About Bob Minchella’s dog owner counseling

Bob Minchella's Dog Owner Counseling is named for what it does. The premise is that the problem to be assessed is the household, not just the dog: the site says private lessons and phone consultations are based on assessing each individual dog's environment, activity level, and the general leadership of the human companions.

The trainer

Bob Minchella has been involved with dog obedience and competition for over thirty-five years and has been a professional dog trainer since 1986. The site says he has trained in the United States, Canada and Germany with world-renowned trainers and behaviorists, and that he brings nearly two decades of service at the Humane Society of Rochester, where the site says he trained over forty thousand dogs and worked with countless families. It describes him as nationally recognized by leading behaviorists and trainers.

The method

His stated position is that there is no one way to train any given dog and handler team. The site describes his approach as an intelligent blend of pure positive and operant conditioning with proper application of inhibition, and quotes a long-time client, Jan Teigen, calling it the most down to earth, sensible and kindest approach she has experienced.

The formats

Group workshops are the main public offering and are held at Dogs at Play on Howell Street in Rochester, with a published schedule running Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays across the fall. A separate page lists the workshop descriptions. Private lessons and phone consultations run alongside, and the site also runs an outdoor class. Gift cards are available.