The booking calendar(s) are going through maintenance, please call or text directly at (917) 783-1473 to make an appointment
Psychiatric Service Dog Training
I can teach your dog to perform tasks that help mitigate your stressful moments/anxiety attacks. Together we determine which behaviors your dog should be prompted to perform when you need to be calmed or reminded to take medication or lie down and/or call your healthcare provider…whatever the need might be.
I assess your dog’s knowledge base and building on that, deciding on a protocol while setting specific goals, jump starting needed behaviors and explaining how to practice those new skills with you.
Recently there have been some important changes in the rules and regulations that allow you to travel with your dog by air.
YOUR SERVICE DOG IN PUBLIC:
In order to fulfill the airlines’ and Department of Transportation’s (DOT) requirements your dog must be deemed safe and well behaved. No matter what job your service dog performs for you, traveling requires a behavior skill set that your dog might not really have. I can help your dog acquire those skills so you can be sure that you are both confident and stress-free when you travel.
I will work with you and guide you until I feel comfortable attesting to the fact that your dog indeed can travel with you and can reliably behave in public. I will then provide you with a letter confirming that.
Please note, in order to qualify as a Psychiatric Service Dog your dog needs to be prescribed by a mental health professional, regardless of how well trained they might be.
This service does not include seeing eye dog/guide dog training or protection dog training.
Other requirements prior to training:
Fully House Trained
Able to settle on the floor next to you even with major distractions
This Consultation is an evaluation of your dog’s current skill set for public access and for the actual service provided by the dog. Providing a plan to refine those skills and prepare the dog to perform as a service dog in private and public.
No matter what job your service dog performs for you, traveling requires a behavior skill set that your dog might not really have. I can help your dog acquire those skills so you can be sure that you are both confident and stress-free when you travel.
I will help you train your dog until I feel comfortable attesting to the fact that your dog can travel with you and can reliably behave in public.
Your dog needs to be:
Fully House Trained
Able to settle on the floor next to you even with major distractions
Show no aggression towards other dogs or humans
No jumping up on strangers
No barking
No begging for food
Please note: In order to qualify as a Psychiatric Service Dog your dog needs to be prescribed by a mental health professional, regardless of how well trained they might be. I can only fulfill the airlines’ and Department of Transportation’s (DOT) requirement that the dog is safe in public and well-behaved.
Service Dog Initial Consultation
This Consultation is an evaluation of your dog’s current skill set for public access and for the actual service provided by the dog. Providing a plan to refine those skills and prepare the dog to perform as a service dog in private and public.
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.
Not sure what service would be the best fit for you? Take this easy fast quiz to tell you the perfect service to book.
My Services
Wellness + Enrichment
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
How to Adopt a Dog from a Humane Society or Animal Shelter
How to Desensitize Your Dog
How to Create a Private Space for Your Dog
How to Bond With Your Dog
How to Socialize Your Dog
Rocky is doing so well! We had an especially nice long walk this morning. He was able to pass many…
Rocky is doing so well! We had an especially nice long walk this morning. He was able to pass many dogs, even big ones, without trouble (he pulled a little, but I told him to sit and wait and he did!). He barks a bit at the door, but calms quickly.
I’m still training him regularly and feeding him the raw diet, and it’s really making a difference. A few neighbors with dogs he’s always barked at before have even remarked on how much better behaved he is!
So, thank you thank you thank you Elisabeth!
Rachel
Elisabeth is amazing. She sees things most vets and trainers don’t see. I’m looking forward to working with her to…
Elisabeth is amazing. She sees things most vets and trainers don’t see. I’m looking forward to working with her to train my 5mo old puppy to be a therapy dog.
Niseema Dayan Diemer
Dear Elisabeth, David and I read your wonderful and enlightening letter. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time…
Dear Elisabeth,
David and I read your wonderful and enlightening letter. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time to care and relate your experience and wisdom to our problem.
