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House Stark Dog Academy, Covering Greenville, Greenville, SC (2025)

09/22/2025

This video is a montage of some amazing learning to turn clockwise on the “touch” pad as this is a critical part of the focused heel process I teach

09/22/2025

In this video I am working with my clients amazing dog Jeter on putting together all of the focused heel steps he has learned in the past month of his journey to demonstrate how this structured type of walking can be used in open spaces.

The focused heel is meant to be a lure based and mainly positive only type of walking style to repetitively teach the dog how fun and engaging it is to be walking in this dedicated box on the left side of their handler

09/16/2025

In this video my clients amazing dog Ruby, who is a is demonstrating step 6 of the focused heel process I teach. At this point we have already established the lure of modifying the dog’s behavior to check in with their owner and using the “touch” pad (a bowl) to tighten the heel and get them used to turning clockwise while in the heel box area. Step 3 and 4 are walking forward and clock wise using a wall or the touch pad.This is step 6 where I am taking all those steps and using them in open space. The steps I take don’t involve an ecollar or any tool for the focused heel process until step 7 when a boundary needs to be set to reinforce the command to work in all situations.When used properly adversie tools are only meant to be used to set boundaries and reinforce tasks that the dog completely understands that should be taught with lure work or leash pressure. Also tools should always be conditioned properly before used for any type of training

09/16/2025

Yup this picture pretty much sums it up! Being a professional takes years of hands on experience working with hundreds of dogs and constantly learning and working on improving your craft. Now there are 3 major styles that exist and a multitude of different approaches that of different styles might not agree with each other on but I think a common ground we can all reach is that it takes hands of experience, consistent results, and satisfied clients to consider yourself a professional dog trainers that meets the criteria to give out on social media

I would argue this topic has a lot to do with the biggest issue I have seen in the past 10 years with our society now in this country, which stretches way further then just ingnorant dog owners! The issue is the idea and actual meaning of … millions of people are being falsely mislead to believe that freedom of speech means you can say or do whatever you want! I was taught that freedom of speech means if you have something positive and respectful to say to help others learn or change something that is wrong you are welcome to do so in a non violent or threatening way only if you have good intentions in mind!

I am gonna sound old saying this, as I am now 35, but in high school and college we didn’t have social media like it was today and I never experienced so many people saying and doing whatever they want. When I was growing up all people, not just children, did more listening then talking. When it’s a subject you are not an expert on it’s ok to listen and learn instead of argue and get triggered because you don’t agree on something you aren’t even an expert on in the first place. I guess what I am saying is common sense died at some point when I graduated college.

Social media platforms like YouTube and tiktok were designed to help others learn and connect with each other and build true human relationships and ways to grow together.

All this directly relates to the dog training industry and any industry where the opinion of others is involved. I always embrace and love astute people that are eager to learn and question my methods because they want to understand why what I do works! However questions and insulting a dog trainer when you have no experience or criteria to do so is delusional and you are just wasting peoples hard earned free time and the only thing your drama is doing is helping the person you don’t like get more views.

If the people of our country had more common sense when they saw a video they didn’t like they would just ignore it so it gains no traction or save it so they can use their proper freedom of speech to make their own video on why the other video is wrong and what proof and information they have to prove their point.

09/16/2025

In this video I am working on leash frustration behavioral issues with my clients dog Max and explaining to her the difference between behavioral modification and changing a dog’s mindset vs bribing.On the and social media platforms I see too many dog owners and other post videos and being to quick to give treats to or even worse they yank the dog with a leash or provide some type of correction just when the dog stares or fixates and then quickly shoves a treat or food into the dog’s mouth for looking at the owner! That technique is bribing and not behavioral modification and will only change the dogs mindset to understanding they get food whenever they see another dog and then they will turn into a demanding hyena!The proper technique is to ignore fixiating and only correct a dog for breaking their implied stay on a place bed. Reward with praise or pets for the dog breaking fixiating and when they go into a relaxed state and pay when a treat only when they choose to ignore the other triggers and check in with the handler.Teaching implied stays, down, and place are a first step to being able to get to this type of training. More videos to come on leash frustration and using a place bed to help change dogs mindset in a positive way to overcome any reactivity issues they have 😊🐶

