Do you experience difficulty or stress when taking your dog on leashed walks?

I offer 2, 4 and 8-week walk training programs that equip you and your dog with the knowledge, skills and experience to have safe, rewarding, and meaningful walks.

My approach is that Dog Life needs to be fun; we adopt dogs to experience the blessings of Dog Life, so let’s live it up and work through the things that take away from the joy and safety of it!

I prioritize progress over perfection, and love challenging myself and clients to continuously redefine “perfection” for the moment. Even in moments of difficulty, when things seem to go the wrong way, we can feel proud and encouraged to relax, take a moment to regroup, and adaptively pace the level of challenge we introduce our dog to. This is how the long-term learning process becomes sustainable. Changing a dog’s behavior relies on their walker’s habits and consistency, so we must bring compassion, patience and sustainability to our own learning process, and make it feel rewarding!

I support you to experiment and find what customized walking approach works best for you to enable consistency with you and your dog. Is there a specific gesture or sound your dog you already use with your dog to signify a correction? Do you prefer hikes? Walking around downtown? How can we desensitize your dog so they can be more involved in your preferred activities? What approach do we find that your dog as an individual responds to best? What makes you feel most comfortable about walking, so that you can provide consistent, safe walks for your dog, which also feels rewarding, safe, and meaningful to you?

In this program, you have the option to be just as involved as your dog is! You may accompany up to 50% of the program’s walks, to help build your confidence that you can safely walk your dog, and I will give you feedback as we walk.

Each Walk Training Program session includes:

  • 5 to 6 walking sessions per week (each session of working with you and/or your dog is 1 to 2 hours)

  • Learning fundamentals of building a collaborative leadership relationship style with your dog

    (threshold work, dynamics of rewards/corrective responses to behavior, eye contact, learning appropriate instances to let your dog do what they love to do best - to teach them when they listen to corrections, they support you to be a good leader and keep everyone safe, so that you can reward them with freedom and de-stressing)

  • A written summary of each walking session, which includes observations of your dog’s behavior to keep track of what does and doesn’t work under specific contexts, as well as documenting your dog’s progress, and recommendations. Also includes photos of your dog and GPS image of walking path, mileage, and length

  • Unlimited access to ask me questions. I will respond within 1 to 3 hours maximum, and during my business hours of 9am to 7pm.

  • The option to accompany me on up to 50% of walks so that you may build your confidence and experience first-hand by my guidance and coaching

  • The option for me to help solve a practical obstacle that you face, which impacts the consistency of your dog’s walking sessions

  • The option to pay in weekly installments lasting the length of the program

    (2 week program: 2 installments. 4 week program: 4 installments. 8 week program: 8 installments)

If you’re interested in my Walk Training Program or individual Training Walks, the next step is to give me a call, text, email, or fill out my contact form. If you opt to schedule a consultation, during this session I will learn more about your dog’s walking style, safety concerns, and your regular walking schedule & techniques. We will both walk your dog together so that I can see how you walk together, and you can see me demonstrate the walking techniques I use.

Pricing

  • 1-2 Hour Consultation: $45

    +$8 to cover the bridge toll for clients in Benicia and Vallejo

  • 2-Week Walk Training Program: $540

    +$8 per session to cover the bridge toll for clients in Benicia and Vallejo

  • 4-Week Walk Training Program: $972

    +$8 per session to cover the bridge toll for clients in Benicia and Vallejo

  • 8-Week Walk Training Program: $1944

    +$8 per session to cover the bridge toll for clients in Benicia and Vallejo

    If you’re not satisfied with your and your dog’s progress, refunds are pro-rated for undelivered sessions if you have gone through 49% or less of the program’s maximum length.

    Refunds are not allowed if you have gone through 50% or more of the program’s maximum length.

I do not work with dogs who have a bite history with people, but I can happily refer you to trainers who do.