When you said “Fear Aggression” the biggest lightbulb went off. We always thought that Zeus was over protective of David, but I think you absolutely have nailed it. Now we have an entirely different perspective.
We also are thankful for you excellent description of Schutzhund training and why that would not be a good option for Zeus. And most of all in one simple sentence, you have explained to us the importance of the positive reinforcement training. When you said that it is much better to do something because you want to do it, than worrying about some terrible thing happening if you don’t, again the sky actually parted for us. I never knew that was the reason for that kind of training. When we worked with the folks at Santa Fe Tails previously, no one ever said that. We just thought it was a newer, more modern way to train dogs. And we worried that they gave far too many treats. And finally your wonderful explanation of deferential behavior gives us such hope for Zeus’s future. I could not bear the thought of living a life of constant fear about him and for him and you actually have lifted a terrible and ominous weight off of the situation. Our only challenge now, is can these folks train us to understand and work in this way with Zeus?
Could I ask you to recommend a book or DVD that would be appropriate for us to learn to work with Zeus in this manner?
I am ever grateful to Freddie and Myrna for discussing our problem with you and I am ever grateful to you for your amazing expertise and for being so generous in sharing this with us.
Warm regards,
Roberta Remy and David Shields
Roberta Remy and David Shields
Working with Elisabeth is the best decision I’ve made to help transition into life with a new puppy. She is…
Working with Elisabeth is the best decision I’ve made to help transition into life with a new puppy. She is incredibly helpful, responsive, and made an impact in my puppy’s behavior immediately. Elisabeth has been an incredible support as I’ve managed being a brand new dog-mom–I don’t know what I would do without her! Cannot recommend her enough for new puppy parents or any dog owners alike.
Kendra Huffman
No one ever wants to admit that dog training can be very dull for the dog and for us. Not…
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!
Elizabeth Hess
Writer
Biography of Nim Chimpksy
Elisabeth gets great results quickly. The lessons are a happy, fun experience for the dog and the rest of the…
Elisabeth gets great results quickly. The lessons are a happy, fun experience for the dog and the rest of the family.
Our dog (Max) is always really delighted to see her and has learned so much in a very short time.
Elisabeth is a fount of information about training and other topics such as diet, health care, grooming and even travel tips.
Jann Wenner
Co-Founder and Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine and Chairman of Wenner Media
Rolling Stone
I cannot thank Elisabeth more…the change in our dogs has been miraculous! We have a 5 year old Papillon and…
I cannot thank Elisabeth more…the change in our dogs has been miraculous!
We have a 5 year old Papillon and recently adopted a 1 year old Papillon. Our older dog Henry always had serious behavioral concerns yet we somehow learned to “live” with them. With the addition of our new dog Mochi, Henry’s problems somehow became magnified. To add insult to injury, Mochi was exhibiting fear aggression issues that needed to be addressed immediately.
Elisabeth was recommended to us and we could not be any happier. Her patient and gentle approach with our dogs has helped transform them into much happier and well adjusted dogs. She partnered with us and gave us weekly exercises that we could practice with both dogs – we saw change in them immediately. Her training methods are logical and results oriented. As novices, we learned how to use a clicker, ignore undesirable behavior and reinforce the right behaviors.
Henry’s incessant barking is so much less. Mochi now allows strangers to pet her and has virtually stopped growling. We were so worried for so long and can now breathe a sigh of relief.
In addition, Elisabeth is always available via text or phone or email should you need a quick fix. She encourages the owner to reach out and ask questions and provide updates on how the dogs are doing. Elisabeth always responds quickly and provides a solution.
Our little “imperfect Paps” have a long way to go on the road to becoming model dogs. We feel so lucky to have found DogRelations and know we have a true partner in Elisabeth on this journey.
We ADORE Elisabeth and so do Mochi & Henry!
Holly and Eric Grannan
We’re so thankful to have met Elisabeth and we’re incredibly appreciative for all of her tremendous insight with our puppy.…
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!
