I know that bringing a new puppy home is one of the most exciting events in anyone’s life! I also know that sometimes you need help organizing your thoughts. Having a plan of action ready to go will avoid frustration and those “what do I do now” moments. Puppy classes are great for socializing with other dogs and humans and exploring some basic skills in a distracting environment but they usually do not provide enough information about how to raise your puppy to avoid nuisance or problem behaviors as your puppy matures.
At Dog Relations, I help you integrate your puppy quickly and easily. Puppy training touches upon all aspects of raising and managing your puppy successfully, including: housetraining, crate training (if desired), reinforcing polite manners, addressing and preventing fear and anxiety triggers and much more!
I help you raise your puppy in a kind, force-free atmosphere and teach you to communicate with them as clearly as possible. Gaining an excellent understanding of how positive reinforcement actually works can empower you to shape your dog’s behavior throughout your lives together.
Behavioral puppy training allows you to find a path that satisfies both your and the puppy’s needs by providing a clear path forward. You can influence your puppy’s behavior through well-timed, proper reinforcement and clear body language and, in doing so, help your puppy understand the polite behaviors that will reward them. This atmosphere of conflict-free understanding builds a strong foundation for trust and voluntary cooperation.
Informing guardians how to introduce their puppy to the whole gamut of new experiences in a thoughtful and stress-free way. This allows your puppy to grow into a confident and even-keeled companion who is able to adapt to new situations.
Knowing how to interact and reward your puppy can give you the tools to prevent nuisance behaviors in the first place. By observing your puppy closely and rewarding/reinforcing them appropriately, you can build on good habits and manners that your puppy already offers naturally and use that to build a foundation for a harmonious life for both you and your puppy.
A Comprehensive Behavior Consultation gives you the knowledge and the hands-on tools to both prevent and/or modify possible nuisance behaviors.
When you learn how positive reinforcement actually forges a very clear line of communication and teaches your dog how to earn reinforcement, you can both establish great habits from the get-go, and modify nuisance behaviors into polite behaviors. Behaviors such as barking, jumping up, pulling on a leash, begging at the table, or restlessness at home can easily be avoided in the first place but they can also be replaced by building a great reward history for replacement behaviors.
The Comprehensive Behavior Consultation will allow you to solve and prevent problems by giving you insight into how behaviors work and allowing you to understand the functions of behaviors. Thinking from the dog’s point of view will allow you to fulfill both your dog’s and your own needs at the same time.
If you need support after your 1 month of support that is included in any Comprehensive Consultations, our online check-ins are the perfect solution to ask simple questions and get answers and feedback.
Rather than waiting until your next lesson, book a 15-minute or 30-minute check-in session.
What’s wrong with leaving food out and letting the dog graze throughout the day?
Anything that requires an effort is more appreciated. Things that are taken for granted are not as desirable. So if food is available all the time it becomes much less likely to be a motivating force and is more likely to create a fussy eater.
Fussy eaters are more difficult to reward and can therefore develop behavior issues that are harder to remedy. However, that fussiness can be prevented or remedied easily by making food a valuable commodity.
Additionally, teaching your dog that he does not have to worry about his food or his bowl will prevent resource guarding. For guidance and solutions to this important topic, let DogRelations give you a private dog behavior lesson and show you the many ways you can make feeding fun and educational at the same time.
Destructive chewing should be considered in context and relationship to when the behavior occurs.
If you have a puppy who is teething, the puppy will try to get his teeth on pretty much anything to alleviate teething pain or simply chew on something because it is available and tasty and calming and fun for the puppy. So really the key to solving puppy chewing is: Limiting access to tempting and/or dangerous temptations. Keep your puppy crated or gated and provide him with great chew toys and do not underestimate a puppy’s need to run, play and exercise!
If, however, you find that your dog is chewing on things when left alone you might be dealing with a more serious problem, either boredom or possibly separation anxiety. If your dog tears up the apartment by chewing on couches, door and window frames or desperately tries to get out of the crate you should definitely call a professional trainer for help, especially if you think you have provided the dog with good exercise and mental stimulation and something appropriate and delicious to chew on before you leave the house.
Contact us at DogRelations to learn how you can safely and happily raise your puppy without having your belongings destroyed, prevent separation anxiety. If you have a puppy or dog who might be suffering from separation anxiety, please call us so we can help you and your dog.
Jumping up and nipping are normal dog behaviors among dogs!
Of course when humans get into the mix these behaviors can become a lot less cute and, depending on the intensity, problematic and unacceptable.
