The Mannerly Dog Training Philosophy
Training should feel like teamwork, not a battle of wills
For the better part of the last three decades, I’ve studied how animals learn.
Not just dogs (though they’re my favorite). I’ve worked with parrots, horses, cats, you name it. I’ve studied with world-renowned behavior scientists. And what I’ve seen, over and over again, is this:
Just like people, animals learn best when they are willing, active participants in the process.
My mission isn’t just to help you “fix” a behavior. It’s to improve the quality of life for you and your dog. Training your dog means training you how to lead and guide them.
How dogs learn
Dogs aren’t robots. They’re more like sponges. They’re always soaking up feedback on what gets them what they want, and what doesn’t. When you have the skills to notice what’s happening, you can give your dog deliberate feedback that teaches them what you want them to learn!
This is where behavior science comes into play. It’s called operant conditioning (don’t worry, there’s no quiz), and it’s the mechanism through which all animals—including you—repeat behaviors that get them something they want and avoid behaviors that don’t.
The fastest, kindest, most effective way to change behavior is to reward the good stuff consistently so our dogs do it more often.
It sounds simple, and it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Training takes time and practice, but anyone can learn to do it, and the results are astounding.
Shaping new behavior “out of thin air” and changing it for good is what I do best. I’ll teach you how to do it, too.
What I don’t use: force, fear, or pain
I don’t use prong collars, e-collars, leash pops, or any other tool or tactic rooted in intimidation and discomfort. These things don’t just hurt your dog; they erode trust and make animals shut down. In the long term, they don’t work nearly as well as training rooted in mutual cooperation.
My job is to help you build a real relationship with your dog based on clear communication and mutual respect.
What I do use: behavior science
Here’s what we’ll focus on instead:
- Evaluating the full picture of your dog’s behavior: What is your dog doing? And more importantly, why? We’ll look at the behavior and its triggers to understand how your dog thinks and how they learn.
- Preventing chaos while we teach calm: If your dog is doing something counterproductive, we’ll set things up so that they can’t rehearse that behavior while we train new behavior patterns in its place.
- Teaching your dog what we want: We’ll teach your dog desirable behaviors like staying on a mat, walking on a loose leash, and remaining calm around strangers and dogs. You’ll learn to read your dog’s body language and transform their bad habits into good ones.
- Yes, we’ll use a lot of treats to reinforce behaviors. Dogs love food too much to pass up using it as a training tool to build great behaviors. You’ll also learn to use life rewards, the things your dog wants, to reinforce the behaviors you want.
Why training “doesn’t stick,” and how we fix it
Dogs need our help to understand the choices we want them to make. We have to be careful about what we say and do to make sure they learn to do the stuff we like and avoid the stuff we don’t.
Throughout the process, it’s easier when you and your dog can focus completely on learning something new, without having to learn about a new environment at the same time. That’s why we start with easy wins in low-distraction environments to build up the “muscle” of each behavior before we gradually add in real-life challenges.
We go step by step. We practice before we test. That’s how you get behaviors that hold up when it counts.
Training plans that work in your real life
Some dogs need help learning how to settle when the doorbell rings. Some need a job to do while your toddler plays nearby. Some need a better way to express their excitement when they see a strange dog (or a squirrel) on a walk.
Whatever your priorities are, I’ll help you shape the behavior that gets you there.
YOU are the trainer your dog needs most
Training isn’t about controlling your dog. It’s about understanding how they learn, and using that to teach the right behaviors on purpose instead of accidentally reinforcing the wrong ones.
I’ve helped thousands of owners like you build calmer, happier, and more cooperative relationships with their dogs.
In other words: Behavior science has been working for as long as there’s been life on this planet, and humans have been learning about it for almost 100 years. This stuff works. And I’ll teach it to you.
Ready to get started?
If you’re committed to doing the work, I’m committed to showing you how.