I am a balanced, fulfillment-based dog trainer located in Orange County, California. I work with all dog breeds of all ages, including puppies. I work with all behaviors and have a lot of experience with reactivity, resource guarding, fear and hyperactivity. I am also comfortable working with aggression cases.
My belief is that we need to meet the genetic and biological needs of your dog first. This includes proper exercise, exploration of their environment and play. Structured play creates an outlet for dogs’ natural behaviors like chasing, stalking, biting, tugging, jumping, barking, growling, etc. Once their needs are met, then we move into teaching more specific behaviors. Structure and boundaries are essential to creating a sense of stability and predictability for our dogs.
I am also a balanced trainer, meaning I utilize positive reinforcement, as well as punishment and correction in my training. I want to give the dog the clearest communication possible, and when we use both positive and negative reinforcement it becomes very clear to the dog what is being asked of them. Clarity creates confident dogs who know what is expected of them. It is our job to build our dogs up through praise, positive reinforcement and doing what they are good at. I also believe that it is our job to teach our dogs how to handle stress. Learning to handle and navigate stress creates resilient and adaptable dogs. My goal is to find the balance and help you identify when your dog needs help and when your dog can be pushed to grow.
Schedule a phone call with me in order to share in more detail information about your dog, their background, the behaviors you want to address and any experience you’ve had with training in the past. I’ll give you feedback on your dog’s behaviors and walk you through my training approach. This is a great time for you to ask any questions you have about the training process.
This is where we do a deep dive into your dog’s behavior together. Whether you are looking to address selective obedience, reactivity, aggression, fear, resource guarding, hyperactivity or you have a puppy you want to set up for success, we will cover structured play, enrichment, engagement, recall, leash walking, crate training, threshold boundaries, tethering, place board, obedience, endurance in commands, e-collar conditioning and regular use, impulse control, neutrality, socialization, exposure, all the way to off leash work depending on your training goals. Private sessions teach you how to train your dog and to communicate with your dog in a way that they understand. The majority of private sessions take place in and around your home until we move into exposure. After sessions I will provide direct links to all recommended training gear, summaries and videos for you to reference everything we went over in session. I recommend scheduling sessions about two weeks apart so that you can practice everything before the next one.
$50 cancellation fee if you cancel within 48 hours of a session
This is training boot camp for your dog where they stay with me at my home in Laguna Hills and do intensive training every day. I do the heavy lifting and build a foundation for your dog’s behavior modification needs. We typically do one to two private sessions beforehand so that you can start learning about the training process and are more equipped when your dog comes home from the program. Your dog must be crate trained prior to the board and train, otherwise the training process will be delayed and it makes their adjustment to the new environment unnecessarily difficult. In the board and train, your dog will get four to five sessions a day and they will come home with a whole system of communication and understanding. The e-collar is a required part of this program. At the end of the program, I will bring your dog back to you and we will do a two-hour session at drop off to go over all of their new training. This is the only private session included in the cost of the board and train. We will then do follow-up private sessions so that I can teach you how to maintain all of the training that was done and build on the foundation that was created. For most dogs I recommend the four-week program.
I host group training class on Saturday or Sunday mornings, usually once or twice a month. Most classes are at a park in Mission Viejo, but I sometimes change the location to get exposure to new environments. Group class helps you practice and maintain the skills you learn in private sessions in higher distraction environments. It also provides ongoing structured socialization for your dog amongst dogs who are under control and working towards the same goals and respecting the same boundaries. I will let you know once your dog is ready for group class.
If you are going out of town and need your dog boarded, I offer in-home boarding out of my home in Laguna Hills. I maintain all of the structure and training we work on together. Your dog will get structured socialization with well-balanced dogs. They will get two walks a day, along with short sessions of structured play and obedience every few days. If your dog is off-leash trained, they will get to run on the slopes with my dogs. I will only board the dogs who have gone through my training program and are on the e-collar. The only exception is for puppies who are currently doing private sessions and are working towards the e-collar.
I will come to your home and do a training session with your dog on my own. Whether it’s loose leash walking, obedience, structured play, reactivity or a field trip for exposure – you can either let me know what you want me to work on or I’ll assess and address what I think is needed. Keep in mind that you will also need to be working on these things in order to see change.
For days you’re stuck at work, gone a long time or you’re just exhausted and need some extra help, I can come work your dog for you. My availability is very limited for this service, but I am hoping to hire someone in the future so that I can offer this more regularly.
Schedule a phone call with me in order to share in more detail information about your dog, their background, the behaviors you want to address and any experience you’ve had with training in the past. I’ll give you feedback on your dog’s behaviors and walk you through my training approach. This is a great time for you to ask any questions you have about the training process.
This is where we do a deep dive into your dog’s behavior together. Whether you are looking to address selective obedience, reactivity, aggression, fear, resource guarding, hyperactivity or you have a puppy you want to set up for success, we will cover structured play, enrichment, engagement, recall, leash walking, crate training, threshold boundaries, tethering, place board, obedience, endurance in commands, e-collar conditioning and regular use, impulse control, neutrality, socialization, exposure, all the way to off leash work depending on your training goals. Private sessions teach you how to train your dog and to communicate with your dog in a way that they understand. The majority of private sessions take place in and around your home until we move into exposure. After sessions I will provide direct links to all recommended training gear, summaries and videos for you to reference everything we went over in session. I recommend scheduling sessions about two weeks apart so that you can practice everything before the next one.
$50 cancellation fee if you cancel within 48 hours of a session
This is training boot camp for your dog where they stay with me at my home in Laguna Hills and do intensive training every day. I do the heavy lifting and build a foundation for your dog’s behavior modification needs. We typically do one to two private sessions beforehand so that you can start learning about the training process and are more equipped when your dog comes home from the program. Your dog must be crate trained prior to the board and train, otherwise the training process will be delayed and it makes their adjustment to the new environment unnecessarily difficult. In the board and train, your dog will get four to five sessions a day and they will come home with a whole system of communication and understanding. The e-collar is a required part of this program. At the end of the program, I will bring your dog back to you and we will do a two-hour session at drop off to go over all of their new training. This is the only private session included in the cost of the board and train. We will then do follow-up private sessions so that I can teach you how to maintain all of the training that was done and build on the foundation that was created. For most dogs I recommend the four-week program.
I host group training class on Saturday or Sunday mornings, usually once or twice a month. Most classes are at a park in Mission Viejo, but I sometimes change the location to get exposure to new environments. Group class helps you practice and maintain the skills you learn in private sessions in higher distraction environments. It also provides ongoing structured socialization for your dog amongst dogs who are under control and working towards the same goals and respecting the same boundaries. I will let you know once your dog is ready for group class.
If you are going out of town and need your dog boarded, I offer in-home boarding out of my home in Laguna Hills. I maintain all of the structure and training we work on together. Your dog will get structured socialization with well-balanced dogs. They will get two walks a day, along with short sessions of structured play and obedience every few days. If your dog is off-leash trained, they will get to run on the slopes with my dogs. I will only board the dogs who have gone through my training program and are on the e-collar. The only exception is for puppies who are currently doing private sessions and are working towards the e-collar.
I will come to your home and do a training session with your dog on my own. Whether it’s loose leash walking, obedience, structured play, reactivity or a field trip for exposure – you can either let me know what you want me to work on or I’ll assess and address what I think is needed. Keep in mind that you will also need to be working on these things in order to see change.
For days you’re stuck at work, gone a long time or you’re just exhausted and need some extra help, I can come work your dog for you. My availability is very limited for this service, but I am hoping to hire someone in the future so that I can offer this more regularly.