Reprimanding or physically pushing back your puppy or dog really only engages you more with the dog when they are behaving inappropriately and therefore reinforces those behaviors especially when they do not know what to do instead!
Of course your best practice for jumping up would be to make staying on the floor far more rewarding for your dog. Ideally that actually means: reinforcing the dog when they are not jumping in order to make the jumping behavior less attractive in general. Behaviors that don’t fulfill the dog’s goal will become less interesting very quickly. As soon as the dog offers an acceptable replacement behavior by even just having all four paws on the floor, reward your dog highly. Additionally, always reward your puppy highly when they are calm, have all four paws on the floor or play nicely with one of their toys.
Help your dog by providing enough mental and some physical exercise and appropriate things to chew and nibble on so they can have an outlet for those very natural urges.
For specific advice and how to time your reinforcements properly contact us at DogRelations and I will be most happy to consult with you, give you individualized advice and teach your dog all the skills they need in private in-home dog lessons.
Pulling on the leash is a natural behavior. Dogs usually like to explore what is up ahead and all around them. The leash obviously constricts freedom of space. Allowing the leash to be tight all the time or pulling the dog back will only increase that behavior:
The easiest way to stop leash pulling is to teach the dog to walk on a loose leash next to you by rewarding the dog whenever he is at your side. Walking on a leash is a learned skill for the dog.
For personalized instructions or private dog lessons to teach your dog to walk on a loose leash next to you contact DogRelations.
Separation anxiety is unfortunately not uncommon.
Observable behaviors might include:
These and other behaviors happen when left alone or sometimes even only if a particular family member leaves or when sleeping separated from the rest of the family.
Teaching the dog to be more confident and optimistic can play a big role in helping them overcome their anxiety. I can help you analyze how you can start turning around this frustrating situation. I will support you through this process and replace the worry with practical and goal oriented advice. Please choose a Comprehensive Behavior Consultation to address this behavior issue successfully.
Teaching your dog to ask politely for food, toys and attention allows you to prevent nuisance behaviors like “begging”. In fact you can replace annoying “begging” by teaching your dog to “beg” in a way that is pleasing to you and gives them the opportunity to earn the things they value most in life by displaying polite and calm behaviors.
This will also prevent resource guarding in a fun and playful way. That means your dog will not “defend” their bowl, food or chew toy when someone walks nearby because they will learn there is only more and better stuff to be had.
For more games and tips to help with this very important topic let DogRelations give you a private dog behavior lesson and show you the many ways you can make feeding time fun and educational at the same time.
Is your dog barking often or uncontrollably? Too much barking can be a major annoyance.
If your dog is basically not aggressive then most likely the excessive barking is a behavior that has been inadvertently reinforced.
How on earth could that have happened?
Well, if you admonish your dog when he barks, you are giving him attention for an undesirable behavior. Your dog however, smart as he is, immediately notices that in a certain way barking works in his favor because it makes you notice him. So, when he feels bored or ignored he decides to try this again…he barks: and miracle of miracles!! You start to engage with him again! In the dog’s mind this is a great discovery and so, since practiced and rewarded behaviors get stronger: Voila! Your dog has successfully found a way to get your attention and you have inadvertently reinforced a nuisance behavior!
For a consultation on how to re-educate your dog and find being quiet more rewarding, please call DogRelations for comprehensive dog training consultation.
Mental and physical well-being are strongly connected. My primary objective is to design a program that suits your dog and ensures that you and your dog can spend as many fun-filled and healthy years together as possible.
Designed to provide maximum support and guidance for first-time dog guardians and/or to address behavior problems such as excessive barking, separation anxiety, resource guarding, adult house soiling or a variety of fear and fear aggression issues.
I can teach your dog to perform tasks that help mitigate your stressful or anxious moments. Together we determine which behaviors your dog should be trained to recognize and then perform these tasks.
The focus for this training is on reinforcing house training, establishing polite manners and building confidence in your puppy while educating guardians in the practical application of positive reinforcement
No one ever wants to admit that dog training can be very dull for the dog and for us. Not so with Elisabeth! She turns training into a fascinating exercise! The dogs can’t wait for her to walk into the room. Elisabeth sees the world from the dogs’ perspective and she will give you a whole new view of your canine friend. She views “training” as education. This is a significant distinction. Suddenly, with her help, you and your dog are speaking the same language, learning and playing on the same page. I make sure that Elisabeth meets every new dog who walks into my life. She’s helped me solve what appeared to be unsurmountable behavioral problems. She’s a brilliant and sensitive trainer. Get her in as early as possible!
