dog behind bars
Behavioral Dog Training2025-12-17T21:20:12-05:00

Our Approach To Behavioral Training

Ongoing behavioral issues pose a significant challenge for many urban dogs and their human parents. These issues often result in the dogs being excluded from family outings, leading to extended periods of isolation, lack of exercise, and mental stimulation. Some dogs are forced to wear restraining equipment such as muzzles, gentle-leaders, and​ no-pull harnesses​​​​, that limit exploration and natural movement, risk injury, and diminish the joy of even a simple walk. Moreover, they frequently miss out on social interactions with other dogs and people. These restrictions, in turn, can exacerbate the initial behavioral issues, creating a vicious cycle.

To bring some clarity to our approach behavioral training, we group behavioral issues into three categories:

Bad Habits & Manners

(“Surface” Problems)

The dog is relatively happy and confident but doesn’t know all the rules of their household, doesn’t clearly understand what their handler is asking them to do, or does not have a reasonable incentive to behave differently.

Examples: Jumping on guests, counter-surfing, barking for attention, playful nipping, pooping and/or peeing in the house, pulling on the leash out of excitement, etc.

The Fix: Better obedience training while properly meeting dog’s well-being needs.

Emotional Reactions

(“Deep” Problems)

The dog is acting out of fear, anxiety, or frustration. Their brain is in survival mode.

Examples: Incessant barking, separation anxiety, resource guarding, aggressive behavior towards specific dogs and/or people, etc.

The Fix: Behavior modification and management of the dog and their environment. Before changing how the dog acts, one would have to help the dog change how they feel about the trigger. Depending on several factors, this can be a long and arduous process.

Innate Behaviors

(“Permanent” Problems)

Behaviors that are hard-wired into the dog’s DNA, or cemented into their brain because they missed the necessary exposure and/or care during the critical window for socialization.

Examples: Chasing, guarding, digging, herding,  severe anxiety in urban settings and/or severe “stranger danger” due to a lack of proper socialization during puppyhood, etc.

The Fix: Management and redirection. Unfortunately, one cannot train out genetics or undo a missed critical window.

Note: Classifying the behaviors of complex creatures is inherently imperfect, as many of them don’t fit neatly into just one category. For instance, in dogs, aggression towards strangers can arise from acquired habits, anxiety, genetic factors, or some combination of all three.

Consider This

Rethink behavioral training

When dogs display problematic behaviors, many people ask “Why does my dog do that?”, and usually expect a simple answer that provides clarity and a relatively straightforward solution… usually involving some type of extrinsic motivation that elicits a desired behavior, in that particular moment. However, this usually fails to address the root cause of the problem.

Behaviors are snapshots of what’s going on with the dog, at that particular moment in time, with most of the underlying causes hidden from our view. Because of that, it’s not always enough to analyze a particular behavior, but rather to look for patterns.

In our opinion, a more useful question is “How did my pup become the dog who would do such a thing?”. This forces one to look at the bigger picture, and find a holistic approach to addressing the behavioral patterns that raised concerns.

Private Sessions &

Zoom Consultations

For help with specific behavioral issues, we provide in-person sessions and Zoom consultations with the goal of teaching the dog’s parent how to better understand their dog’s needs and to eliminate, minimize, or manage their unwanted behaviors.

Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

My previous dog had life long behavioral issues. How can I prevent that from happening again?2023-09-03T11:41:11-04:00

Taking a proactive approach to your dog’s training is the most effective way to both tackle and avert ingrained behavioral problems.

Provided that a dog is in good physical and neurological health, the following key steps should be taken to prevent the onset of behavioral issues: firstly, prioritize proper socialization during the early puppy days; secondly, ensure the dog’s needs for physical exercise, emotional engagement, and mental stimulation are met on a daily basis; and lastly, begin teaching the dog at a young age to make appropriate choices and that actions have consequences.

For more details, contact us and we will get back to you shortly.

My dog is terrified to be in the city. When out of the house, she trembles, and tries to run away and hide. Can you help?2023-09-04T09:44:46-04:00

To be comfortably acclimated to city living, dogs generally need extensive exposure to urban settings between the ages of 7 to 16 weeks. If this critical period is missed and the puppy exhibits anxiety in response to urban stimuli, those behaviors are likely to continue throughout her life. While one can make some progress in managing these issues through exposure therapy, the opportunity for complete acclimation is largely lost after that initial timeframe.

We recommend finding and working with a dog behaviorist who specializes in that.

For more details, contact us; we will get back to you shortly.

My dog cannot be trusted around food, and whenever he gets the chance, he steals it off our counters? Can you help?2023-09-04T13:02:43-04:00

For family dogs to fully integrate into our lives and be enjoyable companions, they need to understand that there are certain rules and boundaries (which can vary from family to family) they cannot cross. Among those boundaries should be how they interact with food. It is necessary for the dog’s parent to learn how to set those boundaries in a way that their dog understands and accepts. Navigating this aspect is essential for a dog’s seamless integration into family life, and we can help through our private sessions and/or Zoom consultations.

Providing your dog is friendly with all other dogs and people, and does not have any severe signs of anxiety, we recommend considering our obedience board-training program as well.

For more details, contact us; we will get back to you shortly.

My dog is leash-aggressive. Can you help?2023-09-04T13:02:08-04:00

It depends. We would first need to clarify what you mean by “aggressive.” It’s not uncommon for new dog parents to miscategorize their dog’s exuberance as displays of aggression.

Assuming that your dog does display aggressive behavior, but only when being walked on a leash, then “yes,” we can help.

If your dog is generally aggressive towards other dogs and/or people, we recommend finding and working with a dog behaviorist who specializes in that.

For more details, contact us and we will get back to you shortly.

 

My dog pulls on the leash. Can you help?2023-09-04T13:02:23-04:00

Leash pulling is one of the most common behavioral problems people experience with their dogs. To fix that, the dog and her parent will need to learn clear communication, and we can help with that through our private sessions and/or Zoom consultations.

Providing your dog is friendly with all other dogs and people, and does not have any severe signs of anxiety, we recommend considering our obedience board-training program as well.

For more details, contact us; we will get back to you shortly.

Behavioral Training Rates

Zoom Consultation
session
$150per 1 hr session
    Private Session
    session
    $300per 1 hr session
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