Professional Services
Finding that sweet spot of deeper understanding between you and your dog can enrich your life in indescribable ways.
It can be challenging to reach this place of serenity and cooperation on our own sometimes. A fresh perspective with gentle practices that render immediate results will be offered to help deepen your understanding of your dog's perspective, and gain greater awareness of the energetic exchanges you experience throughout your day. By building a new foundation that asks mainly for awareness, willingness and consistency, you will feel more connected and confident to both recognize and navigate the more challenging behaviors as, or even before, they arise with more ease, grace & confidence. I look forward to guiding you along your journey! |
Supporting Clients
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Unconditional Love Animal Teaching is more than just training. We work together to understand what is behind the behaviors your dog is exhibiting and how to shift your own perspectives, behavior and energy to better support a path to greater calm and cohesion.
My approach values connection over correction, collaborating with you to find your voice when it needs to be heard, and your silence when your dog needs to feel you more.
Because dogs thrive with balanced, fair leadership, we will explore how this can look in your specific situation at home and out in the community while keeping things simple and practical.
My approach values connection over correction, collaborating with you to find your voice when it needs to be heard, and your silence when your dog needs to feel you more.
Because dogs thrive with balanced, fair leadership, we will explore how this can look in your specific situation at home and out in the community while keeping things simple and practical.
Working With Clients and Dogs
Working the Long Line
Establishing connection and flow through long-line work is a wonderful way to establish a new way of communicating with your dog, strengthening leadership and improving walks
Kayo and Francesca Kayo, a wolf/husky cross, was difficult to manage on a walk, as he is almost as big as his human! After focusing on leadership & connection in ourInitial Session, and introducing a new leash set-up, this video shows 2 weeks of diligent practice paying off, with a calm, willing Kayo moving in sync with Francesca.
Bentley VS Vacuum One of the issues that Bentley’s humans struggled with (among many), was him attacking the vacuum cleaner when in use. By the end of week one of Bentley’s stay with us, he paid no attention to the vacuum and demonstrated much calmer, cooperative behaviours
Char and Skylar Little Skylar is the kind of pup who gets extremely excited to go on a walk. In our second session, we worked on helping Skylar to understand that the walk is not gained until she is calm.
Our next step was to work on the flow of the leash, rather than focusing on a perfect heel. We work in phases, ensuring the dog is understanding what is being asked, while the human is understanding, gauging and responding to the state of mind the dog is in to help manage expectations and create a more collaborative experience. Threshold Work with Hank Bulldogs can be very pushy, but after only days spent with us and implementing some new rules, boundaries & expectations, Hank learned how to read my body language and cues that discouraged him from pushing his way through the door until given the ‘ok’. A calm dog is a content dog!
Arrow Calmly Playing Ball Typically, Arrow barks incessantly when she sees a ball, and can’t contain her excitement. During one of our stays, we focused on the art of waiting, teaching her how to be calm before receiving the reward of her ball. This exercise has numerous benefits, as it ‘yo-yos’ a dog’s drives from pack-to-prey, rather than leaving them in a cortisol-driven frenzy. It works their mental body and strengthens connection to their human, learning how to look to them for direction which can then be applied in other situations.
Griff at Mealtime Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? I beg to differ! Griff LOVES mealtime. Before working with him, there wasn’t much structure implemented around this activity and he would ‘resource guard’, going after other dogs that posed a threat to his food supply!
During a stay with Griff, we changed his diet from kibble to raw, and from one feeding to two per day, as it was crystal clear that this mattered greatly to him and was a source of anxiety. We taught him how to wait at the door (threshold work), and to go to a ‘place’ while waiting for the ‘ok’ to enjoy his meal. As you can see, Griff remains very calm and takes his time to figure out all the steps required of him to receive his meal. As a result, he can be fed around other dogs and has become much more relaxed, knowing when mealtime is, and how he can expect it to happen. Duke and Kayla Duke was a young rescue dog from Taiwan who started exhibiting reactive behaviors not long after he was brought into his new home. After working with his family on creating more structure and boundaries in the home, we introduced Duke to the muzzle, and soon after, careful, controlled introductions to balanced pack members.
It was awesome to see Duke interested and relaxed when Kayla appeared on the other side of the fence. Because we had been working on him with the long-line, he felt a greater degree of safety with me when this opportunity arose. Once a dog learns how to feel more relaxed in my energy, I extend this ‘good feeling’ when we expand our comfort bubble by offering him encouragement and keeping calm. Threshold Work at the Farm Whether dealing with one dog or multiple dogs, we always make it a practice to wait before crossing any threshold. Dogs love order and will get along better when calm is promoted and maintained. I always notice demanding and unruly behaviors diminish when these types of practices are put into place.
Breakfast Time with Multiple Dogs By asking each dog to wait patiently for their food, we bring the excitement down a few notches and work better as a team. These two adorable duck tollers sometimes had difficulty near each other at mealtime when it was offered without structure before. When a dog is challenged to think and is shown how by the person leading them, they act from a place of greater calm with less desire to react, bringing more harmony to each situation.
Puppy Jasper Learning from the Elders For 4 month old Jasper’s first pack experience, we grouped him with 4 bonafide elders to help establish a more natural pack understanding, before introducing him to some of the other energetic playful puppies.
This type of experience creates an imprint where he learns how to respect boundaries, rather than jump all over his peers with excitement, hence learning to jump all over any dog he meets with excitement, which may not work out so well for him. Leveraging the strengths of the balanced pack members can help a young pup wake up their innate understanding of how to interact with others, and not have to learn the hard way. Calm Walk with New Puppies 3 month old siblings Ahsoka & Chewy on their first pack adventure, fitting into the rhythm of the pack beautifully. This was a wonderful way to introduce calm, social behaviour through a very natural activity to a dog; the pack walk.
Pack Walking Achieving a peaceful pack walking involves various elements. Guiding each dog to slip into pack drive can require quite a bit of focus, but becomes a highly satisfying activity when this rhythm is established. With awareness and practice, you can teach your dog to enjoy this ritual with you.
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Client Testimonials
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If you are considering any form of dog training look no further than Erin!
I’ve been through a whack of “cookie cutter” trainers, after a quick consult with Erin I knew I had found the right fit for my dog. Her tailored approach and philosophy in training is exactly what Winston needed. Erin’s ability to tap into and communicate with him is remarkable. Simply put she possesses a certain Je ne sais quoi. 5 stars across the board.
Calgary, AB |