08/27/2025

Here is a great video demonstrating how confident, calm, and focused a should be when walking around a busy city or any stressful situation. This video is a small clip of a walk I did around Downtown Indianapolis with my service dog/ Demo dog and this is the first time she has ever been to this city and this is our first walk around the city together on the trip.Now I understand to some this might not seem like a lot and in fact is an expected norm but unfortunately that is far from the truth! Too many would fail in this situation by barking or lunging at everything they see (wether it be out of fear, aggression, or just being attention needy and desire to be pet by every person that walks by) Also, most dogs would fail in this situation by just not understanding how to walk properly and instead be pulling all over the place to smell everything.Structured obidence is always the first step to master being successful in stressful environments. Only after you have a respectful, fun, and leadership way to control and guide your dog can you work on desensitization and postive association training in these environments.Far too often I see videos and in person that can’t handle these situations because they spent too much time on alerting and tasks and missed the structured part of the training where the dog learns to look towards you for direction and not just to alert!I am located in and would love to help anyone looking for help with dog training. More videos to come on structured walks, confidence building, desensitization training, postive association training, and much more 😊🐶…

08/25/2025

UPCOMING DOG TRAINING LABOAR DOG SPECIAL; To all the dog lovers across Greenville and the Upstate

With the change in seasons just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to get your dog ready for the cooler days ahead. Fall is an ideal season to work on public manners, leash skills, and building your dog’s confidence—and if you’ve been waiting for the right time to start training, consider this your sign.

From August 25 through September 8, I’ll be offering a special opportunity for those ready to take the next step in their dog’s journey. If you register for an 8-session package, you’ll get to choose between an extra session or a $100 discount.

Whether you're working on pulling, recall, staying calm in busy places, or just trying to build better communication with your dog, my approach focuses on helping dogs become reliable companions in real-world settings. The earlier we start preparing for those cooler public adventures, the better—and safer—your experiences will be.

Many of the dogs I work with have more complex issues: reactivity, aggression, insecurity, leash frustration, guarding behaviors, and general fearfulness. I’ve seen firsthand how overwhelming it can feel when every walk or guest visit turns into a struggle. But I promise you, there is a path forward. I’ve dedicated my training philosophy to resolving unwanted behavior through structure, clear boundaries, and positive communication—not force, not gimmicks, and never shame.

My name is Travis Treffinger, and I’m the trainer behind House Stark Dog Academy. For over 2 years now, I’ve worked with clients across the Upstate, providing in-home training as well as structured public sessions. You’ll find hundreds of training videos on my social media (search House Stark Dog Academy on TikTok or Facebook), and I encourage you to reach out to any past or current clients for honest feedback. I also offer free meet-ups at Unity Park or Conestee Park if you’d like to observe a demonstration or ask questions in person. My cell phone number is 484-942-5358 and website is https://house-stark.squarespace.com/

I work with all breeds, but I’ve had the most experience with high-drive working dogs—Shepherds, Pitbulls, Doodles, Labs, Aussies, Boxers, Huskies, Retrievers, Frenchies, Rottweilers, and even Aruban street dogs. These dogs thrive when they’re given structure and a sense of purpose, and I specialize in helping owners bring that out in them.

My methods are balanced and reward-based, blending calm leadership with fun, clear communication. I'm not a fan of old-school alpha dominance methods, and I don't rely on "positive only" tactics that ignore boundaries either. Dogs do best with consistency, clarity, and mutual respect. That’s what I teach.
Now—there are some stories I want to share, not for drama, but to help others avoid the same pain some of my clients have endured. These are real situations from dog owners who came to me after following advice that made things worse.

In one case, a family was told their dog’s aggression was their fault, and that they should scatter food and walk away whenever their dog became hostile. Unfortunately, this only reinforced the behavior and left them afraid in their own home. In another situation, a dog labeled “untouchable” is now on the path to becoming a medical alert service dog—without the heavy sedatives and fear-based approaches they were previously using. I’ve also worked with clients whose dogs were physically mishandled by other trainers using outdated and harmful techniques like hip pinches and kicks.

