Full Life Behavior & Training

05/26/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Dg69-Cn-E

Important notice: Enrollment for my 3-weeks live program Triple Helix is currently open.. I run it 2-3x a year and it will give you a deep dive into everythi...

05/24/2026

This article does a great job breaking down the various training and behavior certifications out there. It can be confusing. I'm a CDBC (Certified Dog Behavior Consultant).

Find out what those letters behind a dog trainer or canine behavior consultant name actually mean so you are better prepared to hire a dog trainer.

05/22/2026

Clients sometimes get confused or frustrated at the beginning stages of a behavior modification plan because they don't always understand why we don't immediately jump in to just "fix" their problem. I wish we could, but working with behavior problems is like therapy. It's a step by step and sometimes slow process of getting to the root cause of the dogs unwanted behaviors. It's much more in-depth than just teaching basic manners to a dog with no serious issues.

Step 1: Manage the environment for safety of all humans and animals involved.
- Pet gates, closed doors, leashes, muzzles once the dog is ready to wear one. It's not fancy but 100% necessary.

Step 1.5: Rule out any potential medical causes of the behavior.
- You can't train away pain/illness and animals behave defensively when they don't feel well.

Step 2: Manage the environment so the dog no longer practices or receives and reinforcement for detrimental emotional responses and unwanted behaviors.
- They can't' learn better emotional responses and new behaviors while also practicing the old ones. At best you'll get a mix of both.

Step 2.5: I always give clients information to review to learn how to interpret dog body language/communication.
- This is extremely important as the dog sets the pace of the exercises and the clients needs to know when to slow down and how to communicate what they've observed clearly to me.

Step 3: Teach the client some basic leash handling and training skills.
- I can't teach the fancy stuff if a client awkward with the simple parts.

Step 4: Work to adjust the dogs emotional responses.
- Emotions such as fear, anxiety, stress, frustrations, or over excitement are always a factor with behavior problems.

Step 5: Teach behaviors that help the dog live successfully with their human family.
- Animals can't learn or respond when overwhelmed emotionally so step 4 always has to be addressed first.

Part of this process also involves adjusting for the individual dog's needs. We start with what is known to work well for the majority of dogs and tweak as we go for the needs of the individual.

I give a lot of information in writing as this saves the client money since they can go over it without me physically there and I know it's not possible to remember everything I say during a consultation. This also helps us get to the training portions where it's necessary for me to be actively showing the client what to do sooner. I'm always happy to review any of this information with a client in a different format as reading is not how everyone learns best.

04/28/2026

Something that keeps happening, and I can't figure out why, is clients not telling me that they need help with something.

If you don't see information you are expecting from me, let me know. It probably went to your spam and I can re-send. I am human and do sometimes forget things, but am usually pretty on top of getting clients what they are promised.

Also, if you struggle with email, texting, filling out the behavior questionnaire, etc., you have to tell me so I can come up with an alternative. I can only help if I know what the issue is.

04/15/2026

03/12/2026

I guess I'm famous! (Not really, lol.)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisha Fritz. Alisha, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?I’ve always loved working with animals and majored in biology, so I’m not surprised I ended up working with pet behavior professionally. I....

03/02/2026

Clients often ask me if it's necessary to use food to reward your dog forever. The answer is technically no, but why not? They love it and they have to eat anyway.

My dogs today got me thinking about this. They are rewarded regularly for a variety of behaviors that are useful around the house. There's a contractor currently here removing cinder block walls in our basement. It's loud so the two bigger dogs are set up in exercise pens in the garage. This is not something they're used to at all.

After I let them out in the yard for awhile, I asked them to "hop in", which is the same cue that I use for getting in their crates. They ran right into their pens, happily expecting cookies. It's made today much easier.

Why not consistently reward behavior you want the dog to do? It'll pay off throughout their lives.

02/10/2026

I love how I get lots of people calling saying they're interested in me because I charge less than so and so, and then the occasional person who thinks I'm too expensive.

I promise, my prices are competitive. If anything, I'm a little on the low end as I don't want to price out everyday people who want help for their pets.

Keep in mind, I travel to the client's home and my certification is more specialized than a standard trainer (if they even have one). You get what you pay for. Except sometimes not because board and train programs that use shock collars and prong collars on absolutely every dog no matter the situation are usually pretty pricey.

Send a message to learn more

01/28/2026

I passed! I've been certified under a previous organization, but am switching to this one: