our approach

“Train the dog in front of you” - Denise Fenzi

At Balanced Behaviour Dog Training we take pride in providing quality services to our clients that are both effective and long-lasting. Our ultimate goal is to produce meaningful behaviour change and help owners and dogs reach their full potential together. 

A big part of the dog’s success is determined by the owner’s ability to follow our training recommendations. If owners are committed to putting in the work and making the necessary changes, they will help their dog to succeed at home. It is important to remember that training is a lifestyle; every single interaction with your dog matters and can impact the effectiveness of training.

In order for dogs to change, owners also have to be willing to change!

our training approach (for the dogs)

We recognize the importance of building a solid foundation and taking the time to teach commands and desired behaviours using positive reinforcement. We focus on building a positive relationship between the handler and dog, confidence building, structured living, and meeting the basic needs of each individual dog. Once the foundation is built, we utilize training collars (i.e., prong collar, e-collar) to hold the dog accountable and ensure the training is reliable across all environments, people, and distractions.

our teaching approach (For the owners)

At Balanced Behaviour, we recognize that teaching the owner is just as (if not more) important as training the dog! We will show owners how to implement the training to help them improve the relationship with their dog. We offer in-home and community training to our clients in order to recreate real-life scenarios and create long-lasting behaviour change.

We utilize an evidence-based approach known as Behavioural Skills Training (BST) to teach owners how to implement our training techniques.

There are 4 steps in BST and each step is pivotal to ensuring that owners understand, learn and maintain the skills being taught: 

1. Written Description and Verbal Explanation

2. Model 

3. Rehearsal (Practice)

4. Feedback

Will this approach work for me and my dog?

We recognize that every dog is different and we must tailor our approach to ensure the dog is successful.

We also recognize the importance of adjusting or revising our training approach when we are not seeing a difference in their behaviour. The dog’s progress will be monitored by the head trainer on a regular basis and owners will have access to support throughout the training program.

Owner’s must be dedicated to changing their own behaviours in order to change their dogs. At the end of the day, a dog’s success is determined by the owner's willingness to put in the time and effort to maintain the training for the rest of the dog's life

With that being said, there are many variables that influence whether or not the dog will be successful in our training program, we can not guarantee results.

We will do everything in our power to ensure that the dog is set up for success and that owners are feeling confident in their ability to implement the training.

I have seen first hand how quickly a well-trained dog can regress if the owners do not continue to follow through with the expectations outlined in the behaviour intervention plan. Owners are encouraged to be open-minded and honest as well as dedicated and hardworking in order to see the best results. 

If owners truly want to make things better with their dog, they need to be willing to put in the time and effort, as well as make the necessary behavioural and emotional changes (how you perceive and interact with your dog) to reach desired and realistic results.