How can you hire us?
We are a board and train company. We start with teaching and training a nice foundation of knowledge into your dog before we do a series of sessions with you and/or your family. Board and trains are anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks. Our Services/Rates page will explain these programs. Also, please look at the rest of these FAQ's before deciding to hire us. Also, look at all of our social media and take a look at what we downs have been doing. We are proud of our company and proud of our growing team. When you are ready, and have an idea for approximate time-frame for training, click the contact button on this website and send us a message and we will get back to you with scheduling.
IK9T FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Are we the right trainer for you?
That depends. In order to determine if we are the right trainer for you, you will need to understand our mindset and philosophy as it relates to not only our training but also how we view life with our dogs. It’s more like a life philosophy with our dogs and we apply training to that. First, we want to include our dogs into our life as much as possible. In order to do that we need help our dog fit into our world, the people world. Dog behaviors usually don’t fit into the people world. What we want to do is to prevent the bad behavior as much as possible and help the dog know what they should be during in many of life’s daily routine situations. We do this with the right leadership and structure. Leadership and structure comes as a result of training. Training alone won’t help you. Training is only your stepping stone to get to the structure. It’s hard to manage a dogs behavior in a given situation if they don’t listen. Training allows us to develop a better listening response from our dog so that we can begin to create structure and to structure many of life’s routing situations.
Example, let’s have Stella stay on her place while we answer the front door so that she has a job to do and won’t be jumping on the guests. We structure the front door situation so that Stella know exactly what to do (certainty). If Stella is a playful dog, she would now exactly what to do. If Stella was a fearful dog and afraid of people, she would know exactly what to do (certainty = better confidence).
You also need to be open to and familiar with my training techniques. In addition to the proactive leadership, guidance, and structure, we also to communicate to the dog when they make a mistake, especially if the mistake would lead to a safety issue for the dog or other people. We communicate to the dog when they do things properly and we also communicate to the dog when they make mistakes or present bad behavior. That means corrections and punishment. There is no way possible to reward bad behavior out of the dog. If you believe this then you have been misinformed. I know that many of you already know this because you have been struggling.
The thing is, as a balanced trainer, we are presenting positive reinforcement 99+% of the time and correcting less than 1% of the time. When we set the dog up for success, we have to correct and punish much less often.
Are you the right client for us?
The idea that we can train our dog a little bit here and a little bit there and still expect our dog to be great in life tougher situations is not going to work. Training is more of a mindset and a lifestyle for the dogs owner. Our best clients understand this and practice this. In reality it is no different than kids. Their life is structured and they have rules to follow to help them learn but to also keep them safe. Parents usually adapt a different mindset and lifestyle with it comes to raising kids. It is no different with our dogs. The only difference is, it doesn’t take 18 years to train your dog! :-)
Our best clients:
⁃Understand that they need to change the way they think and act regarding their dog. You must be coachable.
⁃If you have behavioral challenges, you will need to recognize what is going on and understand that if you do nothing, then your situation will not change. You will need to make a change and stick to it in order for your dog’s behavior to change for the better. For some of you, you will need to hold your dog accountable to what you are asking and be more firm. For many of you, you will need to praise your dog much less. Over-praising is not leadership but there will be time for plenty of praise once your dog is listening to you much better. You will be providing the right leadership and structure when you are present and you will also be using your safe containment to prevent your dog having access to making mistakes when you are not present. I want you to have predictable behavior (certainty). Training is a mindset and lifestyle and change may be daunting initially, but I assure you, once you see the benefits for yourself, you will have more motivation to stick to it. Also, I believe in you!
⁃Understand that there is follow through and that they will have to put forth effort. Yes, there’s homework.
⁃You will need to be ready to help your dog understand your rules and your boundaries and put forth the effort to be consistent. You will need to stick to the program 100%. I am here for you and we are a team. I want this to be worth your while and worth the energy we put into it so that you have results over the long-term. Our approach is meant to create certainty for you and your dog and you both will build confidence together. Remember the structure you create now means you will have more freedom with your dog in the future. Structure=freedom.
⁃Comfortable with our training techniques and understand that we praise and reward dogs, but we also correct bad behavior
⁃Know that consistency is key and that they must present clear and consistent commutation to their dog in order for their dog to understand and build confidence instead of being confused.
⁃You will have so much more fun with your dog when your dog is more included in your life as a result of better behavior.
Do we use food in training?
Yes and other rewards too. But keep in mind that the biggest reward is that your dog gets to be more included in your life and your families life.
Some of you out there may not believe in the use of food because it causes excitement and you’re right it does. But there is a time to use food and at time that you shouldn’t the same as there is a time for high value praise and a time for more neutral praise.
Strictly food based training can lead to a dog that won’t listen that well when food isn’t present.
The cool part here is that we don’t have to use food to train a dog. Not all dogs will take food. Some are picky eaters and some may be too nervous or anxious in the beginning. It is 100percent true that you do not need food. Active leadership where you actively show the dog what to do and how to do trumps food motivation any day.
