Being an experienced dog handler with years of puppy raising, training, and grooming, I am very flexible with tailoring a schedule and adapting to every dog's needs. I have no problem dealing with incontinent or un-potty trained dogs and can provide the potty training along with crate training if requested. I just may be a great fit to provide special and or extra care for your pets, regardless of age, temperament, or "special needs" (considering my basic vet med education). I am very patient with reactivity considering my basic knowledge about canine behavior and am grateful for every chance to apply hands-on! When I am not busy, I mostly hone my handling skills with my own or other dogs. I love task and performance training the most, as it involves shaping high energy dogs' natural drive, as well as bringing out the amazing hidden potential in others. I constantly strive to learn more in behavior adjustment training for different types of reactivity such as: Dog to dog, dog to human, leash or frustrated greeting (usually not aggression but presents as such), fearful (on guard), specific object triggers, specific sound triggers, other triggers relating to specific humans or other dogs, and even certain actions or movement as a triggers. General boundary management and conditioning is one of my favorites too! I can especially do this for boundaries with the common dog-to-dog and dog-to-human issues. Reactivity Note: Reactivity is not always an issue with the handler, and I get it! It's also genetics, trauma to your dog that you could not control, and so many other factors. Believe me, I have handled so many dogs in and out of training, but I still understand that outside of selective bred and temperament tested dogs, many dogs vary in personality and genetic factors that we cannot "force" them to get over. Hence the reason even some service (or other "working") dogs are "career changed" or put up for adoption as pets into others' loving hands rather than forcing them to fit a role that they are not individually meant for! Dogs are not robots and cannot be expected to "act" the same! However we can always do our best to improve your dog's quality of life to be as stress-free as possible, and much more fitting into a healthy lifestyle for you and in your home! Every dog has their own insecurities. Some with higher anxiety than others. They deserve the help to learn how to "recover" with trust and confidence! Rowdy behavior can always be improved, though not "fixed", with a little patience! What I Wish I Knew Sooner as a High Drive Dog Handler: Behavior training ≠ obedience!! Obedience is simply focusing on the outcome/execution of a command. Behavior training & conditioning sets the foundation for obedience, by forming a healthy mindset receptive to learning, or rewiring an unhealthy mindset to open up. This is then built upon with obedience. This is a topic of its own, not often thoroughly explained first and foremost in training though they go hand in hand. This leads to accidental conditioning and reinforcement of reactivity when the behavioral foundation is not constantly managed or applied. Behavior issues arise when a dog's mind is triggered past "threshold" of distress, where little to no thinking is involved, and instead just stimulus to reaction much like a human pushed past mental threshold around strong triggers. A more complex example is leash reactivity where a non aggressive dog flips out on a leash when coming across another dog. This seems aggressive, but only is displayed this way on-leash due to frustration past their threshold because they do not know how to handle big feelings around the other dog. This is also displaying the idea of a "self rewarding" unwanted behavior. Frustrated greetings can be caused by dog park trips or any other "high arousal" stimulus. This is because the "reward" for their frustrating excitement is a currently repetitive outcome. For example, in their mind, they are rewarded for lunging and barking before released into a dog park rather than being effectively counter/de-conditioned to act differently in order to get what they want. Instead they may be immediately released or not shown that patience is more rewarding than tunnel-visioning. Everyday, I build upon my own dog's capabilities (free shaping & reinforcement). He loves task training which he exceeds in, despite his anxiety in public. He is very talented, just struggles with anxiety when exposed to certain stimuli, which doesn't make him any less of a talented assisting companion. Example commands include: place/bed (resting spot), settle (relax), heel (left), switch (heel to other side and back), inside (house,room,crate), out (of the way, rooms, kitchen), in (tucking under legs when you are sitting/tucking under a table or chair to stay out of the way), pick up & give (pick up toy or something you dropped, center (between legs, will also walk backwards in this position with you as well as a heel), close (doors), "crate". Psychiatric Assistance Command Examples My Own Dog Knows: - Cuddle (gently onto you for pressure therapy on your chest or back) - Rest (head on lap) - Kisses! (gentle face licking) - Alerting for anxiety symptoms (catches early signs too by resting paw on lap patiently) - Disturbing psychiatric/mental health episodes (using intelligent disobedience with known commands such as "cuddle" to counter the episodes till you respond and focus on him instead) Other assistance commands include things such as - my recent favorite trick: "throw it away"! (this means picking up trash and putting it into a bin!) -"pick it up/get it" (to assist in hard to reach places or if you prefer his help in retrieving phone/remote/pill bottles) "Intelligent disobedience": A known command conditioned to be executed during situational signals despite not being given the command on spot vocally or physically with intention from the handler/owner. ex. Though my dog is sleeping, he is naturally alert and will come over to disturb anxiety or anxious boredom. He does so by coming over to dig his face into my hands till I focus on him or patiently sit with his paw on me so that I can be reminded to regulate healthier instead of aggressive leg shaking or picking at my hands and fingers. This may be at a point where it is annoying during moments of anxiety, but that shows he is just the dedicated companion I need! Each dog learns at their own pace and each will have their own talent in certain areas. Building upon those talents is the fun part!