First, this is who I am. Mark Rogers. Dog lover, owner, trainer, for over 40 years.
Training not for show, or competition, but training dogs for life with their owners.
I love your dog(s) before I ever meet them, and want you to have the best life you can have with them, while creating the best life you can for them.
I say that so you understand the information below.
When we meet at the training site:
I will greet you, but be aloof with your dog, mostly ignoring it initially, to allow the dog to get comfortable with its environment.
My purpose will be to ensure as much as possible, that you are your dog’s focus throughout an Evaluation or any training session. By necessity, I usually have to take a dog’s leash for demonstration, but that is as seldom and briefly as possible.
Throughout the session, it will be evident that I am training you to train your dog.
For all obedience sessions, leash work will be a combination of any/all: guidance, luring (food or toy), play, reward, slight pressure for direction, correction for undesirable behavior. The latter is used generally with dogs that have already developed behavior that is anything from hard to manage to dangerous.
What equipment you need for training sessions is minimal to begin any course. For any course purchased in its entirety, I provide a training pouch for reward treats and a six foot premium slip leash. I will also have some alternate supplemental equipment on hand for dogs that don’t respond well. All dogs are different. All respond differently.
I also provide water and a small bowl for all dogs through any full course or individual session.
An essential piece of equipment for your at-home, and ongoing training otherwise, is a long slip leash that you will be able to purchase most dependably from Amazon. Here is a link directly to a page with multiple slip leashes available.
Look for a 20 foot slip leash – making sure the width is listed as either 1/3″, or 3/8″. That for most size dogs other than the smallest under 10 lb breeds.
Elements of training you will learn are conditional to the type of training you are engaging in. They will include collar placement, common leash handling, long leash handling, arm and body positioning, luring, rewarding, appropriate pressure, correction. And in context with all of those, possibly the most important: Timing.
Expect all activity working with your dog to be highly repetitious.
There will be video and photos taken of each training session for security, verification, and training records. Pictures or short video highlights may be displayed on social media or company website as public presentations, advertisements, or portfolio elements.
The purpose in getting training assistance for your pet dog(s)
No single training session fully trains any dog to do or not do anything.
In working with experienced trainers, while it may sometimes appear that problems suddenly ‘go away’, or training for performance seems to almost immediately show conclusive results, that is seldom the reality.
Success in any course always depends on what the dog owner does between the training sessions. That and consistently scheduling and attending their training sessions.
With the help of professional training assistance, for dog owners, the expected result should be the acquired knowledge to continue to advance your dog’s training and performance as you live with the dog.
It is the gained knowledge from training sessions that is intended to help you increase the ability and desired performance of your dog.
That as you continue to practice with your dogs for days, weeks, or months, after your course or sessions are complete.
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ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Sometimes there are especially difficult challenges an owner or owners may have with their dog. Challenges that may make progress in a training course draw out unusually longer than with most. My solution is never to just get you through it to sell you something else.
My solution in those cases is to stay with you, continuing to team up with you and your dog, until we have implemented every possible training method reasonably available to us, to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
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In most cases however, the client learns to train the dog in the sessions. They work with their dog between the sessions with what they learn. The end result of the completed training courses is clients having better understanding, control, and general management ability with their dogs. They have dogs that can dependably perform all basic obedience commands. And finally, they have a foundation to continue to work with their dog throughout the dog’s life.
As I’ve demonstrated in many videos, posts, and articles, ‘For those who want the best life for their dogs, the training never ends.‘
~Mark Rogers