Hi, my name is CJ. My company is "Intelligent K9" and we train family dogs. We help dog owners learn how to live a better life with their dogs. We teach and coach dog owners on how to live the best life they can with their dog without stress.
I (CJ) started my adult life in the Marines. I was a navigator on KC-130 aircraft, and then after that, I was a skydiving instructor. I then moved from skydiving to training dogs and never looked back.
“Transform Your Dog” is our signature program. It's an owner-centric program. It's a program that is designed to teach dog owners the right knowledge, education, and build the skills that they need to live the best life with their dog without struggle. We found that when owners learn the right stuff and they build the right skills, they are more set up to have success with their dog for the longer term. Think…lifetime.
Think of it as a leadership program for dog owners where we teach how to handle dogs and also how to speak dog.
If we really sum up what we're trying to do in training, it's not getting a dog to listen to commands like come, sit, and stay. It's really about “can our dog function in life with us without stress?” How else will somebody be able to walk their dog in a distracting place and their dog walks calmly at their side? How else would someone be able to go to a restaurant or a brewery, and have their dog do a down/stay next to them and be relaxed enough to not have to be micromanaged (stress) the whole time they’re there? It's when we use a little bit more guidance for the dog and teaching them how to listen and follow the right rules, that we have a dogs that can fit into society or into our lives in a civilized way.
A lot of the problems that people come to us to solve, they're looking to stop unwanted behaviors. They're looking to have their dog stop doing certain things; and using a reward to train a dog "to" do things has nothing to do with what "not" to do.
So communicating the big picture, the full picture to the dog is key. We're teaching dogs how to do commands, yes, but that's half the picture. If we leave it at that, we're not teaching the dog the other half, which are the unwanted behaviors that we want to stop. That's the troubleshooting that we do with dogs and their owners to figure out the best solution for their situation. And so there's a little bit of open-mindedness and creativity that's involved. The creativity and troubleshooting that we do, some folks might disagree with, but it's all within the intent of helping the owners and their dogs of the best life possible.
We're here to serve humans and in the process of serving humans, we're serving dogs because if the human doesn't figure it out, the dog will still struggle and that means stress.
The dog’s behavior is a reflection of what the owner has tolerated or allowed, and those things are based in the mentality or mindset of the owner. So yes, we're teaching dogs how to do commands. We need them taught at a high level. We need listening, but we're also helping dog owners build on their knowledge and skills. We're shaping their mentality and the lens at which they view life with dogs. We wanna shift that to a place of making better decisions that can best serve them.
We all love dogs. That's why we're here; to help people overcome problems. It's not so much about dog training specifically. I think it’s more about helping others and serving people.
When we can see others really “get it” and grasp the knowledge, and they have these little epiphanies along the way, day-to-day, their lives improve; That's what I really like to see. It's really in the name of helping others get to a better place and be excited about it! We're happy that you're considering training with us. Give us a call or you can schedule a call. We'll be able to chat and get some preliminary insight on what you're looking for, and then we'll go from there!
Cheers!
-CJ