Improve Your Dog’s Behavior Fast with Zen Dog Training!
Our simple, effective dog training classes work and can modify your dog’s behavior quickly, making both your lives much more pleasant! Call us today for a free consultation.
Successful Dog Training
We want to help people and the pets they care about succeed. The dog training methods we use have been tried and tested by veterinarians and animal trainers worldwide. We know they work because we use them every day and hundreds of dogs and their owners are now much happier due to our successful training techniques.
Our highly skilled trainers use a combination of positive reinforcement and mild interruptions to help you and your dog interact better. Whatever your dog’s needs, we can create the perfect custom training plan.
Zen Dog Training Techniques
When it comes to dog training, you’ll quickly discover what works and what doesn’t
(and why). In Zen dog training, the secret to reducing your dog’s unwanted behaviors lies
in gentle reinforcement.
How to Have a Zen Dog Podcast — Leash Lessons
How to Have a Zen Dog is a podcast by that gives listeners the inside story about the Zen Dog Training approach and explains many of our methods and techniques so you can try Zen Dog Training at home with your…...
Read MoreHow to Have a Zen Dog Podcast — Mastering the 7 Essential Lessons
How to Have a Zen Dog is a podcast by that gives listeners the inside story about the Zen Dog Training approach and explains many of our methods and techniques so you can try Zen Dog Training at home with…...
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These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on...PUPPIES! You get the picture, these are a few of our favorite things. Since 2005 we have been working with people and the dogs they love and time after time we find ourselves recommending the…...
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The Zen Dog Way
Zen Dog Training Way Manage | Train | Interrupt — these 3 training options encompass Zen Dog Training MANAGE Managing means focusing people on creating situations where they control the outcome. This option depends on people optimizing the environment…...
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Shy, Fearful, or Protective Dog Training — Five Common Training Mistakes
People tend to make several common mistakes when trying to improve how their dog feels about meeting new people, visiting new places, and encountering new things. Even people who work with dog training experts make mistakes that can slow down…...
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Preparing Your Dog for a Baby
Congratulations on the new – two legged – addition to your family! As you know, your world is about to change and even more so for your dog. Your pup is going to need time to adjust. Their normal routine…...
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Preparing your Puppy for Normalcy and Independence after Covid-19
The Covid-19 outbreak has forced a majority of people to work from home. This has created a wonderful opportunity to bond with your new puppy, to enjoy watching them grow up – boy do they grow up fast – and…...
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Solving Puppy Play Biting
You can teach your dog to stop play biting in as little as 2-3 weeks! All it takes is the right methods, a great training plan, and an understanding of why dogs play bite in the first place. Puppies explore…...
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When (and How) to listen to your dog
“You cannot share your life with a dog…and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings” -- Jane Goodall. If you are a dog owner you probably agree with Jane. It has been proven that dogs…...
Read MoreIn-Home Training
Amazing Results That Will Last a Lifetime
Zen Dog Training is easy to implement and super effective! By incorporating our simple techniques into your dog’s everyday routine (mealtimes, walks, and play sessions), you will soon realize that it only takes two or three visits to see great improvements!
People often hold back from training for their dogs because they think it will be difficult. With Zen Dog Training you will learn that simple modifications in your dog’s daily routine may be all that’s needed to teach new habits while also stopping the less desirable ones!
We are there to support you every step of the way. Our expert trainers will give you step-by-step instructions in “Games and Solutions” that are simple to understand, making training a pleasure for you and your dog!
Customized Training Plan
Every dog is unique, as is every owner. Our in-home training visits are tailored to your dog’s breed, age, attitude, and temperament; as well as to your objectives, learning style, and family requirements. We can also include special training for agility, becoming a therapy dog, and off-leash obedience.
Positive reinforcement isn’t the only strategy we use at Zen Dog Training. Instead of using force, punishments, or anger, our dog owners learn how to handle their dogs with kindness and shared trust. This means less stress for you and less anxiety and confusion for your dog.
To help your dog learn with less anxiety and confusion, positive behavior training is mixed with gentle interrupt tactics to control unwanted behavior.
Our techniques work fast! We can get more done in two hours than other trainers do in two weeks.
Zen Dog Training is dedicated to training people and the dogs they love. We’ll teach you the secrets to successful dog training, using time-tested methods approved by veterinarians and animal trainers around the world.
Our balanced methods are Fear-Free, Force-Free, and Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive (LIMA). Our training includes positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, games, solutions, and gentle interruptions to help you solve unwanted behavior.
We’ll teach you our unique approach to dog training and methods that go beyond positive reinforcement and help you train your dog with compassion and mutual understanding.
Let our experienced trainers show you how to simply and effectively get results and turn your dog into a Zen Dog!
WHAT IS ZEN DOG TRAINING?
