Frequently Asked Questions
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Where do you conduct your training sessions?
We can train in my local park in Allied Gardens, my backyard, my large covered back patio, and on the sidewalks in my neighborhood with real world distractions. How long does it take to get an appointment with you? Typically I can get you on the books within 10-30 days as I only take on a limited amount of new clients per week. This means you do not have to wait more than a week. Why does it take so long to get hear back from you from our initial phone call? On a daily basis I receive an average of 5-10 potential new clients calls that are referred by veterinarians, current clients, and or Yelp. I do not use a sales person in my business as I want to personally talk with each and every potential client to make sure it is a good fit for each of us. Current clients with training questions are called back first then potential new clients are called back. Currently I work Monday thru Saturday and take Sundays off. You can expect a phone call back within 24-48 hours. Thank you for your patience as at times I am overwhelmed with new client calls. What days and times do you see clients? Current appointment times: Tuesday thru Saturday 10am to 4pm Can I send you a text? Phone calls are the best way to communicate with me. If you have a question about training, I probably have 4-5 follow up questions for you so communicating thru text and email becomes simply too cumbersome. Feel free to call and we can chat on the phone as much as you like. What training methods do you use? The term that fits best is "Balanced Trainer". After 15 years of training 5,000+ dogs, I have found that a balanced approach to training dogs absolutely works best. The first 6 years I trained as a Bark Buster franchisee in Beverly Hills. When I came back to San Diego to start Sit Stay Come Dog Training I began to take as many continuing education classes as possible with the International Association of Canine Professionals. I have also taken private lessons with some of the top trainers in the country. My approach is calm, firm, fair and consistent with positive reinforcement as a foundation. We always work at the dog's speed and comprehension level, not the trainers speed or the owners speed. When we rush or push a dog too quickly or too forcibly, just like with a human, the brain shuts down and training/learning stops. If you have to yell a command at your dog, then your dog has not been properly trained. My goal is to train you to train your dog - then your dog will listen to you. Do you use treats to train dogs? Usually, but not always. We always use treats when training a new behavior. Positive reinforcement is key to training dogs. Once the dog knows the command, then the treats can be phased out. Beware of any trainer that espouses that they don't use treats as you will have to be forceful and harsh to make your dog comply - think military school. People learn best with positive reinforcement just as dogs do. Some of my clients want to phase out the treats, but some clients want to continue treat training long after the dog is trained. It is up to you. Can you take my dog for a couple of weeks and return them fully trained? Currently I do not offer Board and Train. Do you have group classes? Currently I do not teach group classes. How long are your training session? Training sessions generally run about 1 hour so we are not rushing the dog into new behaviors. I believe in a slow and steady training process. If we push a dog too quickly to stop an unwanted behavior or to learn a new behavior, this can cause stress on the dog and have the dog shut down or become unmotivated. Do you offer a Guarantee? The Awesome Dog and Awesome Puppy training program comes with a Lifetime Guarantee of training. As much as I want to guarantee your dog will never misbehave, we are still dealing with dogs and they do have free will. Of course, training and consistency will give the best results. My guarantee is that I will provide as many lessons and as much phone support that you will ever need to have a well behaved dog. If a misbehavior comes back, simply call and know that help is on the way. Many of my dog’s problems happen at my home. Wouldn’t it be better to do the training there instead of some place else? Well, ‘behavior is behavior’. Which means that your dog needs to learn new behaviors thru training – specifically obedience commands. Where your dog learns those commands is not as important as teaching the commands and being consistent with the new behaviors. Does your dog struggle when the doorbell rings or when visitors arrive? Your dog does not have a doorbell or visitor problem. They have a training and impulse control problem. The fix is simple. We teach the dog a sit or down command which they can hold for an extended period of time, preferably on a place or dog bed. Once the dog knows the commands then we can teach the dog to do those commands anywhere and even with distractions. In fact, the benefit in doing sessions at our location is that it makes it more challenging for your dog. Practicing in a new environment along with seeing new sites and smelling new smells, can make it a bigger challenge for your dog. We want to make the training as challenging as possible so that every day life is easier to manage. Most dogs simply need to learn a new way of living, a new relationship with their owner, a new way of communicating and then it’s important that those new skills be applied EVERYWHERE; your home, your neighborhood, the pet store, and more. What makes you different than other dog trainers? A good dog trainer will make it easy for you to train your dog. Here is the big secret in dog training - consistently use solid training techniques that are easy to follow that build a rock solid relationship with your dog. If you are reaching out to me, your dog is probably misbehaving and you want to turn that relationship around from one of adversarial to one of bonded. Dog training should always be relationship centered. By keeping things simple and easy to understand, your confidence in working with your dog will rise. No more wondering if you are doing the right thing. That means I have to teach you simple and easy to follow training techniques and to give you easy to follow directions for your daily homework. As much as I love working with dogs, I also really love working with the owner. To be honest, you probably did not teach your dog to misbehave, but I know this, with the right tools and coaching, you are the answer to having a well behaved member of the family. |