It’s important to know that not all certifications equal experience. You deserve a trainer who is not only skilled, but also committed to working with you to ensure lasting results—because training isn’t just about the dog, it’s about the relationship between both of you.
If you’re considering training, here’s what I recommend:
1. Meet the trainer in person. Watch how their own dog behaves.
2. Talk to real clients—don’t rely on vague reviews.
3. Look for depth in feedback. Good trainers earn more than just “he’s great!”—they earn trust through transformation.
Dog behavior problems often stem from a lack of restful sleep, unclear direction, or training methods that confuse rather than guide. I’ve spent much of my career helping dogs recover from poor training experiences, and I’ll continue doing so for as long as I’m in this work.

If you’d like to hear more about how I train or want to chat—even just for 20 minutes—I’m here to help. Whether we work together long-term or I simply point you in the right direction, it would be my privilege to support your journey with your dog.

I'm grateful to serve this community and to be part of the lives of so many amazing dogs and their owners!

—Travis Treffinger of House Stark Dog Acadmey

08/22/2025

When teaching loose leash walking through a reward based balanced approach my goal is always for a to be this happy while taking them for walks and training Loose leash walking is one of the first steps I take with my clients in our journey to them having a and it’s one of the most important as it gives the dog clear direction and helps get them in a follower state of mind. I don’t agree at all with alpha theory concepts of making a dog submit to their owners, however dogs to look up to strong confident leaders.My goal is always using the most respectful methods possible to help every properly communicate to their dog in a way that they see them as a leader by all the communication methods being safe, fair, fun, but also some slight discomforts to discourage unwanted behavior or set boundaries to hold accountability for expected already learned behaviors.It’s very important every dog owner understands there is a clear difference between happy and excitement! Happy is a dog that has clear direction and is confident in the tasks they are being given to do and have a big smile on their face while doing so, while most importantly remaining calm!Excitement is a dog that isn’t calm and is just in a bad mind state that doesn’t have clear direction and will make a lot of mistakes, like barking or lunging at other people or other dogs. This is avoided by providing clear structure and direction in every day life and while training out in public locations. Which this should already be established in your home first before traveling to public locations with your dog

08/15/2025

Here is an older video from my tik tok demonstrating a very respectable and balanced approach to crate training your dog! The main idea of crate training is to teach your dog that it is their safe place to go in and sleep. The number 1 reason for behavior issues in dogs is always because of a lack of sleep and when you don’t use a crate to teach your dog to go into to be calm and relax and just sleep then their brain and organs don’t fully develop and repair themselves! Puppies need 18 plus hours of sleep a day and all adult dogs need at least 14 plus hours of sleep to be healthy! Dogs that roam around the house and bark at the windows and even worse are left in the back yard are always the dogs with behavioral issues! Dogs don’t need more enrichment activities to drain their energy when they are wild! They need to learn to be calm and bored and that’s it’s ok to do nothing!

07/24/2025

This is the “reverse sit” just like we scripted and have been practicing for months of our journey with Cora. Nah just kidding this wasn’t anything I taught her! dogs are some of the strangest, dramatic, and goofy I have worked with but they are also very smart, loyal, and food motivated! Cora knows how to do sits, downs, place, loose leash walking all the basics and beginner advanced obidence but she still chooses to be a clown at times and it’s hard not to laugh and just enjoy the moment sometimes!Good all encourge their clients to have fun and a good laugh once in awhile but ensure to remain serious in potentially dangerous situations

04/20/2025

Attention all Dog Owners of Greenville and Upstate area!!!
Are you struggling with a dog that suffers from reactivity, aggression, insecurities, fear, resource guarding or any type of unwanted behavior issues, that makes it impossible to go in public with them and/or makes everyday life at home with them harder than it should be. Well, I am posting today to tell you that there is always hope for you and your dog! No matter the issue, in my experience, I have found there is always a way to resolve unwanted behavior in a positive style that has both respectful/ firm boundaries with fun rewards! I would be honored to be the trainer to be there for you and your dog(s) through your dog training journey, whether you have a dog with the mentioned unwanted behavior issues or just looking for a trainer to provide in-home one-on-one private training lessons that lead to training in public locations together.

