Dog Training, Coaching, and Education
Serving Hilton Head, Bluffton, Hardeeville, Beaufort, Savannah GA, and the Lowcountry.
About Us
Our
Story
We are Chase and Marina! For over four years, we have been in the dog world (professionally and as owners). In early 2018, we sought a different training method for our 5-month-old pitbull mix Koda, pictured above. We wanted her to listen to commands, stop pulling on her leash, learn not to run around and destroy our apartment, and have fun while training. After learning about balanced training, e-collars, and using play to communicate with dogs, we applied the methods to working with Koda, and we saw a new dog in a matter of weeks. She was still as happy and playful as ever, but now she was obedient, calm, and loved learning and listening.
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Now we've added a few more dogs to our pack and continuously learning more about dog behavior every day. We love playing with dogs, creating a lasting bond and relationship with them, and bringing out a dog's happiest and best self. There is nothing more fulfilling then watching a dog transform with training.
About
Our Training
Our training has a focus on behavior, not just obedience. Many dogs can sit and lay down when told but cannot do so under distractions or duration. These same dogs also get quickly excited or aroused at the slightest distraction. We use real-world training techniques so your dog can interact with you in the real world while looking to you for guidance and leadership. We help create obedient dogs, dogs who can calm themselves down and go anywhere and everywhere without arousal or reactivity.
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Our goal with either of our training programs is to give you confidence as a dog owner. Our programs last a minimum of 6 weeks. We want a long-term relationship with our clients to educate you on WHY you are doing what you are doing. As the owner, your relationship with your dog is the most important. We will give you the tools, education, and support to become a better dog owner in all aspects. You will walk away from training with the confidence that you are giving your dog the best life they can have. You’ll be able to take your dog anywhere and do anything, and you’ll know you have an obedient and well-behaved dog. This will bring out your dog's best potential and turn you into the leader you've always wanted to be for your dog.
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These training programs are a LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT. There is no “easy-fix” in dog training. Every behavior, good or bad, stems from somewhere. We believe in a complete lifestyle change for both dogs and owners. We will teach you how to be the best owner and create the best life for your dog. This makes happy, calm, focused dogs WITHOUT anxiety, destructive behaviors, or selective listening.
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We don’t guarantee that you will have a perfect dog at the end of the six weeks. Training happens throughout a lifetime. Before signing up for training, know that you will see the most significant results after working consistently for 3-4 months. This doesn't mean you won’t see improvements before then, but building a solid relationship takes time and effort! 3-4 months out of 15+ years with your dog is barely a blip in time!
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We are balanced trainers, which means we balance rewarding good behaviors while correcting unwanted behaviors. We utilize e-collars, prong collars, food/treats, toys, and playing in our training.
Tools &
Training Methods
Relationship Building
Our most popular method for training is relationship building. We want your dog to see you as a strong and stable leader. A good leader is someone whom both allows for fun and holds firm boundaries. We want your dog to be excited to be with you, listen to you, play with you, and go places with you. When you allow for fun and play while also communicating to your dog when they need to change their behavior, you will enjoy training and start seeing real results.
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Philosophies
There are two popular theories to describe the learning process involved in dog training: classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Ivan Pavlov introduced classical conditioning in the early 1900s. It is a process of learning which alters an individual’s behavior in relation to various internal or external stimuli. The process creates an association between a naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one. For example, let’s say your dog starts wagging their tail when you grab their leash. Then, you begin ringing a bell before you grab the leash. Soon, your dog will start wagging their tail when you ring the bell instead of waiting for you to grab the leash. The sound of the bell is now known as the conditioned stimulus, and wagging the tail in response to the bell is known as the conditioned response.
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B.F founded operant conditioning. Skinner in 1938. It focuses on using rewards or punishments to increase or decrease a behavior. There are four quadrants of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. In this scenario, positive means adding a stimulus, and negative means removing a stimulus. A punishment is anything that discourages the behavior, and a reinforcement is anything that encourages the behavior.
Positive reinforcement: Receiving a stimulus after a behavior to increase the behavior. An example is giving a dog a treat when they complete a command. They are receiving the stimulus of a treat, and now the dog is encouraged to complete the command in the future.
Negative reinforcement: Removing a stimulus after a behavior to increase the behavior. An example is clicking your seatbelt when you hear the dinging sound. Clicking the seatbelt removes the dinging sound, so the behavior of clicking your seatbelt is encouraged.
Positive punishment: Receiving a stimulus after a behavior to decrease the behavior. An example is receiving a speeding ticket after driving over the speed limit. As a result, the driver is discouraged from driving too fast in the future because they want to avoid another ticket.
Negative punishment: Removing a stimulus after a behavior to decrease the behavior. An example is taking a teenager’s phone away after sneaking out. The behavior is discouraged because the teen wants to avoid taking their phone away again.
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During training, several tools will to used for communicating and motivation.
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A prong collar is a type of training collar made of metal links. When the collar is pulled using a leash, the collar tightens slightly around your dog’s neck, providing pressure. When the leash is loosened, the pressure is released. Prong collars are not painful for the dog. When used and fitted correctly, it can provide excellent, fast training results and be used for communication, training behaviors, and stopping unwanted behaviors.
E-collars, otherwise known as electric collars, are a remote dog training system that consists of a wireless remote and a wireless receiver. This system allows you to send signals to your dog to communicate, train behaviors, and stop unwanted behaviors. E-collars are safe and humane, as they provide blunt stimulation to the receiver, which acts as a neck muscle stimulator, mimicking the touch of a puppy’s mother. Most high-quality systems range from 0-100, so you can choose levels for teaching and communicating, de-escalating arousal, or correcting behaviors. These tools allow us to communicate with our dogs using physical touch. This can be incredibly beneficial when our dogs’ other senses are distracted or overwhelmed.
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We utilize food or treats as a reward (positive reinforcement). If your dog is food motivated, you can use your dog's daily kibble for training, which will prevent over-feeding. In addition, hand feeding and having your dog receive their food from you during training can be a bonding activity for both dog and handler. If your dog is not food motivated or if you want to up the reward, you can use training treats or a high-value food reward (steak, chicken, etc.)
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Toys can be used as a motivator and are incredibly motivating to dogs who love to chase or have a high prey drive. Remember, every dog is different and is motivated by different things. You can use toys to fetch, tug, or allow your dog to chew on them.
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At the beginning of training, we need to control the variables as much as possible so we use a leash. We want our dogs to be on a 6-foot leash during routine training or a 15-30 foot leash when training recall and off-leash reliability. Having your dog on a leash prevents them from walking away from the session and allows you to guide and steer your dog into the behavior or command that you want.
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We will use a clicker to mark good behaviors.
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The best form of positive reinforcement can be spending time with you! We want to build a fantastic relationship between you and your dog. Petting and quality time can be very rewarding to your dog. You can also introduce life rewards, which are activities that your dog enjoys. These can include: swimming in the pool or ocean, going for a drive in the car, playing with the hose, etc. You can use these life rewards to motivate and reward your dog.
