Services

I offer private in-home behavior modification and dog training services for people and their dogs in the Hudson Valley using positive reinforcement training.

What to Expect:

At our first session, I will meet you and your dog at your home where we will identify your goals and translate them into an actionable training plan. After every session, you will receive an email with content covered and your homework. I tailor the lessons to suit your learning style, whether you love having a detailed training schedule or prefer a big picture approach. We’ll track your progress. Every week, we want to see incremental change toward your final goals. Regardless of what your goals are, you’ll find along the way that your bond with your dog grows, as does her engagement and responsiveness. You will also learn the skills you’ll need to continue to work with your dog on your own.

Who is my client:

  • Your dog is exhibiting unwanted, aggressive or fear-based behaviors
  • You adopted a new puppy
  • You adopted a dog from a shelter
  • Your dog hit adolescence full-paws blazing
  • Your dog is often struggling to figure out how to behave appropriately and be successful
  • You want to improve your training skills and engagement and bond with your dog
  • You want to improve your dog’s quality of life
  • You are ready to invest the time and effort because your dog’s well-being is important to you

Services include:

  • Behavior modification – We can address behaviors such as jumping, greeting guests, bolting through doors, explaining to your dog how the world works and giving him the skills he needs to succeed. We can also modify aggressive or fear-based behaviors, giving everyone some relief. With compassion, I will perform an assessment and create a training plan to address the unwanted behaviors. We will work together to modify the behavior and consequently, improve your dog’s quality of life.
  • Puppy socialization and training – We will work on socialization, housetraining, life skills and manners such as waiting at doors and greeting people, stress-free vet visits and grooming, foundation behaviors like coming when called and sit, and common challenges such as biting, chewing and running away with your socks.
  • Life skills and mannersWhether your dog has reached adolescence, you adopted a shelter dog or you would love it if your older dog had some skills (yes, older dogs are very trainable!), we can train your dog all sorts of behaviors like coming when called, doing something other than jumping on houseguests at the door, walking nicely on a leash, and on and on!
  • Cooperative care trainingYou’ve done some training with your dog and see the value of cooperative care training or your dog is suffering during vet visits or grooming. We can change his experience from a negative to a positive one. It takes patience and time – and it’s so worth it!
  • Coaching– I can help you improve your training skills, understand how you take your training from inside your home to outside, better read your dog’s body behavior, create a weekly enrichment routine, write-out a training plan for you to work through, help you troubleshoot a behavioral challenge and improve your engagement and bond.

The Process

Step 1Contact me.

Step 2 – I will reach out to you within 24-hours to schedule an initial consultation.

Step 3 – Have faith in yourself and your dog. You can do it! You can meet your goals and have fun along the way! I’m here to support, guide and make the process a positively reinforcing one for both people and dogs.

Step 4 – Enjoy watching your dog transform into the super star you knew he could be! I love hearing clients exclaim in disbelief, “He is brilliant!”

I’ll tell you a secret… Regardless of why you contacted me, your dog will have no idea why I am at your house. Zero. For dogs who don’t love visitors, they initially may count the seconds until I leave. But after a few minutes or a few sessions, regardless of whether your puppy is too sweet for words or your dog has been exhibiting less than desirable behaviors, your dog will be convinced that he figured it out!!! I visit your house so we can all play games and have fun! When teaching is done well, learning is fun!

I tailor our training to meet both your dog’s and your goals and needs. We teach your dog new skills and behaviors so that he can better manage and cope in the world. We’ll explain to him how our crazy human world works and increase your dog’s behavior repertoire so he is able to behave successfully in specific contexts. We can teach him how to greet people, what to do when the front door opens, what his job is when the family sits down for dinner, and so on. We can use desensitization and counterconditioning to change the way your dog feels about all sorts of things, like people, the dremel and sounds. You would be surprised how often our dogs are confused and guessing. As your dog’s skills, mastery and successes increase, so does his confidence and his connection to you. Training can feel like magic!

Ken Ramirez