About ADK-Nine Behavior & Training, LLC

A certified trainer in the central Adirondacks

ADK-Nine Behavior & Training, LLC is run by Doreen Alessi-Holmes from Long Lake, at the geographic center of the Adirondack Park. Her headline credential appears in the CCPDT public registry, which lists Doreen Lynn Alessi-Holmes as a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Alongside it she reports the Family Dog Mediator credential and its Behavioral Diversity Welfare Analyst extension, an ISCP Certificate in Canine Behavior, and professional membership of the Pet Professional Guild and the National Institute for Canine Ethics. Those are the business's own account.

What is actually bookable

Six programs are published, and they are programs rather than descriptions of a philosophy. **Puppy Foundations** covers the first stage, and the private-lesson page names puppy foundations and early socialization among the things sessions address. **Adolescent Dog Manners and Life Skills** is aimed at the six-to-eighteen-month stretch the site describes as big emotions and new independence. The **Reactive Dog Training Program** is private rather than group, and the business is precise about what it means by reactivity: barking, lunging and shutting down in response to other dogs, people, sounds or movement, treated as a nervous-system response rather than as disobedience. **Private Lessons** run one to one on the owner's own goals, with written guidance and support between sessions. **Woodland Walks** are curated, supervised walks. The **Day Training Program** is half-day, capped at three dogs, and the site states plainly that the dog goes home each evening and that this is not a board-and-train arrangement – a distinction worth reading before booking, because the two are often sold under the same word.

Method

The published position is unusually explicit for a small business. Asked in its own FAQ whether it uses punishment or dominance-based methods, the answer is no, with the reasoning attached: fear and intimidation do not produce healthy behavior. The About page sets out the same boundary at length – harsh corrections and 'showing them who's boss' are described as outdated and unnecessary, breed stereotypes as unhelpful, and behavior as driven by the nervous system rather than by a bad attitude. The site also publishes the continuing study behind that position, naming coursework with Kim Brophey, Kristina Spaulding, Kathy Murphy, Amber Batson and others, and two certifications in progress.

Where it works

Long Lake is in Hamilton County, and the business describes its own catchment as the Central Adirondack Region with a fifty-mile service radius; individual program pages name Newcomb and its surrounding towns as where private sessions are held. In practice that radius covers Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Keene, and the thirteen client testimonials the site publishes are all datelined Lake Placid. A dog owner in the High Peaks is closer to this trainer than the map suggests.

What to ask

No board and train, stated by the business itself. Ask about group class schedules, prices, and whether protection or off-leash work is offered.