So yes we do use food but not for the long term and I don’t want you to depend on food after your dog comes home. Instead of food, your training relationship with your dog should be based on the right structure and leadership. You will have your dog better respect you and your household when your relationship is built on communication, trust, leadership, guidance, certainty, rules, boundaries, structure, & respect.
Do we use corrections in training
Yes! We do use corrections in training. That seems to be the sticking point for a lot of people looking for training. The best thing about balanced dog training is that we use the yes/no concept which involves positive reinforcement and rewarding 95+ percent of the time and corrections the rest of the time. The reason why this is so important is because we want the dog to fully understand what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The use of corrections allows for better reliability. Also corrections are not emotional. They are also administeredin a calm way. You’re not mad, not angry, not upset. It’s simply, as a matter of fact, you can’t do that behavior. It’s really simple and it’s not an emotional episode. Remember that positive reinforcement reinforces a wanted command or a good behavior but does not eliminate an unwanted behavior. To stop an unwanted behavior, a properly applied correction will be necessary. The great thing about balanced training is that we can say yes and we can say no to your dog to further create balanced or full understanding.
What tools do we use?
There is no one-size fits all approach to dog training. So yes, we do use tools but the tools do not train the dog. It is up to us to translate the language of the training tool into communication that the dog can understand. Before we can do that, it is important to understand how dogs learn. Also, it is important to have a variety of tools to help with the right communication. We use tools to communicate with the dog so that the dog can learn to follow our lead. The list of tools we use:
Dog’s daily food and/or treats if needed
Markers
Clickers
Prong collar
Remote collar aka ecollar
Slip leads
Martingales
Leashes
Long lines
Dominant dog collars
Toys
Play
Obstacles
Agility equipment
Treadmill
Verbal praise
Physical touch
Muzzles (JAFCO & Baskerville)
Crates/Kennels
Why do you use a prong collar?
The prong collar is one of the most excellent tools to communicate with our dogs. Even though they’re often portrayed as dangerous or harsh tools, they’re far from that. As barbaric as they may look, believe it or not, they are designed to not hurt your dog. The pressure from the leash is spread out to cover most of the circumference of the dog’s neck. With a regular flat buckle collar, the pressure is usually not spread out around the dog’s neck and, instead, it is more concentrated in one spot, usually on the throat and trachea.
We use prong collars because we find them to be one of the best tools for gently communicating and connecting with the dog. My favorite thing about the prong collar is that you can communicate with your dog with much less effort compared to a regular flat buckle collar and it doesn’t put all the pressure on such a sensitive spot like the dog’s trachea.
There are so many misconceptions attached to this one little training tool. Don’t let the appearance or the uninformed opinions of others mislead you.
Nervous and fearful dogs especially benefit from a prong collar. When you show the dog what you are asking without confusion, and you present clarity and certainty to the dog, you begin to build confidence. In many situations where dogs are nervous, anxious, and unsure, when you create certainty in the dog’s mind by showing them what you want them to do, they overcome that and begin to relax and this leads to better confidence. Do this in all situations where the dog is uncertain and you begin to create a more confident dog. It isn’t the prong that does this. It is the active leadership and guidance that leads the dog to certainty. The prong collar is just a tool that can be used to lead the dog and it does a much better job than a flat buckle collar.
When used properly, the prong collar is one of the most humane, least physically taxing, and safest tools that can be used to lead a dog. Please take a look at my photos/videos page to see me working a dog in their first introduction to the prong.
Why do we use a remote collar/e-collar?
Similar to the prong collar, the remote collar is another excellent tool to communicate with our dogs. With the remote collar we have the ability to create consistent communication with our dogs over varying distances. When dogs feel the sensation from the remote collar, it acts as a prompt for their attention which helps with their proper response to commands. The level should be set to something that the dog can feel but is nothing overwhelming, and then we teach them what it means.
Because the remote collar requires little mechanical mastery, its easy to transfer the skills to the owner. The great thing about the remote collar is that it is so versatile. We can speak to our dog on low levels but we can also speak to our dog on higher levels. We can teach basic obedience or even tricks with the e-collar, and we can also, solve problems by correcting bad behavior. Perhaps the best thing about the collar is that you have the potential to have much better off-leash reliability with your dog. The ability to do long distance recalls is something that no other training tool can provide.
The stimulation of a quality modern e-collar is very similar to technology of a TENS unit often used in physical therapy for people. The sensation does not harm dogs mentally nor physically. Similar to the prong collar explanation above, the e-collar can help all dogs and temperaments, even nervous, anxious, and fearful dogs. It is one of the most humane and safest training tools that can be used to train. Please take a look at my photos/videos page to see me working a dog in their first introduction to the e-collar.
What about shy, nervous, anxious, and fearful dogs? Won't the e-collar or prong make him worse?
