Jess Trains Dogs, LLC

Jess Trains Dogs, LLC Jess Trains Dogs is Central Ohio’s premier resource for all things dog training.

From basic obedience, to behavior modification, to service dogs and trick dogs, we do it all!

07/17/2025

🚨 Important Update from Jess Trains Dogs 🚨

We want to be transparent with our clients and followers about a disappointing and unprofessional experience we recently had while collaborating on a service dog case.

Earlier this year, Jess entered into a signed contract with a client to train a diabetic alert service dog named Pip. The program was structured as a collaboration: Jess would provide scent and alert training (for which she holds formal certification), and another trainer—Brian McCoy of Genius Dogs—would handle basic obedience.

Unfortunately, despite Jess’s repeated attempts to coordinate and complete the scent training, Bryan refused to provide access to the dog, mishandled scent samples (including leaving them in a hot car), and disregarded best practices for scent training altogether. On top of that, when Brian reached out to Jess to tell her about the ruined scent samples, hedid not want to tell the client. He was planning to lie to the client until Jess agreed to call the client on his behalf to let her know what happened. When Jess professionally followed up with Brian, he cut her out of the program entirely and blocked her on social media.

We take our work—and the trust families place in us—very seriously. Service dog training is a life-changing process, and every trainer involved has an obligation to act ethically and professionally. Jess remains ready and willing to complete the scent training portion of the program, and we’re pursuing appropriate remedies to protect our business and ensure accountability.

If you’re considering service dog training or need help with scent detection, behavior modification, or puppy development, we will always show up with transparency, evidence-based practices, and professionalism.

– Jess & the Jess Trains Dogs Team 🐾

06/13/2025

Here’s the longer video of Becca and me working with Link on his Rexspecs this video shows nose targeting and and permission based training methods

06/13/2025

First video was cut short for some reason here’s the full video I have another longer one I may post as well.

06/12/2025

Today I worked with Link and his handler Rebecca Yody on using cooperative care exercises to introduce him to his new Rex specs. Link already has a great foundation of cooperative care exercises such as chin and body targeting which we use in this video.

06/02/2025

⚠️🚨 UPDATE: STOLEN FOSTER DOGS 🚨⚠️
⚠️🚨 UPDATE: STOLEN FOSTER DOGS 🚨⚠️
⚠️🚨 UPDATE: STOLEN FOSTER DOGS 🚨⚠️

**We have verified with the Columbus Division of Police that we can share the details surrounding the individual who has stolen two of our dogs: Emma & Chandler.**

MISSING DETAILS:
⏰ 5/30/2025 @ 7:30 PM
📍 Noe Bixby Rd & Coventry Dr, Columbus OH 43232
🐶 Emma’s PetFBI Posting: https://petfbi.org/api/view/720229/90e8081b #/

1️⃣ 5/5/2025: Our rescue director notified the designated foster — Ashley Marie McKendrick — that Emma had an approved adopter. Ashley stated that she was not returning the 2 dogs in her care and ceased communication with the rescue director.

2️⃣ 5/29/2025: Ashley reached out to our rescue director to release the dogs, after admitting that she had tried to rehome the stolen property via Facebook. She agreed to release the dogs on 5/30/2025 at 7PM.

3️⃣ 5/30/2025: Our CEO and the new foster of the dogs arrived to Ashley’s apartment, where she greeted them at her front stoop. Our CEO was only present to answer any logistical questions and did not engage with Ashley. Ashley repeatedly interrupted the foster to shift her attention to the CEO, making rude remarks and instigatory statements. When the foster and Ashley were done speaking, Ashley attempted to withhold the dogs. Our CEO reached for the leashes, and Ashley struck her in the face. During the ensuing altercation, Emma escaped out of sight and Chandler went back into the home.

WHAT WE KNOW—
‼️ Emma & Chandler are both stolen property.
‼️ Emma went missing with no reported sightings.
▫️Emma was reported missing by Ashley and by COPAW. PetFBI has been notified and removed Ashley’s posting.
‼️ Ashley reported Chandler as missing through PetFBI the next day.
▫️We are unable to verify if Chandler is actually missing, but can confirm he was not at the time of the altercation.
‼️ Ashley has been trying to independently rehome our dogs online. We are unsure of the amount of money being asked.
‼️ PetFBI is aware of the situation and continues to remove Ashley's posts, which are now being posted with alternate contact details and fake names.

HOW YOU CAN HELP—
✔️ Share Emma & Chandler’s missing posts
✔️ Keep your eyes open for rehoming posts

⚠️ If you see these dogs, DO NOT RETURN them to anyone except:
🔹 Central Ohio’s Programs for Animal Welfare (COPAW)
🔹 Franklin County Dog Shelter

Their microchips and rabies certificates are registered under the organization, and they are legally owned by COPAW. We are working with police and legal counsel to handle the theft and assault.

📩 Contact us immediately with any sightings, tips, or rehoming posts. Please share this post widely—we need the community’s help to bring them home safely and prevent further harm.

So you want your dog to not jump? To stop barking? To value your input? What have you done to achieve this? I get a lot...
05/25/2025

So you want your dog to not jump? To stop barking? To value your input? What have you done to achieve this? I get a lot of owners that say they have “a bad dog” to which I usually respond with “no such thing”. Behaviors aren’t inherently bad. They’re inconvenient to human standards and what we percieve as wanted an unwanted.

