How We Can Work Together
I have simplified the way I work with dogs and their people because most families do not need to figure out whether they should purchase the "reactivity package," the "anxiety package," the "aggression package" or some other neatly labeled program before we have even talked about the dog.
Your dog's problem determines what we work on. It does not need to determine which box you buy.
Today there are three primary ways to work with me: a consultation, concentrated in-person immersion work, or ongoing support through membership.
Three Ways to Get Help
Consultations
Sometimes you do not need a six-week training program. You need an experienced person to look at the whole situation, help you understand what you are seeing and give you a sensible plan.
Consultations are available by Zoom nationwide and in-home locally when appropriate.
Immersion Training
For dogs and families who need more than an hour-long lesson, immersion gives us concentrated time together to observe, train, troubleshoot and work through the bigger picture in real life.
You bring your dog to North Myrtle Beach and participate in the process. This is not traditional board-and-train.
Membership
Not every question requires another private appointment. Membership is for dog parents who want ongoing education, resources, Q&A and a place to keep learning as their dog and their needs change.
It is also a natural next step for clients who want continued access to my guidance after intensive one-on-one work.
Consultations
Zoom nationwide. In-home locally.
A consultation is the right place to start when you need someone to help you step outside the problem and look at the dog objectively. We can talk through behavior, training, household dynamics, management, lifestyle, breed tendencies, previous experiences and what you have already tried.
For complex behavior cases, I may also want video before or after our appointment. Video can show me things that disappear the moment a professional walks into the room — leash reactions, separation distress, household tension, door behavior, pacing, hypervigilance and the small body-language changes that happen before a bigger reaction.
Because of my background in canine nutrition and holistic pet health, I also pay attention when the history suggests that pain, digestion, food, medications, poor sleep, chronic stress, aging or another physical factor may deserve a closer look.
That does not mean every behavior problem becomes a wellness consultation. It means I look at the whole dog before deciding which pieces are relevant.
Consultations may be a good fit for:
- Aggression, growling, snapping or bite-risk concerns.
- Anxiety, fear, trauma or hypervigilance.
- Leash reactivity and difficult walks.
- Household dog conflict.
- Separation-related behavior.
- New or adopted dogs who are struggling to adjust.
- Dogs who have already been trained but are still not okay.
- A behavior change that does not seem to make sense.
- Pet parents who simply need help deciding what to do next.
Virtual does not mean less useful.
Many behavior problems are easier to evaluate through discussion and video because I can see what the dog actually does in their normal environment rather than what they do while a new person is standing in the room.
Immersion Training
Concentrated work with you and your dog in North Myrtle Beach.
I spent years doing traditional dog-training programs and board-and-train. There are things that format can do very well, but there is one enormous limitation: eventually the dog goes home.
The handler goes home too.
The relationship, household, routines, triggers, environment and patterns that existed before training are still there. And when I am working with a complicated dog, those pieces may be every bit as important as what the dog learned while staying with a trainer.
Immersion training approaches the problem differently. Instead of sending your dog away and waiting for me to hand you back a "finished" dog, you travel with your dog to North Myrtle Beach and become part of the work.
Depending on the case, we may spend concentrated time observing, training, discussing what I am seeing, working around real-world distractions, evaluating handling and relationship patterns, troubleshooting specific behavior and giving the dog opportunities to show us what is actually happening underneath the problem.
Some of the most useful moments may happen during a formal training session. Others happen walking down the street, loading into a car, sitting outside with the dog, encountering another dog, watching how the dog settles after activity or simply having enough time together for me to see patterns that would never appear in a sixty-minute lesson.
Immersion may be especially useful when:
- You have already invested in training and still have a significant behavior problem.
- Your dog is obedient but anxious, reactive, hypervigilant or emotionally unsettled.
- The problem is complicated enough that one-hour appointments keep ending just when we are getting somewhere.
- I need to see how you and your dog function together across different situations rather than one staged training exercise.
- You are willing to be involved instead of handing the dog over and hoping someone else fixes everything.
This is not board-and-train.
Your dog is not dropped off while you go home. You are part of the process because what happens after our time together depends heavily on what you understand, what you can recognize and what you can continue once you leave North Myrtle Beach.
Follow-up support can continue virtually so we can see how the work transfers back into your real life and make adjustments as needed.
Membership
Ongoing education, resources and access to support.
Dogs change. Puppies grow up. Adolescents suddenly discover they have opinions. New behaviors appear. Old behaviors occasionally resurface. Families move, routines change, another dog joins the household and sometimes you simply have a question that does not require booking another private consultation.
Membership gives dog parents an ongoing place to learn, ask questions, use educational resources and stay connected to the bigger picture of training, behavior and whole-dog wellness.
It can be useful whether you have worked with me privately or simply want more thoughtful guidance than another late-night Google search or fifty conflicting answers in a public dog group.
Membership is best for:
- Everyday training and behavior questions.
- Continued learning after a consultation or immersion.
- Dog parents who want access to deeper educational resources.
- People who want to understand their dogs better before a small problem becomes a large one.
- Ongoing discussion about behavior, training, nutrition and whole-dog wellness.
Membership is not emergency behavior intervention.
If your dog is biting, seriously attacking another animal, escaping, injuring themselves, becoming dangerous around children or presenting another immediate safety concern, start with a consultation rather than posting the situation to a member group and hoping for a quick answer.
Start With the Amount of Help You Actually Need
I Need Direction
You have a problem, need another set of experienced eyes on it and want a plan before committing to anything larger.
Start with a Consultation.
We Need to Go Deeper
The problem is complicated, training has already been tried, or you need concentrated hands-on work instead of stretching everything across short appointments.
Ask about Immersion Training.
I Want Ongoing Support
You are not in crisis. You want education, resources, questions answered and continued access to thoughtful dog support over time.
Join the Membership.
What Can We Work On?
The fact that I am no longer selling a separate package for every behavior does not mean I stopped working with those behaviors. Quite the opposite. The service is simpler so we can spend more time talking about the actual dog.
Consultations and immersion work may address aggression, bite risk, anxiety, fear, trauma, leash reactivity, household conflict, separation distress, over-arousal, hypervigilance, confidence, impulse control, handling, relationship issues, new-dog transitions, basic training gaps and dogs who have already received substantial training but continue to struggle.
Training, Behavior and Wellness Can Overlap
I am a dog trainer and canine behavior specialist, but I am also a canine nutritionist and holistic pet health coach. Those careers did not develop separately by accident. The longer I worked with complicated dogs, the clearer it became that behavior does not always begin and end with training.
When it is relevant, we may talk about nutrition, pain, digestion, sleep, medications, exercise, physical limitations, nervous-system stress or other wellness factors. When deeper health or nutrition work is needed, that side of my practice lives at The Well Oiled K9.
If Your Dog Has Bitten Someone, Tell Me.
Do not soften a bite history because you are afraid I will judge your dog. I need accurate information to protect you, me, the dog and everyone else who may be involved.
If your dog has caused punctures, seriously attacked another animal, redirected onto a handler, attempted to bite a child, escaped with aggressive intent or is becoming increasingly unpredictable, tell me exactly what happened in your inquiry.
Safety and management come before training experiments.
Tell Me About Your Dog
If you are not sure whether you need a Zoom consultation, an in-home visit, concentrated immersion work or simply ongoing support, do not overthink it.
Tell me what is happening, what you have already tried and what you want life with your dog to look like. I can help you determine which option makes the most sense.
Based in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Virtual consultations are available nationwide. Local and travel-based in-person services are available selectively based on the case.