About Tranquil Dog Training

Tranquil Dog Training Academy publishes itself as "Private dog training in Jacksonville, NC, serving Camp Lejeune families and surrounding towns from Wilmington to Swansboro", and states that a lot of its clients are "active duty or military families who need a trainer who understands life on a deployment schedule and a moving timeline".

What they publish

Three routes are named on their own site. A free course, described as "real training, not a teaser for something bigger", is offered for owners who cannot afford a trainer or no longer trust one. Private guided lessons are "SEVEN in-person sessions with your dog, held privately out in the real world your dog actually has to listen in, not just a quiet training room", with coaching between sessions and unlimited follow-up afterwards. Board and train is described as "the other half of the same program" and includes three in-person private lessons during the stay, near-daily photos and videos, weekly visitation days and unlimited follow-up on completion.

The owner

The site is written in the first person by Samantha Porter, named on the site as CEO. Her published specializations are "Puppy raising, leash manners, obedience foundations, impulse control, multi-dog households, off-leash reliability". She writes that for years her specialty was "the hard cases: aggression, severe anxiety, trauma-based reactivity", and that her focus has since moved to puppy and foundation work.

How the training runs

Her stated approach is "real relationship, real consistency, results that hold because the foundation is real, not because a tool is forcing the behavior 24/7", and she writes "I don't fall into a training camp, and I'm not interested in defending one." Training is deliberately based in a household rather than a kennel: "Training in a facility teaches a dog to behave in a facility. It does not always transfer to your living room, your yard, or your daily routine." The site names two other trainers on the team, Chris Baker and Cameron Gant, and states that every trainer working with a client's dog was trained in-house. Ask about prices when you get in touch.