Frequently Asked Questions

No. If you are committed to using an e-collar, prong collar, choke chain, or any other corrective tool, I am not the person for you. I can teach you to get your desired results without causing your dog pain or discomfort. I can work with even the most aggressive or ‘stubborn’ dogs without such tools. If you would like to further discuss this with me, feel free to email me.

Yes! I believe that the entire family should be involved in training!

Maybe. If the person is caught up on what we're doing in class, yes. If the person is just a warm body bringing the dog, I would prefer that you just catch up by using the online class videos..

Classes are available online. Information about how to access the videos will be provided in the first class. You can watch the video(s) for that week and stay current with your lessons.

Maybe.

Lots of dogs bark. There is a big difference between a barking dog and a reactive dog. Barking is just noise, reactivity is lunging with ill-intent.

If you are concerned that your dog is reactive, you should consider scheduling a behavior consultation before signing up for a group class so you can learn to help your dog through those situations.

My online classes are another option.

No puppy should skip puppy class. Puppies need the socialization that puppy classes offer. Puppies learn social skills during free-play time and learn how to focus and pay attention to their people during the lessons. Puppies under 5 months are not permitted in the Basic Beginners class because the skills taught in that class are too advanced for a baby. I even have someone bring my own puppies through my puppy class - and I could easily train my own puppy if - but puppy class is not all about training.

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior disagrees. See their position statement on the subject.

From the VSAB Position Statement on Puppy Socialization:

The primary and most important time for puppy socialization is the first three months of life. During this time puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli, and environments as can be achieved safely and without causing overstimulation manifested as excessive fear, withdrawal, or avoidance behavior. For this reason, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes that it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated.

Yes, as long as you put panties on her.

If you are looking for an opportunity for your dog to play with other dogs then no. If you are looking for a place for your dog to be around other dogs (not interacting with them) then yes.

The puppy class is the only class where dogs interact with each other.

Private lessons are not the best option for beginner obedience – dogs or people. Dogs need to learn in distraction to learn how to work through distraction. Group classes actually offer more through instruction - more people, more issues, more questions.

If your dog is under 5 months, start with the Puppy Class, otherwise, start with Basic Beginner Class.

The Heel Class is next.

There are two tracts after the Heel Class. For those interested in competition, there is Introduction to Novice Competition. For others, the Advanced Beginner / Canine Good Citizen.

The other classes such as Four on the Floor and Tricks can be taken at any time.

Four on the Floor is a prerequisite for the Introduction to Off-Leash Class.

Currently, private lessons are for current or past students to continue to refine skills developed in group classes. Private lessons are available a few times a month at Riverside Animal Care Center. Send an email to nobaddogsohio@gmail.com for more information.

I typically do not do "board and train". Furthermore, I do not recommend "board and train" as a training method or behavior solution.

Q: Why not?

A: Done properly, “board and train” is a very time-consuming process. To properly teach a skill, there needs to be trust between the dog and the teacher. This takes several days, if not weeks, to create. Once the dog is comfortable, then he can be taught skills. Teaching and understanding the skill takes time. Just because a dog will perform a task, doesn’t make it reliable. Dogs do not generalize well. For a skill to become reliable, the dog needs to practice in different situations, environments, and stressors, which all take an enormous amount of time. On the rare occasion that I take a board and train client, I usually have the dog for at least 2 to 3 months.

Teaching the dog is only part of the equation. You, the owner, will need training too to be able to continue working with your dog. If you want to maintain good behavior, you must reinforce it.

Q. What about the facilities that guarantee results in just 10 days?

A. Because of the tight time limits, these facilities use coercion and force to get the dog to comply and threaten them with pain if they don’t. There is no way to properly teach a single skill, let alone multiple skills, and make them reliable in 10 days!

When you pick up your dog, they will have it perform various tasks to show you they have trained it. But really, what they have shown is that the dog will perform under the threat of a dog trainer.

These facilities send your dog home on a choke chain, a prong collar, or a shock collar. Most people are not comfortable using such tools, and so when they go back to the board and train facility to complain that the dog is not trained, they simply tell you that you did not follow through with what they told you. The real problem is the skill was not properly trained. The dog will only perform it under threat. A skill that is not transferable from the trainer to another person is not a skill that the dog completely understood. It is not reliable.

Coercive methods create collateral mental damage. Punishment is hard on the dog. They learn that people are not always nice. They learn to fear people. Most dogs come home a shell of their former selves. Many come home with aggression issues as they have learned to be defensive and aggressive while trying to protect themselves.