About Canine Relations

Canine Relations is run by Lynn and Dennis Vander Linde, who the site describes as having a combined fifty years of experience. The name is the thesis: the business is organized around the relationship between handler and dog rather than around a curriculum of commands.

What they actually teach

The method is set out at more length than most sites bother with. They teach the handler to understand what motivates a dog, framed as instinctual drives around social contact, food, defense, play and prey, and then how to train or untrain behavior using techniques matched to that dog's temperament and the handler's own preferences. The stated goal is a balanced relationship built on mutual respect and consistent leadership from every handler in the household, not just one.

Formats

Private lessons run either at your location or theirs. Board-training is delivered in a trainer's own home rather than a kennel, and they also offer home-environment boarding where the dog stays with one of the trainers while you are away.

Note

Everyone in the house is expected to take part; the site returns repeatedly to the point that the dog responds to all its handlers, not only the one who booked the lessons.