Hi! My Name is Travis Treffinger, of House Stark Dog Academy (or Stark Dog Academy LLC) and I specialize in working with dogs with reactivity, aggressiveness, fearfulness, and just all the mentioned above behavior issues and so much more. If you search House Stark Dog Academy on google you will see my reviews and my tik tok and Facebook is House Stark Dog Academy (also you are welcome to message any of my current or previous clients that comment on this post as I am sure each one of them would be happy to discuss my training process). I provide free demonstrations for anyone wanting to drive to Unity Park or Constee park. Please feel free to call me at 484-942-5358 or visit my website https://house-stark.squarespace.com/…

My approach to resolving these issues, unwanted dog behavior, is utilizing a reward based balanced dog training style. My focus is always on preventive over corrective and utilizing positive association learning and desensitization learning to teach dogs that the behavior is just not necessary, rather then correcting it out of them or even worse not addressing it all and telling the owner it’s their fault the dog is like this and the dog should be allowed to do what it wants and basically be the king/ queen of their house (yes there are trainers that get tell dog owners this as I have several recent clients that went through this, I have two situations I want to share).

The first step is always teaching structure and basic obedience before working on any type of behavior issues. Every owner must have a solid foundation and way to control their dog before working on helping them get past whatever trigger they may have. In my experience I have found that the whole alpha and old school compulsive-based dog training style is very outdated and just not necessary, but dogs do always look for a strong confident leader. Before you can expect your dog to perform in any situation, they must see their owner as that strong confident leader that is able to communicate with them in a positive and fun way yet firm and strict, when necessary, but only with fair boundaries.
So, this part isn’t my usual post (so please don't feel obligated to read below) but I wanted to share two quick stories on current clients I have and the awful experiences they had and horrible advice they got from their previous trainer;

The first story is about a dog that had issues with being hostile and aggressive towards one member of the family while constantly resource guarding the other. The previous trainers told them its because that member of the family dropped the dog when she was a puppy so she’s fearful of them (so its their fault) and whenever the dog acts out that member of the family should leave the room immediately and then the dog gets rewarded by scatter feeding her food on the ground and that the aggression should just be ignored as the dog will eventually stop on their own.

Well long story short the dog now not only is more aggressive and charges the person and tries to attack the person they don’t like (because them leaving the room and scatter feeding with treats on the ground actually reinforces the unwanted behavior and doesn’t discourage it) and also now the dog barley eats food from their bowl as instead the dog takes the food and leaves it around the house along with all toys to resource guard and charge and bite at anyone that comes near, because that is what they learned to do through training.

When I first met this dog, she was eating/trying to swallow rocks and the owners were told they weren’t allowed to stop the dog from eating rocks or sticks and had no way to teach the dog to drop something they can’t have, and in general providing consequences and boundaries was wrong and inhuman for a dog. The dog was allowed to claim the couch in their living room and if the dog starts being aggressive on the couch they must move and allow the dog to have what the dog wants.

Now I will not call out anyone, but I will say my client’s previous trainer was a “certified dog behavior specialists” with a focus on force free/ positive only methods. Please everyone be aware that to become a certified dog trainer you can just take a test online and have zero physical training experience, no mentorship, or hands experience, or schooling whatsoever! Just take a test online and now you are a certified dog trainer behavior specialist! This training style and certified trainers are usually amazing, but be aware that it is very possible for there to be trainers like this, that even might have good reviews.

On the opposite side of the spectrum my second story is of a current client that previously worked with a dog training and boarding facility that would correct their dog by pinching pressure points on his back hips and when he got aggressive, they would kick him☹! These are horrible old school compulsive and alpha theory techniques. My clients not only saw the pinching happen, but the trainers instructed them on how to properly pinch the pressure points on their back hips, like they were proud of it! I grew up watching Caesar Millon (not a huge fan I will straight up say) and for how great he was with dog psychology and understanding body behavior he also had a lot of old school correction methods that I hated to see, and I always knew there was a better way to set safe boundaries with dogs. Now I have seen plenty of the “physical touch” / pressure point pinch that Caesar would do and when my clients described to me (not showed I didn’t want to see that happen to their dog) what they were taught I think even Caesar would be concerned. They were taught not just a pinch but wrap your fingers completely around the hips and squeeze ☹…. Its horrible to even think about now!

