About Command Canine

Command Canine is based in Cornelius and works across Lake Norman and the greater Charlotte area, with virtual sessions for clients further out. Its own site is built around a named approach it calls Mind & Manners, and the pitch is explicit about what it thinks other programs get wrong: most training "jumps straight to obedience without addressing the most important thing: your dog's mindset".

The two halves of the program

The site splits its own method into Mind and Manners. Mind is the behavior-modification half – uncovering what is driving the behavior and helping the dog feel secure enough to learn. Manners is the obedience half, layered in once the dog is regulated. The published issue list is household-specific rather than abstract: separation anxiety, fear of new people, resource guarding, barking or growling at guests, barking and lunging on walks, pulling on leash, ignoring a recall, jumping on guests and mouthiness.

Formats

Four formats are published: weekly one-to-one private lessons, an in-home board and train in which the dog stays in the trainer's own home rather than a kennel, puppy programs, and group classes. There is a two-minute online behavioral assessment that routes an owner to a program and then to a free consultation, and the business also sells ebooks for owners who want to start on their own.

Method and tools

The site is unusually specific about tools. For obedience it uses positive reinforcement plus pressure-and-release leash pressure, which it compares to reins on a horse; for clients who want off-leash work it adds remote-collar training with a vibration collar or e-collar. It states it specializes in tough cases, rescue dogs and former research dogs.