Teach Your Pet

Thanks for visiting my site and letting me introduce myself! I have been teaching pet dog training in the Grand Rapids area since 1994.  My formal education with dogs began in 1990 when I needed training for my own out-of-control puppy and enrolled in community education classes in Grand Rapids.

Many classes, books and seminars later, I have become fairly well grounded in basic learning theory and pet dog behavior - but I still add new books and videos to my library regularly and attend two to four seminars yearly to keep my knowledge and skills up to date.

My primary expertise is teaching family pet manners and household behavior management from the puppy through the intermediate levels of training, including introducing trainers and their dogs to the fantastic sport of Rally obedience.

My approach to dog handling is strongly informed by internationally known trainers and behaviorists such as Pat Miller, Patricia McConnell, Ian Dunbar, Sue Ailsby, Pam Dennison, Brenda Aloff, Ken McCort and Jean Donaldson.  Check out their web pages, books and videos. (You can find web links to their work and to research articles about learning and dog training on my Links and Resources page.)

If you become one of my students, expect to use a lot of treat and play rewards with your dog.  Expect to learn how to become the benevolent leader for your dog by setting boundaries and controlling resources and privileges. Expect to learn that training is an open ended process! Don't expect to be advised to use leash corrections, dominant downs, yelling, prong collars, choke chains or shock/e-collars as everyday training techniques. 

As an instructor, my teaching goal is to help people improve their dog training and handling skills using dog friendly mark/clicker-reward based training techniques.  Using these techniques allows humans to learn how to communicate clearly with other animals and teach them effectively and humanely. 

The biggest and most rewarding challenges in dog training are figuring out how to explain to the dog what you want AND how to convince the dog that cooperating with you is the best game in town.  Mark/clicker training teaches dogs how to LOVE training and to actively seek to learn new skills and earn rewards. Negative reinforcement (taking something good away from the dog or withholding rewards) can help a dog learn the consequences of actions that we want to discourage.  It takes time and practice for humans to learn how to learn these training skills, but I have become convinced this positive training is the most ethical and effective in the long run. 

Don't get me wrong: I know that forceful training using positive punishment and/or intimidation DOES change animal behavior, sometimes very rapidly.  Using such techniques are also self-rewarding for humans: we are an aggressive and hierarchical species, and forcing or punishing a dog can make us feel effective, masterful, and higher in status.  But there can be long term negative side effects both for the dog and for its handler, the worst of which can be a breakdown of trust and cooperation and an increase in passiveness and/or fearful behaviors from the dog. 

In my opinion, force based and positive punishment based training is a last resort option, only to be used with care and precision in situations where the dog's life is at risk and when all other options, applied skillfully, have failed.  I believe we are rarely ethically justified in using such techniques while teaching any animal basic manners, to compete in sports or to perform work. 

Professional Credentials

In March 2008 I became one of west Michigan’s first Certified Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA), successfully completing knowledge testing through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT).  My recertification, based on over 40 hours of continuing education credits, was approved in June 2011.

I am also a certified evaluator for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy programs.

I am a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and uphold the professional standards of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the code of ethics of the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers.