Jeff is wonderful!
I first noticed Jeff at the dog-park when I was there with my 1-year old pup, Elsie. I was amazed by how his dog Ronnie would quietly sit and wait when other dogs entered the park, all with an almost imperceptible nod of his head or flick of his finger. While, overall a very sweet girl in her comfort zone, Elsie has always been quite fearful of new situations, strangers, and especially the postman; and as she was maturing this was escalating into fear-based leash reactivity and aggression, especially towards men.
Before training started, Jeff met us at our home to gather detailed background information on Elsie and carefully listened to my concerns and objectives for training. He then put together a road-map for what her training would look like.
Jeff utilizes a holistic approach to dog training; explaining the underlying drivers for dog behaviors and the need for providing sufficient outlets for them, and using a systematic, step-wise, and positive-reinforcement based approach to behavior change and training. Jeff was excellent at explaining the "how's and why's" of training techniques and answering questions as they arose. He was also great at incrementally exposing Elsie to novel and/or stressful situations to help shape them into more positive experiences for everyone!
When we first started working with Jeff, Elsie was terrified of him; she would cower, bark, avoid eye contact, and reject his treats. Jeff embodies the very calm, gentle, and patient dog-trainer; he excels at reading dog's body language and exudes soothing energy. As we worked with him, we made great progress towards my training objectives; more importantly, Elsie gained confidence, learned to interact with her world in a different, calmer way, and is overall a happier pup. By the end our training package, she greeted him with face licks and enthusiasm. read more