Nervous and fearful dogs especially benefit from prong and e-collars. When you show the dog what you are asking without confusion, and you present clarity and certainty to the dog, you begin to build confidence. In many situations where dogs are nervous, anxious, and unsure, when you create certainty in the dog’s mind by showing them what you want them to do, they overcome that and begin to relax and this leads to better confidence. Do this in all situations where the dog is uncertain and you begin to create a more confident dog. It isn’t the prong collar or e-collar that does this. It is the active leadership and guidance that leads the dog to certainty. The prong and e-collars are just tools that can be used to lead the dog and it does a much better job than a flat buckle collar or a harness.
When used properly, these tools are among the most humane, least physically taxing, and safest tools that can be used to lead a dog. Please take a look at my photos/videos page to see me working a dog in their first introduction to the prong and e-collar.
At what age can we introduce a prong collar or an e-collar?
The great thing about these tools is that they are used for communication. That means that we can used them to communicate with puppies at a very early age, typically about 12 to 14 weeks and up. At this age, we are simply teaching the dog how to follow our lead and we used tons of food and marker training too. You obviously wouldn’t need to be very firm at this age but you can begin to condition the dog to understand what the communication with the tool means and guess what! You can use markers and food to reward it! 🙂
What does a typical day in the life of Intelligent K9 look like?
First off, we only work with a small handful of dogs at any given time, which allows us to give every dog the personal attention they need, as well as maintaining a calm, relaxed, and quiet environment. First thing in the morning, all dogs go for a structured walk. After that dogs will have some downtime in the crate. We like to feed around this time. From there we start the training day, with each dog receiving 90-120 minutes of training. While this might not sound like an enormous amount of time, it’s more than enough for dogs to make significant, consistent progress without overwhelming them or burning them out. We don’t allow free roaming or interactions with other client dogs. Only our personal, 100% safe personal dogs will be involved, so your dog, as well as other client’s dogs won’t be at any risk for injury. And most importantly, every moment of the day is training – this means crate behavior, thresholds, walking, feeding, potty breaks, and every interaction are all a huge part of the overall training process, and why we’re so successful. All dogs sleep inside, we do not have nor do outdoor kenneling.
Why do a Board & Train?
We had anks CJ.
Will my dog miss me during the Board & Train?
You’re nervous and probably a little afraid. It is natural the the dog’s owner will miss their dog and probably think about their dog a lot while her is in training. I want you to know that your dog will not think you gave him away. He will be fine. Our growing team will take great care of your dog while he is with us. He will not miss you and will not hate you. He will still love you. We also keep the dogs busy with training work and socialization. We have an awesome
We are helping your dog become more calm, more confident, less stressed. A lot of people don’t know that their dog is stressed. Me and my team will take great care of your dog while he is with us.
Who will be working with my dog?
You will be working with the Intelligent K9 Team. All trainers have been personally trained by CJ. Your dog will get to experience training from more than one trainer, with CJ leading the way!!
Will I get to see my dog during the Board & Train?
We don’t allow for visits during the board and train program. Although we understand it can be hard to be away from your dog, we find the owner’s presence to be counter-productive. It slows the progress of the program and can actually move the process backward.
Homework? Absolutely!
We want you to get the best out of this training experience. While your dog is with us you should be watching our videos. We want the time we spend together in our lessons to be the most productive. You should also be reviewing the PDF we will send you. There will be several reminders as well as links to videos. You will have these videos to refer back to whenever you need. We don’t want to have to spend time reviewing the simple things, like how to turn on the remote collar, how to gear up your dog, how to hold the leash, etc. We want you to be educated beforehand so that when we get together we spend more time coaching you to develop your skill instead of teaching you the skill from scratch. You will get so much more out of the program this way and be lightyears more successful!
Support after training?
Yes. We will provide unlimited phone and email support for the life of your dog. It will be up to you to be proactive about your progress and up to you to keep us updated on your progress and with any questions that you have. You should be working harder on your dogs success once you have your dog back at home.
Training is a lifestyle and journey.
You should set up your home and lifestyle as if it was a board and train. You will see the dramatic changes in your dog and you will love it. I know its scary. It may seem like too much structure.
Do we offer discounts or have sales?
We , CJ.
Do we offer tours of our training location?
You tructure.
Is there a guarantee?
Due to the many variables involved to create a well-behaved, balanced dog, including owner commitment, consistency, and follow-through, it would be unethical for us to offer a 100% guarantee. However, we only choose the most dedicated and diligent owners so, in our experience, no matter how severe the issues, we consistently see breakthrough results and amazing transformations. We have never come across a dog we could not help. We work hand in hand as a team in your dog’s rehabilitation. This process of teamwork and collaboration begins before we even meet your dog, moves through the training process, and continues long after your dog has gone home. Once you hire us, we consider you part of the Intelligent K9 family, and your success is our utmost priority.