I can tell firsthand the kicking, and the pinching happened because during our training sessions anytime a foot gets too close to the dog, or someone gets too close to touching his back legs he freaks out! Also, the boarding facility had the dog on a choke chain which isn’t the right decision for any dog that weighs less than 20 lbs, and he wasn’t trained in how to walk properly on the collar so the dog was constantly choking and suffocating himself. Also, I would argue that choke chains are just not a good option anymore; Slip leads and martingale collars are always the safer option, with even Prong collars being safer the choke chains or flat collars.

I am honored to have been working in the Greenville/ Upstate area for over 13 months now as I have truly fallen in love with this area and how many dog friendly venues there are and opportunities to train and go with your dogs to get proper socialization and exercise. Also, there are a lot of great trainers in the area to work with to ensure your dog is ready for all these opportunities, however, please be aware that no matter where you live there is always the possibility of hiring the wrong trainer and please don’t go through what some of my clients have gone through.

My goal was never to be the most popular trainer or the richest but just the one that can help as many people as possible in the best way I know how. The truth is I don’t even care if you hire me, I would be happy to help anyone with dog training advice and finding the right trainer. A good dog trainer never makes the owner feel guilty or blames them for the issues with their dog and always shows them the techniques on their own dog before using on your dog! A good dog trainer has spent time learning and continues to learn from other successful dog trainers.

The advice that I would give on finding the right trainer is number 1 finding a dog trainer willing to show you their dog(s) and meet you somewhere in a public location to show how well they behaved in any situation and that their dog can do the things they preach. Number 2 is to talk to previous clients, don’t just read comments or posts but call the clients and talk to them about the process (a lot of them will have similar journeys to you and you might even make a new friend to train with). Number 3 piece of advice is really read in detail the comments and reviews the trainer gets. I can’ t tell you how many Facebook posts I have seen where a trainer or training facility was recommended with a review of “they are the best”, “they did great work with my dog”, “I love these trainers choose them because that’s who I did” etc… True recommendations that provide the first clues that it’s a trainer worth looking into is when there are recommendations that provide details of what the issues were with the dog before training, what the training process was like, how life is now with their dog after training, and most importantly how the trainer is as a person!

In my experience I have found that the number 1 reason behind unwanted dog behavior is lack of sleep (a dog not getting enough healthy sleep by never learning to be calm and understand “the art of doing nothing”) and the number 2 reason is being trained through the wrong methods! For over 60% of the clients I have worked with, a large part of the training process was having to undo what other trainers have done wrong that now caused the dogs reactivity, aggression, etc to be worse/ or just caused it in the first place… or caused something even worse. Number 3 reason is usually the dog just doesn’t have clear direction or a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Attached below are pictures and videos of clients I have trained in the Greenville area. Also please feel free to reach out and ask for a more detailed back story on my dog training education journey. I would be honored to be the dog trainer you choose but at the very least I would love to help in any way I can, even if its just for a 20 minute phone call! 😊

01/24/2025

A little late, or a little early depending on how you look at it but here is some advice on helping your dog that has issues with Fireworks!

Desensitization is a critical process in dog training to help any dog start to accept something that triggers them. Please watch this video and feel free to reply with any questions

House Stark Dog Academy

09/22/2025

09/22/2025

09/16/2025

09/16/2025

09/16/2025

08/27/2025

08/25/2025

08/22/2025

08/15/2025

07/24/2025

04/20/2025

01/24/2025

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Monday	10am - 8pm
Tuesday	10am - 8pm
Wednesday	10am - 8pm
Thursday	10am - 8pm
Friday	10am - 8pm
Saturday	10am - 8pm
Sunday	10am - 8pm