Two women walking their German Shepherds on a woodsy path

Enjoyable Walks Coaching Package

Fun low-stress games to transform your dog from frantic to relaxed.

How does the Enjoyable Walks package work?

Every team learns at their own pace. Our system of gradual challenges provides opportunities to experience steps of success on the way to your goal of calm, drama-free walks.

1. Initial consult

i'll get to know you and your dog,
I'll start teaching you some emergency maneuvers to help you get out of triggering situations
We'll start some simple foundation exercises.

2. Foundations

After the initial consult we meet at your house for 2-3 weeks for 1 hour each time, to teach some foundation skills.
We teach a variety of training games and relaxation techniques to keep learning fun and minimally stressful for you and your dog.

3. Taking it on the road

We meet for 1/2 hour at a time at a quiet outdoor location to practice the new skills.

The video below shows a client and her dog practicing a game for relaxation and focus.
It's a pattern game from Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed program.
The predictable pattern provides a context of safety in which he can practice remaining calm and focusing on his person in the presence of another dog, at a distance where he feels safe (we tell this by watching his body language).

First we practice with a realistic life-sized toy dog for no-risk practice, as in the video above.
Then we progress to practicing at a safe distance from my calm personal dog.
For non-anxious dogs who have not experienced trauma, this can take 6-8 half-hour sessions.

Over time we were able to shrink the distance and switch to practicing with a calm live dog. Now he's able to enjoy walks with my dog and with other calm dogs.

4. Generalize to a variety of dogs and places

Once your dog is comfortable with my dog, we set up "mix and match" sessions with other advanced students and their dogs in a variety of settings:

This video shows two advanced students and their dogs practicing calm sidewalk encounters on a quiet street.

Two women are chatting in the park while their dogs ignore each other and pay attention to their person

Marnie and Zeke have graduated to practicing casual encounters in the park. They are able to take a walk together on the path.

How much does the Enjoyable Walks package cost?

The Enjoyable Walks basic package ($960) includes:

1. Initial consult.
2. Preparatory skills taught in your home (one-hour sessions).
3. 1/2-hour outdoor coaching sessions.

(total time 7 1/2 hours)

Optional additional practice sessions:

When you and your dog are ready, we will meet in a spacious park with 1 or 2 other advanced teams to help your dog generalize their new coping skills to other dogs and locations.

1/2-hour shared sessions $35

I'm ready for enjoyable walks

"Wendy knew just what to do to teach him...and more importantly us..."

A Welcome from your Trainer

Over 24+ years of dog training I’ve enjoyed seeing our solutions for behavior problems evolve towards learning to see what our dogs are telling us and using this knowledge to optimize their emotional well-being.

Whether dogs are reacting from fear or frustration, when we listen to them and meet their needs in a way that's acceptable to all of us, it becomes much easier to achieve our training goals.

One of the many things I love about my job is seeing the growth of mutual understanding and trust leading to harmonious partnership. Together we will create solutions to achieve this.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Wendy

What our clients are saying

"He's not the same dog!"

Hershey stopped lunging and barking at other dogs, and became able to walk peacefully in the park

"When we started, our shelter-rescue large dog was fearful and very reactive on the leash, hard to walk and a little wild at home too. Wendy knew just what to do and how to teach him -- and more importantly us ....

He is happy and well behaved, we are happy and impressed, and we feel confident we have the tools necessary to continue to progress with him. All with no negative training techniques at all. I would give six stars but that's not an option. "

Mark for Hershey