About Dog-Abilities Dog Training

Who they are

"Dae is the owner and trainer of Dog-Abilities, a professional dog training and walking business, servicing the Northern KY and Cincinnati areas." The strapline is "Bridging Relationships Between Pets and Their People."

The trainer

"Dae's dog training career began 17 years ago when she decided to train her first puppy, a Boxer. Together, they learned the power of clicker training and eventually earned a CGC and therapy dog title. Since that time, Dae became increasingly interested in animal behavior, taking college classes and reading various books and articles on the subject. After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a major in psychology, she decided to pursue both her passions for psychology and animal training. This led her to working in boarding, training, and daycare facilities, where she gained both observational skills and hands-on experience with many different dogs."

Method

"Our approach to training is through reward-based, progressive reinforcement methods. We utilize clicker and marker words, reinforce through food, praise, toys, life rewards, play with you, and other motivators for your dog. We believe in a gentle, non-intimidation, compassionate approach where relationship building can occur. We focus on teaching dogs what we want them to do instead of continuously focusing on the problem behavior."

The site points to two external bodies for its principles: "For more information on our guiding principles, please look at Pet Professional Guild Principles and IAABC."

What they work with

"We work with dogs of all ages, sizes, and breeds, as well as a variety of behavioral problems. These include but are not limited to general house manners/basic obedience, fear and phobia issues, anxiety, and aggression."

Services and published rates

– **Private Training and Behavioral Consults** – "one-on-one sessions in your home. All new private training clients require a questionnaire to be filled out. Consults last 90 minutes, all other sessions are approximately 1 hour." Consult fee $110, private training $90/hr, with an additional fee for more than one dog. "Session packages available, including Puppy packages" and "Discounts for newly adopted dogs (6 months or less) available."

– **Group Classes** – "classes for dogs who are friendly, social, and quiet. Classes are kept small at a maximum of 6 students for the best learning environment and student to instructor ratio." Named classes: "Puppy Fundamentals, Basic Foundation Skills, Intermediate, Advanced, Therapy Dog, Tricks, Rally, Canine Fitness, specialty classes." Class fee $145 unless specified. The Basic Foundation Skills class teaches "sit, down, come, stay, loose leash walking, touch"; the puppy class emphasizes "socialization, off leash play, and basic manners to prevent problem behaviors."

– **Dog Walking** – "We come into your home and walk your dog as needed. Walks are 30 minutes in length. Training can also be provided on the walks as well. This is limited to 10 miles from Erlanger." $15 per 30 minutes, or $20 per 30 minutes with training; $5 for each additional dog.

– **Board and Train (limited basis)** – "Your dog stays with us for a minimum of 2 weeks. Single problem behaviors can be worked on as well as general obedience behaviors." Entry conditions are stated: "Dogs must get along with other dogs, be crate trained (can go in on cue, relax, and are quiet), and not have a high predatory instinct." Fee on request.

Community work

"We are the Leader for the Kenton County 4-H Dog Club. 4-Hers learn basic foundation skills, have monthly meetings, and can participate in the 4-H Kenton County Dog Show in July and at the 4-H State Dog Show in Louisville."