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Dog Training at Home: Offers both web-based training services and face-to-face private training sessions.
- The web-based training service is most appropriate for people who either cannot travel, or who live at a distance that would make in-person sessions training sessions prohibitively difficult. Some combination of web-based training and in-person sessions is ideal for most people, when some travel is feasible.
- Most face-to-face training sessions are held here, in my home in Norwich, Vermont. Because of my limited physical mobility, it may be impossible for me to train in your home. However, there are occasions when I do train in clients' homes. If I travel to your home, I charge for travel time in addition to training time.
Objective: Dog Training at Home teaches you the skills needed to train your own dog, in your own home, at your own pace. This service offers dog owners who have limited time an opportunity to improve their relationship with their pet dogs.
Dog Training at Home specializes in training assistance dogs. Not all dogs are suited to public access work (going every where in public that their people go) but many dogs can learn skills that enable them to help with tasks of daily living in the home.
Together we can identify problem behaviors and training solutions. We can also train skills that may transform your dog from a rambunctious or destructive pet into calm and easily managed companion. Your pet dog might even become your willing and able assistant in tasks of daily living.
You will learn gentle and positive training methods that incorporate praise, food and toys as reinforcement for positive behaviors.
Problem Behaviors We Can Change With Training:
- Jumping up on people during a friendly greeting
- Puppies guarding toys or food
- Poor bowel or bladder control
- submissive urination
- soiling in the house, car, or crate
- Pulling when on leash
- Running away
- Resource Guarding
- Excessive barking
- Destructive chewing
- Counter surfing (stealing food)
- Barging through doors
- Jumping out of a car without permission
Skills Your Dog Can Learn
- Walking on a loose leash
- Sit when greeting people
- Come when called
- Play retrieve (chasing a ball or frisbee and returning the toy to you)
- Taking food gently from your hand
- Relinquishing favorite toys or treats without a fuss
- A directed retrieve (pick up dropped items like car keys)
- Pick up his own toys or children's toys and drop them in a basket
- Stand calmly for grooming or veterinary care (including toenail cutting)
- Settle down on a dog bed or go in a crate for a period of time when directed to do so
- Wait at doorways in the house or car
ON-LINE CONTRACTED CONSULTATION
- On-line training services begin with a free twenty minute, telephone consultation or real-time* on-line consultation to assess your needs and determine whether your skills and your dog’s issues are appropriate for this type of training program. If we determine that my services are not appropriate for your and your dog's needs, I will try to help you identify appropriate resources in your community.
*Real-time on-line session: refers to a private on-line chat using the free Instant Messenger program offered by America On-Line.
Behavioral Assessment: Training begins with a fifty-minute real-time on-line session during which we assess your needs and decide which behavior or skill to train first.
- Prioritize training needs
- Define training goals
Knowing your goals helps me to design a personalized lesson plan for you.
Training contract: You may contract with me to learn how to train a single behavior, or we can design a longer-term training package that supports your training a set of behaviors or skills with your dog.
- Weekly, thirty-minute real-time consultation contact on-line, to review progress, discuss obstacles to training, answer questions, and set new goals
- One e-mail question and answer exchange (approximately 5 minutes), per week, in addition to the scheduled weekly, thirty-minute, real-time consultation
The Plan: I will send you a detailed, written training plan for each behavior you contract to learn and teach to your dog.
- If you have access to a video camera, you may send a video for me to review as a tool for assessing your progress.
- I will use your videoed progress as a basis for determining the next step in your training plan.
Fees:
- All rates are based on $75 per hour fee for on-line or in-person private training instruction.
On-Line Services:
- $150 Behavioral Assessment (review and interpretation of your completed questionnaire) and forty-minute real-time on-line discussion of the training plan.
- Includes: a written training plan which defines training in detailed incremental steps with criteria for progress.
- $75 Per scheduled follow-up session, and one short email question and response at another time.
On-going Training:
- If you wish to continue training with me, you may contract for a batch of sessions at the reduced, pre-paid rate of $200 for three sessions. These sessions may be scheduled at weekly intervals, or at intervals of your choosing.
If, during our training work together, previously unidentified aggressive behavior towards humans becomes evident in your dog's behavior, we will need to reconsider whether this form of training is suitable for your needs. You may need to find someone in your local area to evaluate your dog's temperament in light of the emerging signs of aggression. I will help you identify appropriate resources to assess and address your dog's aggression towards people.
In the event that our work together is terminated by me, prior to the completion of any pre-paid training agreement, you may be eligible for a prorated refund.
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