With Zen Dog Training you’ll learn what works, what doesn’t (and why). Our training includes positive reinforcement techniques, but also, the secret to stopping unwanted behaviors in a peaceful and gentle way. Learn more about the Zen Dog Way.
HOW IS TRAINING ZEN?
Our training is Zen on many levels. First and foremost, your dog is intrinsically Zen. Dogs are sentient beings. They are sensitive, intuitive creatures that seem to have an unlimited ability to love unconditionally, live in the moment, and deeply experience the world around them. In these ways they help us understand what it means to be Zen.
Training is Zen because it is focused on you! Once you learn to see the world from your dog’s perspective, you can act, talk, and do things in ways that help your dog better understand you. You learn how to deeply understand your dog and train them by communicating with them using love, discipline, and mutual understanding.
BETTER UNDERSTAND AND COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR DOG
When you speak your dog’s language, it is easier to teach obedience, commands, and set boundaries. Our training goes beyond positive reinforcement. Not only will you learn to teach new behaviors but you’ll learn how to create teaching moments to gently stop unwanted behaviors too!
Learn more about Zen Dog Training and the options you have when training your dog or interrupting an unwanted behavior. Why Zen Dog Training?
DESIGNED WITH YOUR LIFESTYLE IN MIND
We know that every dog is unique as is every dog owner. Our training solutions include enjoyable activities and fun games that encourage everyone in the family to participate.
Our “homework” is designed to fit into your lifestyle, so every member of your family can practice obedience during walks, in the yard, or at the park.
Training covers everything from Solving Play Biting, and Separation Anxiety Training, to Understanding Dogs and knowing When (and How) to listen to your dog!
WITH ZEN DOG TRAINING YOU’LL LEARN:
- How to simply and effectively train your dog!
- The fastest way to teach your dog to listen and learn from you.
- How to get tough and say “No!” in the language your dog understands.
- How to solve problem behaviors and encourage good ones.
- Exactly what to do when your dog misbehaves.
- What methods you should avoid!
NEW PUPPY IN THE HOUSE?
The Zen Dog Training Blog is full of indispensable articles for solving common problem behaviors to puppy information. Free House Training Guide and our New Puppy Guide.
You can check out our eBook The Zen Method of Raising a Puppy which has great solutions you can use right away to solve playbiting, housetraining, teach commands, and solve new puppy challenges.
ZEN DOG TRAINING PHILOSOPHY
Zen Dog Training puts you at the center of dog training.
Our training is focused on you!
Enlightened dog training means being able to truly relate to your dog and learning to talk, act, and interact with your dog in ways that help them understand you better. Once you can speak their language, you can more easily train them with communication, persistence, and common sense rules.
- Our games and solutions foster interactions that lead to a deeper connection between people and the dogs they love!
- Our approach enriches dogs’ lives by encouraging them to enjoy learning.
- Our methods empower owners with peaceful ways to stop unwanted behaviors.
- Our approach shows you how to train your dog with praise, treats and rewards, not bribes.
Training goes faster and is less stressful when you know what your dog needs and are able to communicate with your dog in the language they understand!
Our goal is to make training easier for you and your dog.
TAKE TRAINING TO THE NEXT LEVEL!
When it comes to training, noticing and rewarding good behaviors with dogs is very similar to teaching people. However, when it comes to stopping unwanted behaviors, many of the best dog training methods are counter-intuitive. Because, instead of relying on words alone, people have to learn to act in ways that help dogs learn.
“What you allow your dog to do, you train your dog to do.”
Dogs “speak” the language of actions and consequences. Dogs learn by trial and error. What dogs are allowed to get away with quickly becomes a habit and ingrained habits are harder to break.
As important as it is to notice and encourage good behaviors, knowing how to use negative reinforcement, interruptions, and gentle consequences is also essential! Our interventions and negative consequences are designed to teach you how to stop bad behaviors without getting angry, mean, or aggressive.
Our unique approach to dog training gives you the tools to get results quickly. Best of all, Zen Dog Training is committed to the health and safety of your dog. That is why all our methods are force-free and fear-free.
With our training, you can choose the best training solution. If you are in a situation where you are not able to train, you might choose to manage to prevent an unwanted behavior. However, ideally, you find situations to create teaching moments to reinforce your rules.
Zen Dog Training
At Zen Dog Training we get more done in 2 hours than other dog trainers do in 2 weeks!
Why? Because our methods are better!
We customize the training to your dog’s unique personality and behaviors. More importantly, training is further tailored to your goals and learning style so you can integrate it into your dog’s daily routine.
Instead of homework assignments and exercises that you will never do, we help you find opportunities for training in your dog’s everyday life (walks, food bowl, couch, attention) and turn them into life-lessons that reinforce good behaviors.
