and moving together
Move To Me — coming when called
Move Away From Me —  being stationary in a designated place
Don't Move — remaining settled when asked
Move Freely — learning how to appropriately handle freedom

These simple skills along with the concepts that lead to them give us a framework that build an unbreakable relationship and can be applied to countless situations in everyday life.

Training isn't meant to live inside a training room forever.

The lessons start inside of my training space on the grounds of a veterinary hospital in Louisville.

Depending on the dog and where we are in the program, lessons may progress into real-world environments where we can work through the situations you actually encounter together.  That is often outside of dog parks, at places of business that allow dogs or at your home.

The goal is for the skills to work where you need them—not just during a lesson.

Your work between lessons is where much of the progress happens.

You don't necessarily need marathon training sessions every day. Instead, I'll show you how to incorporate training into the life you're already living with your dog.

Consistency matters much more than occasionally doing a lot of training.

No responsible trainer can guarantee the behavior of a living animal.

Dogs are individuals, and results depend on the dog, the environment, the owner's participation, consistency, genetics, previous experiences, and many other factors.

What I can provide is a clear plan, professional coaching, honest feedback, and adjustments based on the dog in front of us.

 Yes, when it's useful.

Food can be an excellent reinforcement tool, but it isn't the entire training system. Depending on the dog, we may also use play, movement, access to the environment, affection, praise, freedom, and other things the individual dog values.

The goal is motivation, communication and understanding... not dependence on any single reward.

No.

Adventure Dog is about developing reliable communication and greater freedom, not simply putting an e-collar on a dog.

An e-collar may be introduced when I believe it's appropriate for the dog, owner, environment, and goals. When used, it's layered over communication and skills the dog already understands.

That's the goal we're working toward, but off-leash freedom isn't something I promise simply because someone purchases a program.

Freedom has to match the capability of the individual dog and owner.

Some dogs progress quickly. Others need more time, management, or continued long-line work. I'll be honest with you about what I believe your dog and you are ready for.

Freedom is earned through capability and reliability.

Yes.

Pulling, jumping, poor household manners, overexcitement, difficulty settling, unreliable recall, and many common everyday problems can be addressed within the Companion Dog private lesson program.

Yes. The Companion Dog Program is also where I work with dogs experiencing reactivity, fear, aggression, and other behavioral challenges.

For these dogs, the program isn't simply about teaching obedience. We look at the whole dog—the behavior itself, the situations in which it occurs, the dog's environment, lifestyle, communication, management, and the relationship between dog and owner.

The goal is to help you better understand your dog while developing practical skills for navigating everyday life together.

No—and that's okay.

Private lessons work best for people who want to understand the process and are willing to participate in their dog's training between lessons.

If you're primarily looking for someone else to do most of the initial training for you, one of my more immersive training options may be a better fit.

My goal is not to make you dependent on a dog trainer.

By the end of the program, you should understand how to communicate with your dog, maintain what we've built, troubleshoot problems, and continue developing your dog's capabilities as life changes.

The program has an end.

Living with your dog is what comes next.

Not necessarily.

Companion Dog is the foundation. Freedom comes later.

For some dogs, successful behavior modification may eventually open the door to greater environmental freedom or even appropriate off-leash work.

For others, responsible freedom may always include some form of management.

The goal isn't to make every dog fit the same definition of success. It's to build the greatest amount of safe, responsible freedom that the individual dog can handle.