Rob Hoogenboom
Elisabeth Weiss is a gifted trainer and a true animal lover. When I adopted my adorable and lovable cock-a-poo from…
Elisabeth Weiss is a gifted trainer and a true animal lover. When I adopted my adorable and lovable cock-a-poo from the AC&C he came with a host of challenging behavior issues. Elisabeth has successfully helped me resolve his problems. What I liked most was that she made it easy for me.
The lessons for my dog were so much fun that my smart cat started to participate in the dog’s lessons. I then asked Elisabeth to set aside some time to train the cat as well!
Both dog and cat training have been huge successes! We all look forward to their lessons every week!
Eileen Robert
Thank you so much for your knowledge and kindness. I don’t know what we would have done without you!!!!! I…
Thank you so much for your knowledge and kindness. I don’t know what we would have done without you!!!!!
I mean that!
Winky is a very, very sweet fellow and quite well behaved thanks to you.
Everyone, everyone, everyone is so in love with him and ALL say: Wow, what a calm and well behaved puppy he is, so charming, sweet and happy.
I cannot thank you enough for having gotten Winky to this point. I take him with me wherever I go and you have really made it all possible. Grazie mille!
BEING MINDFULI always think that the best way to “train” a puppy is by reinforcing them in time. Of course, that requires us humans to be mindful enough to notice and observe our dogs just as they observe us.So often, I hear people say that their dog has trained them…
Challenging Size Stereotypes: The Importance of Training Small DogsDogs’ intelligence and prowess are all too often measured by their size. Generally, it is assumed that larger dogs need to be “trained” just because of their sheer size. Sure, a Rottweiler can cause more damage than a chihuahua. But is that…
Let’s Say You Have a Persistent Behavior Issue With Your Dog: I hear these complaints worded in such a way a lot…Fill in the blank: “When I want them to ____” “when we say____”, “when they see____”, “when they hear____” “When they are _______they do not _____”“What should I do?”…
Reward PlacementI talk quite a bit about reward placement and delivery (thrown, rewarding directly to the dog, or on the floor in front of the dog, etc.); but I have not thought about clarifying the aspect of the timing of the reward.Reward TimingHere is a good example: The other day I…
BEING MINDFULI always think that the best way to “train” a puppy is by reinforcing them in time. Of course, that requires us humans to be mindful enough to notice and observe our dogs just as they observe us. So often, I hear people say that their dog has trained them…
Common Puppy Behavior ChallengesI often receive inquiries from people who are frustrated with their puppies’ overall behavior.“They don’t listen” “they jump” “they bark” “they pull on the leash” are very common complaints.Teaching Your Puppy Essential SkillsI will then ask a couple of questions along the lines of: Have you taught…
Recently, I have seen a noticeable rise in the use of prong collars and choke chains on dogs and even tiny puppies. I find this trend deeply concerning and feel compelled to raise awareness about the cruelty of these devices.Consider the perspective of an excited puppy: “I want to jump…
I am pleased to share some exciting news. I was recently featured in not just one but two articles in NYMag’s renowned column, “The Strategist.” These articles, “10 Best Chew Toys and Treats for Teething Puppies” and “11 Best Dog Harnesses,” have allowed me to share some of my favorite…
All reinforced behaviors will increase in frequency in the future. This includes behaviors the puppy finds reinforcing simply because they work in their favor or they are simply self-reinforcing because they are fun. For the latter great examples are barking and jumping. Barking and jumping very often get the puppy…
Do you remember the story of June, the rescue mini dachshund with the megaesophagus?Yesterday I got a text that June was able to stay alone without any signs of anxiety or barking for a whole hour!It is an excellent example demonstrating that separation anxiety is largely a function of dependency,…
**disclaimers: if ordering a harness in colors: Early Spring, Blossom Blue, or Blossom Pink, they will be preorder only and will have a shipping delay. Discount does not apply to Leather leashes.