Zen Dogs learn patience and earn rewards with everyday obedience. All you need to do is shift the relationship you have with your dog in ways that ensure obedience.
Don’t worry! You can still “spoil” your dog with love, treats, and attention. We’ll make sure they learn to listen to you too!
Adding little rules about when to allow your dog to go outside, wait for their dinner, or ask permission to be allowed on the couch, helps you to teach patience, impulse control and obedience as part of your regular routine.
WHAT ARE THE ZEN DOG TRAINING METHODS?
Zen Dog Training is a combination of Games and Solutions designed to build the skills necessary to become a master dog trainer.
Games build people’s confidence and training skills. They also encourage your dog to bond more deeply with you and improve not only obedience, but the relationship you have with your dog.
Solutions are designed to simply but effectively solve problem behaviors such as:
- Play Biting
- Demand Behaviors
- Counter-Surfing
- Excessive Barking
- Jumping, Nipping, Grabbing clothes
- Separation Anxiety
- Dog Reactivity
- House Training
- New Puppy Training
Instead of trying to force your dog to obey you, our training focuses on building trust, confidence and a deeper relationship with your dog as well as how to create teachable moments.
Training happens naturally as you play fun games to interact with your dog and build obedience. Solutions are simple and practical so every member of the family can master them, regardless of age. Training is supported by professionally designed (and printable) training plans, guides, homework, and comics!
Clients get life-time access to the Zen Dog Training Online video and document library that includes all our training videos, plans, guides, eBooks, and training comics to support your training.
The secret to success is knowing what to do.
We help you communicate with your dog using positive reinforcement techniques based on the same principles of learning discovered by Pavlov, BF Skinner, and all the animal behavior experts that came after them. There is a science behind how dogs learn and Zen Dog Training will teach you how to apply this knowledge to training your dog.
Too many dog training methods are focused on fear, getting angry, using hard corrections or domination, there is no need for these old-school ideas that can scare or hurt your dog. On the other hand, many all-positive dog trainers spend too much time bribing and distracting their dogs.
Zen Dog Training balances rewards with consequences so that stopping unwanted behaviors can be as easy as training new behaviors. Our training is about rewards, not bribes, and does not completely depend on treats.
The nature of how dogs learn must be considered when training
When it comes to training your dog, real change happens with practice. Taking training to the next level takes dedication but it doesn’t need to be hard! Our fun games and solutions help you interact with your dog daily and encourage you to find time to drill in lessons.
Instead of just using treats and food as bribes, treats are used as rewards that encourage joyful learning, but also teach patience, self-control and obedience. Instead of using anger, fear or dominance to train, people learn peaceful ways to quickly stop unwanted behaviors.
You learn how to train your dog like a professional dog trainer, by actively putting your dog into situations where learning can happen naturally. Once you have mastered how to create teaching moments, you can optimize outcomes and repeat lessons. Essentially, carefully structuring teaching moments to drill lessons in with rewards, and if necessary, stopping unwanted behaviors with gentle interrupts, and by choosing the least intrusive minimally aversive (LIMA) methods.
Our unique approach includes the Secret to Dog Training, Training Options, 7 Essential Lessons every dog must master to become a Zen Dog.
The Zen Dog Training Approach
Our unique approach to dog training focuses you on finding ways where you can easily control the environment to instill lessons. By setting up situations where you can more easily drill in lessons, you ensure the outcome of training exercises to prevent or interrupt unwanted behaviors, or encourage and reward good behaviors.
Mastery of our training comes when you understand each training option, know how to set your dog up for success and depending on what issue you are solving, you can smoothly move between each training approach.
Summary of Zen Dog Training Options:
- Train
- Manage
- Interrupt
- Create teaching moments
- Practice with exercises and repetition
- Coping Strategies for shy, fearful, or protective dogs
Training begins by understanding exactly what each option includes and how to do them.
Managing is the secret to successful dog training. Focus on finding ways to control your dog’s environment and use the best tools and equipment to turn regular day-to-day interactions into teaching moments.
Interrupting unwanted behavior is the most important technique we teach and what really differentiates Zen Dog Training from other kinds of dog training. You’ll learn how to gently, physically intervene to stop unwanted behaviors, without yelling, getting angry, or scaring your dog.
Creating Teaching Moments is the “Secret” to our training and allows you to have fun interactions with your dog as you practice and repeat lessons.
Many dogs are shy, fearful, or protective. Before you can start training dogs who are nervous, anxious, or timid, you must first build their confidence and trust with Coping Strategies designed to help them overcome fears, or past trauma.
Helping shy, fearful, or protective dogs is one of our specialties! Clients using our methods have improved and in many cases, completely turned around, anxious or nervous dogs in just 30 days!