I have been meaning to write this for a long time.
Elisabeth is terrific! I met Elisabeth when I needed help with my older dog Easter. Since puppyhood, Easter was an anxious dog who was afraid to walk the streets. Loud noises such as truck and car horns scared her and the sounds and flashing lights of emergency vehicles would send her into a panic.
Before Easter began working with Elisabeth she and I had worked with at least two other trainers with mixed results. After a few weeks working with Elisabeth, Easter was a changed dog. She began to look forward to walks and even found the courage to join in the fun at the local dog run.
Today, Easter and I enjoy walks every day.
Now that Easter is comfortable with her daily walks, I plan to contact Elisabeth for some advanced training so that Easter can be the best that she can be.
Easter says: Woof ! Woof ! (Thanks Elisabeth)
My dogs and I have never personally met Elisabeth, but thanks to the internet we’ve been able to communicate. Elisabeth has given me really good advice with dietary problems I had with my dogs and the results were instant. It was amazing! I also have been reading her great articles on dog training and behavior She helps me be a more responsible guardian. My dogs are very grateful and would love to meet her. I can only imagine what she could do for us in person!!!!
Hi Elisabeth, after you left today, I took Chi-chi for a walk. She peacefully walked past at least 5 dogs on the street!!!! Thank you God and Elisabeth! !!!Will contact you soon for another session. We had a great day today. She’s smiling!!!! Me too. Thanks for helping to make this day possible.
Thanks for everything.
We had gone through several trainers with our standard poodle Annie. We got Annie at four months and she was already fearful ,aggressive and barking non stop. Elisabeth came to the rescue with her patience, humor and dog whispering talents. I highly recommend her. Your dog and neighbors will thank you.
I am not certain it is possible to have a puppy without Elisabeth! To me Elisabeth does what no other trainer can (or is willing to commit to) and takes customer service to an entirely new level. I secretly think she has Petzi and Cosi trained to answer emails – it’s the only explanation. She has become such a support system providing me with endless skills, knowledge and tranquility through all the magical little “puppy crisis” moments along the way. To Madison, she is playtime!
Having grown up in a house surrounded by horses and dogs I was reluctant to get a trainer, as I clearly knew what I was doing.
Think again! Madison was a far cry from the “I’ll do anything for you” labs I grew up with. She was a pint-sized ball of nervous fun with so much enthusiasm that needed directing. From the day we first met Elisabeth I knew this would be the best thing I could do for myself, and my dog.
Before Elisabeth I was worried I would be evicted because my little Pomeranian screamed and barked as soon as I walked out of her line of sight. After 2 sessions and a couple emailed instructions Madison learned that sitting, not screaming, gets her everything she desires.
It is amazing to watch Elisabeth interact with Madison because you can see how she listens to the dog and tailors the training to them.
In the beginning of our training when Madison was literally bouncing off her, she used that energy and made her focus on tricks that played to Madison’s innate ability to spin around. Once trust was gained she progressed to more “serious” games and now I can proudly say that my pup will sit still whenever she needs to; something I know would not have happened without Elisabeth.
Maddie and I are so grateful a Google search placed her in our lives and can’t imagine life without her!
Elisabeth was fantastic with Isis, our Havanese. Despite our best efforts Isis had been doing her business all over the house and was not good at listening. Elisabeth was able to train her in a couple of sessions to listen and do her business in the right places. Elisabeth engaged Isis with interactive tasks which she found challenging and fun. Having Elisabeth come to train Isis was the highlight of her week. Isis was connected and engaged with Elisabeth at all times. I would recommend Elisabeth to any dog guardian. Her loving care and her practical advice have been invaluable to me.
We’re so thankful to have met Elisabeth and we’re incredibly appreciative for all of her tremendous insight with our puppy. We have a one-year-old morkie who was experiencing various behavioral issues. With Elisabeth’s training methods, we’ve noticed significant improvement in our puppy’s behavior in only a couple days after one training session. Elisabeth also promptly provides a comprehensive report, detailing training techniques. We’re eternally grateful for all of Elisabeth’s continuous support and help!
Last week my dog’s behavior and my reaction to it prompted me to call a professional trainer. What an amazing experience. Elisabeth came to our home and gently guided the three of us through the training process. She was tough and patient through Max’s barking, and showed us how we could be too. The training technique is subtle and I wasn’t sure I’d get it, but one day in and Max is looking to me and his daddy for cues and his anxiety level is way down. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience and outcome. Now it’s up to us to keep up the training, but it’s really a joy.
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