This however doesn’t make them bad for example. You have a herding group dog that is chasing after cars lunging and barking. This is what this dog was made to do and without an outlet for this dog’s instincts it has no positive outlet without replacing this behavior for another one such as treibball or using a flirt pole. Dog behaviors continue because we allow them to. Whether it’s jumping, barking, pulling on the leash, or begging at the table, dogs repeat behaviors that have been reinforced. Regardless of if we want them to be reinforced or not.

If you want your dog to stop doing something, it’s not enough to simply tell them "no" or try to punish the behavior. You need to teach them what to do instead. Dogs don’t generalize so what that means is we have to show them the behaviors we want and repeat them several timeses with distance duration and distractions.

The key is to replace unwanted behaviors with appropriate alternatives. Want your dog to stop jumping? Teach them to sit for attention. Tired of leash pulling? Reward them for walking beside you. When you reinforce behaviors you do want, those become the new habits.

TLDR: Dont just say no show your dog what you want from them for a more harmonious life.

Comment
Reinforcement History for more info on this topic!

Happy Monday and second day of understanding your dogs behavior. Today we will be talking about variable reinforcement. ...
04/01/2025

Happy Monday and second day of understanding your dogs behavior. Today we will be talking about variable reinforcement. Variable reinforcement is one of the most effective ways to strengthen behaviors in dog training because it keeps dogs motivated and engaged while reinforcing desired actions more reliably over time.

The Definition:
Variable reinforcement means rewarding a behavior intermittently rather than every single time it occurs. Instead of giving a treat every time a dog sits, for example, you might reward it sometimes but not always, and you vary the pattern in an unpredictable way.

Why it works:

Increases Persistence: Dogs become more likely to continue performing the behavior because they don’t know when the next reward will come. This mimics natural reinforcement patterns (like hunting or foraging), making the behavior more resilient.
Prevents Extinction: If a dog always receives a reward and then suddenly stops getting it, the behavior may weaken. However, if a behavior is already conditioned through variable reinforcement, the dog is less likely to stop performing it even when rewards are less frequent.

Reduces Dependence on Rewards: Dogs trained with continuous reinforcement (treat every time) may only perform the behavior when they see a treat. Variable reinforcement helps dogs respond even when they don’t see an immediate reward.
Enhances Focus and Engagement: Since the reward is unpredictable, dogs stay more engaged, paying closer attention in anticipation of the possibility of a reward.
How to Use It Effectively:
Start with Continuous Reinforcement: When teaching a new behavior, reward every time until the dog understands the command.
Transition Gradually: Once the dog is reliably performing the behavior, start rewarding only some of the time.
Use Different Rewards: Instead of only treats, mix in verbal praise, toys, or playtime.
Keep the Schedule Unpredictable: Avoid patterns (like every third sit) so the dog doesn’t anticipate and stop trying when they expect no reward.
Variable reinforcement is the principle behind why behaviors like begging or chasing squirrels persist—dogs don’t always get a reward (food or the chase), but sometimes they do, which keeps them trying! When used correctly in training, it creates strong, reliable behaviors

I offer my clients a greater understanding of why our dogs perform behaviors and how to make sure they continue to do so. I would love to help you help your dog!

Are you interested in understanding more why your dog does certain behaviors comment “Reinforcement history” for more in...
03/30/2025

Are you interested in understanding more why your dog does certain behaviors comment “Reinforcement history” for more info!! Have you ever heard reinforcement history? Reinforcement history is defined as influencing individuals past experiences with reinforcement schedules and contingencies, influencing their current behavior and response to stimuli. To give a human example to start would be. A child uses the potty and is rewarded with a piece of candy. Over time the reinforcement=candy creates a positive conditioned emotional response. The more often the behavior is repeated and reinforced the likelihood of the behavior happening in the future occurs. In this case creating a potty trained child. Let’s give a dog example. A Dog enjoys stealing items and as soon as the dog has the items the handler gives chase to get said item back from the dog. Dog then realizes oh hey I steal item and then I get to play chase with my owner. The dog has access to steal stuff off the floor and completes this behavior over 50 times in a week. This dog has a very strong reinforcement history of playing their “game” that they’ve created. Often times behaviors are self reinforcing meaning we don’t have to do anything for the dog to develop reps of the annoying behavior. Often times though reinforcement history strongly applies to the specific handler. So I can come into a situation show the dog a new behavior do it a few times to make sure the dog is understanding then hand the dog back to the owner and then the dog will offer the old behavior. It’s important we make it more rewarding to do the new behavior than the priorly reinforced annoying behavior. So I make sure the owners ability to do the behavior I taught is fluent and have them do it repeatedly until we essentially make the prior behavior extinct aka the extinction method. Generally it takes 500 reps of a behavior to become fluent. I always tell my clients that it’s up to them to reinforce when I’m away you can’t expect a behavior with a strong reinforcement history to just change immediately after a few sessions. Making sure I hold my client’s accountable that way they don’t continue to struggle with previous behaviors due to lack of reinforcing. This being said by all means owners can do as much or as little as they see fit if they want to be relax on how often they reinforce or how often they allow behaviors to happen it all contributes to what is being reinforced. So when you go into a training session say to yourself. My dog is what I put into them and I get what I put in.

Address

Columbus, OH

Opening Hours

Monday 2pm - 8pm
Tuesday 2pm - 8pm
Wednesday 2pm - 8pm
Thursday 2pm - 8pm
Friday 2pm - 8pm
Saturday 11am - 8pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16147213647

Website

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