ZEN DOG TRAINING RESOURCES
Dog Training Problems Solved:
- Pulling on the leash
- Not coming when called
- Play biting, nipping, mouthing
- Jumping up
- Counter-surfing / stealing food
- Persistent puppy behaviors
- Over-excited dogs
- Demanding dogs
- Excessive barking
- Protective dogs
- Anxious, fearful dogs
- Dog / dog aggression
- Aggressive dogs
- Leash aggression
- Training a new puppy
- Introducing dogs and babies
- How to teach obedience and commands
- Integrating your dog with other animals
Group Classes
Zen Dog Training classes are unique. Our group class curriculum is SPCA- and vet-recommended and our class sizes are always small, so we can offer more personal attention for you and a unique training plan for your dog.
Whether your dog is shy or fearful, needs help with housebreaking, play biting, or interacting with children, we have the right training plan for you!
All our puppy programs provide plenty of playing in a secure setting so that your dog may develop social skills and learn to pay attention to you at the same time!
Group classes are six-week programs. Classes meet once a week for one hour. If you need to miss a week, you can schedule a make-up class with each instructor.
To participate in a group class, you must show proof of vaccination required for distemper, parvovirus, and Bordetella.
Online Dog Training Classes
Start Training Tonight!
Start training tonight! Here are a few of our online training solutions:
Puppy Boot Camp
Get immediate access to our six-week online puppy course, and three Zen Dog Training Comics including all our puppy training solutions for house training, play biting, leash walking, teaching commands, coming when called, crate training, and more! ($27).
Zen Dog Training Online is our video solution center with over 100 training videos, and downloadable training comics. Learn how to solve problem behaviors and teach commands the Zen dog way.
Our Online Dog Training Videos
We believe the secret to having a well-behaved, confident dog is to focus on training the owner!
By watching short 2–5-minute videos, and reading our simple solutions and games, you’ll quickly learn how to teach your dog through mutual understanding rather than force.
Our online training videos include:
- Puppy training: house-training, play biting and more
- Manners: how to stop your dog from jumping
- Solutions: interrupting problem behaviors
- Coming when called
- Separation anxiety: prevention and treatment plans
- House-training: eBook and training schedule
- Solutions for excessive barking
- Dog-walking videos: teach your dog to walk on a loose leash
- End demand behaviors without resorting to harsh punishment
Check out the Zen Dog Training Shop, where you can buy Gordon Fontaine’s eBook “The Zen Method of Raising a Puppy”, as well as “How to Treat and Prevent Separation Anxiety”, and “How to Crate Train Your Dog in Two Days”.
Read the 5-Star Reviews From Our Customers
Training our sweet but nippy puppy!
We recently worked with Emily for our dog, Lucas. Prior to working with Emily, we felt his poor behaviors were going to continue indefinitely. After just one session with her, we felt confident enough to start the process of re-learning…...
Trainer : Emily Fleming
Jumping and biting kids!
Julie was great sharing immense and valuable knowledge and the recommendation in the treats. We took your advice today with Pluto -- he was awesome afterwards! He has also stopped jumping, it's amazing how fast he is responding. Abby is…...
Trainer : Julie Mendelsohn
Building confidence with a nervous dog
Our 1 year old dog was becoming very nervous around new people and resource guarding. We contacted Zen Dog Training and we couldn’t be happier with our decision! Our trainer, Julie, came to our home and was extremely helpful. Julie…...
Trainer : Julie Mendelsohn
Satisfied Clients!
Gordon is an absolute gem! He is so knowledgeable but down to earth; he really took a lot of our stress away over our two sessions. He is a breath of fresh air from some of the more elitist dog…...
Trainer : Gordon Fontaine
First-time dog owners
As a nervous first-time dog owner, I have been continuously comforted by the support from Zen Dog. I have been working with Neil, both with an in-home consultation, as well as puppy class. Neil is straight forward, yet gentle with…...
Trainer : Neil Simmons
Jack the Golden Doodle
Zen Dog has been great to work with as we train our Golden Doodle, Jack. Jack is a smart and energetic 1.5 year old who was always pulling on the leash and overly excited and jumpy meeting new people when…...
Trainer : Gordon Fontaine
Fun (and Informative) Dog Training!
I never knew dog training could be so much fun! We recently adopted our very first puppy, a 10 week old Boston Terrier, and our vet recommended Zen Dog. I wasn't sure what to expect for an in-home training session,…...
Trainer : Gordon Fontaine
Fear-Free Dog Training!
We have a new puppy and Gordon has been a life-saver! He was able to come to our house the week I called him, which was so helpful. He helped us plan out a good training schedule for our puppy…...
Trainer : Gordon Fontaine
Training a New Rescue Dog
I worked with Emily and can't recommend ZDT or her enough! I have a new young energetic rescue dog and Emily gave me all the tools I needed to feel more in control and train her. We talked a lot…...
Trainer : Emily Fleming
