Hi, I’m Arthur Deak, a professional dog trainer and behavioral specialist in Bay Area, California. If you’re struggling with your dog or you’ve got a behavioral issue, maybe with a young puppy and you’ve tried everything, and you don’t know where else to go then, I would love to have the opportunity to share with you what I’ve discovered about dog training.

The way that I work with dogs is very different from most dog trainers. Most trainers start by immediately trying to train the dog who is usually over excited, and non-responsive when it really matters.

The method that I use is very much about understanding where the dog is coming from and getting the dog to come on side with us. So, they actually choose to follow us. They choose to listen to us and in doing that, they calm right down and relax because they are not making all these decisions. This means they are far more likely to listen to you when it actually matters and will be ready for training!

Whether you’ve got a barking dog or a dog who pulls on the leash or a dog who jumps up or is becoming a little bit aggressive, the chances are they are getting far too excited, reactive and far too emotional at that point in time. The real trick I found is to get those dogs to turn to you, to listen to you when it really matters. Because if you get that bit in place and they’re not all scattered-brain and over excited and over emotional, you’re halfway there. If they’re calm and they turn and look to you, then you have the opportunity to show them how you want them to behave.

In a nutshell, before you start to “train the dog,” you need to know how to “win their mind”  

The way I work is I run one-on-one consults where I visit your home. During this time, the first part is spent basically helping you understand the mind of your dog, and I’ll show you some very simple exercises, which will get your dog to come on side, so they’re not challenging you and disobeying you all the time. Basically, you won’t feel like you are swimming against the stream any more; you’ll be moving in the same direction! They’ll be wanting to listen to you and they’ll be far, far calmer. When the doorbell rings, they won’t be neurotic or when they see another dog and they are on the other side of the road, they won’t be getting all crazy and excited, and they’ll be listening to you when you tell them what to do. When you work with a dog who is calm and who listens, then you can put the training in place.  

The issue that most people have is not that they don’t know how to train the dog. They’re doing a lot of that training right, but they don’t have a dog who is in a state ready to learn when it really matters. They don’t have a foundation. And that’s what I’ll share with you.

The benefits of my coming to your home is we can tailor whatever the issue is to your exact setting. We can have a look at your property. We can have a look at your street, where the dog sleeps, all that sort of stuff. If you’ve a puppy, we can go through how to set everything up in your exact home. And that also means that the dog is in their natural environment. I can see the behaviors happening exactly as it would normally happen. The other thing is we can then tailor it to your learning style; if you want to move along faster, we can go faster. If you want to do lots of practical stuff, go out for a walk – we can do that. We’ll go to the park with your dog. If you have any specific questions, we can answer all those as well.

By having your dog in a natural environment, they’ll be playing up in the same way that they normally play up. They will be far more confident. For example, if your dog is a jumper, when I come through that door I can show you exactly how to deal with that. Or if you’ve got an aggressive dog, I can show exactly how I would deal with that if I was to turn up as a normal visitor in your home. 

The other beautiful thing about this method is it uses the dog’s natural instincts. We’re kind of seeing the world through the dog’s eyes. We’re not just saying, “Hey, we’re going to force the dog to change and it’s not over reliant on treats and food.” We’re not using food and treats to bribe the dog. We’re actually looking through the world through the dog’s eyes coming alongside of them and then saying, “Okay, what is it that’s going to get this dog to focus on us and choose to follow us and listen to us?”  

You may have a friend who just seems to have the easiest dog in the world, and part of the reason is because without even knowing it they are very often putting these things in place. So the dog just seems to choose and want to follow them. That’s the way we work. It’s not about screaming and shouting; this is a totally force free method. It’s about getting the dog to want to listen.

As always, LOVE YOUR DOG!