Dog Training and Behavior Consultations
Call or Email
412-818-2482
All my services put your animals’ needs front and center in a safe and caring environment. I can work in a variety of ways depending on the needs of you and your pet.
Take a look below at the detailed descriptions of some of the behaviors I can help with.
90 Minute Consultation Fee $250
Call or Email (email form on home page)
412-818-2482
Leash reactivity
What is Reactivity?
Dogs who exhibit inappropriate behaviors in the presence of other dogs are considered to be “reactive.” These behaviors can be aggressive in nature, such as lunging, snarling, and baring teeth, or the dog can yelp, try to run away, or even just freeze and refuse to move. In most cases, reactivity is fear-based
Resource Guarding
Guarding possessions from humans or other animals is normal behavior for dogs.
Dogs vary in what they consider valuable. Some dogs only guard chew bones or toys. Some guard stolen items, such as food wrappers from the trash can or socks. Many dogs guard food.
The treatments used for food guarding are desensitization combined with counterconditioning. They’re highly effective but fairly complex and detailed.
Fear Behavior
Generally fearful dogs start off by trying to stay away from the things that scare them. But as they are confronted with scary situations repeatedly, they can learn that offense (barking, snapping, biting) is their best defense because it makes the scary people go away.
One approach to dealing with fear and aggression towards people is to train the dog to associate unfamiliar people with good things in a systematic/graded manner.
We rescued a border collie six months ago when he was 10 months old. We were told he was taken to the shelter because of a divorce, but we soon found out he also had uncontrollable anxiety that was destructive: for the first three months we couldn't have any furniture in our first floor (we closed the doors to the 2nd floor). He was even chewing our floors. He was also terrified of cars and had no bite inhibition. After working with Paula over the course of 3-4 months, he is much calmer, happier, and we even have all of our furniture back. She makes learning for both us and the dog fun and cares deeply about the well-being of the dog and her clients. We are very appreciative of how helpful she has been.
Paula is dog lover’s trainer. Every aspect of her training method is scientifically designed to create a bond of trust and love between the two parties in the relationship...one furry, one not.
We adopted a sheltie pup...beautiful and lovable, but terrified of the world at large. Vacuum cleaners, flushing toilets, bikes, dogs, runners, cars, trucks, buses, ironing boards, boxes...you name it. His fearful behavior was daunting enough for experienced dog people, but we were newbies. It took Paula’s devotion to us and our little maniac to get us to where we are today, and it was completely worth it. He’s happy and well-adjusted and even has gleefully welcomed a little brother.
He adores Paula. Just mention her name within his hearing and he’s looking for her. I happened to tell my husband that I was heading out to Anthropologie. All Harpo heard was “Paula” and he wanted to come along. Paula...the first human to ever understand him.