Diane the Dog Trainer

Diane the Dog Trainer Fun and effective training for your dog, young or old, timid or aggressive. Private lessons done in your home (or wherever your dog has a problem).

I take a holistic approach to training so your dog becomes a wonderful part of the home and community. I do private, in-home lessons. For the first session, I evaluate the dog and household. Together, we come up with a plan of attack and I demonstrate how to handle various situations. Typically, I do 1-2 training sessions a week until you are satisfied with your dog's actions. Between sessions, I

am available through text, phone calls, and email. I use mostly positive training methods. The use of treats, praise, and play are integral to my training. Interacting with you dog should be fun for everyone! Positive reinforcement creates a dog that wants to please you, that is willing to explore, and that is happy. Boundaries are upheld with the least amount of force that will work for your dog, you, and the specific situation.

03/02/2025

❤️Sunday Love❤️

02/28/2025
I'm going to be fostering Captain the Troubled Sailor in a couple weeks. Follow his page for updates!
02/25/2025

I'm going to be fostering Captain the Troubled Sailor in a couple weeks. Follow his page for updates!

**NEUTERED** ... Captain (affectionate known as Cappy) is a cute 7-1/2 year old male Shih Tzu who was surrendered to the HSOV on August 27, 2024 because his owner/mistress could no longer take care of Cappy due to her health issues :(

Captain has a pale brown long smooth coat with a patch of white on his chest, a long fluffy tail, and an adorable Shih Tzu face with pale brown eyes, wiry whiskers on his short muzzle, and small floppy ears

I might have to try this 🤔😂
02/22/2025

I might have to try this 🤔😂

02/17/2025

The truth about dogs that counter surf 🤔😂

Priya is a highly distracted dog who simply adores people. When she experienced a traumatic interaction that caused her ...
12/11/2024

Priya is a highly distracted dog who simply adores people. When she experienced a traumatic interaction that caused her to become afraid of people, her owner called me. Priya will cautiously approach some individuals but bark and back away from others. We are working to increase her confidence and reduce her fear.

12/07/2024

Evie is a dog that is afraid of anything new. She hasn’t been bathed in a year or more. Her owner has been encouraging her to get in the shower on her own. During our last lesson, I turned the water on to further desensitize her to the idea of getting a bath. She’s doing great!

One of my favorite things to do is introduce new dogs to an existing pack. Rumble has joined my pack. He gets along grea...
12/05/2024

One of my favorite things to do is introduce new dogs to an existing pack. Rumble has joined my pack. He gets along great with everyone. Bash, Tibbers, and Rumble enjoyed a nice hike with our friends. Boaz and Rumble enjoyed a sniff in the pasture.

12/03/2024

I often use my own dogs to help with training. With reactive dogs, I start with Bash. He’s so mellow and ignores the other dog that it’s a perfect start. Tibbers helps me next. I purposefully encourage her to be active and bark, which is exactly what I discourage in my clients. 😂

Leyla continues to practice being calm around other dogs, even when they aren't calm. When we started, Leyla was reacting but not overly stressed. Within a few minutes, she was settled and learning.

12/01/2024

Nail trims can be a huge challenge for dogs. I've worked with dogs that growl the second they see nail clippers. And other dogs like Evie, that panic if you try to restrain them in any way, including holding a paw. With some patience and dedication, the dogs overcome their fear and relax for this basic grooming need. How do your dogs do for nail trims? If you need help, reach out!

This little cutie got a bath and a brush
11/20/2024

This little cutie got a bath and a brush

11/06/2024

Part of potty training is teaching the puppy to go immediately when you go outside. This prevents standing outside in the rain for 20 minutes before work. When we go out, I keep Stella on a short lead. She has 5-6 ft to find her spot to p*e. I take her to the same place every time. If she potties immediately, I praise her and let her off the leash to run around and enjoy some freedom. If she doesn’t p*e within 5 minutes, we go back inside and she goes into her crate for half an hour and then we try again. If you stick to this, your puppy will be mostly potty trained in a week. Stella immediately p*es now every time we go outside. She’s on a mission because she knows all the fun happens AFTER p*eing.

Pluto is a special needs dog that is being fostered by one of my clients. He has been shot and the one bullet damaged hi...
10/08/2024

Pluto is a special needs dog that is being fostered by one of my clients. He has been shot and the one bullet damaged his vagal nerve so he has no control over his bladder, bowels, or tail. I love helping new dogs settle into an existing pack and family. There’s an adjustment period for everyone. Pluto bullies one of the smaller dogs, bolts out of doors, and jumps gates. Darla (the chihuahua mix) is struggling with having a new dog competing for attention.

Meet Stella. She is a Bichon/Maltese mix that I’m house training for my brother and his family. House training to me is ...
10/01/2024

Meet Stella. She is a Bichon/Maltese mix that I’m house training for my brother and his family. House training to me is more than potty training. It’s teaching a puppy or dog to have house manners like only chewing on dog toys, not barking excessively, pottying outside, crate training, and how to settle and sleep alone. It’s mostly about preventing bad habits from forming.

10/01/2024

Leyla is a 3 year old Elkhound who has intense reactivity toward other dogs. She has a few dog friends that she plays with but she’s very dog selective and immediately barks and lunges upon sight of any dog. This is our first session but I can tell that she is going to be a longer case.

With all reactivity cases, I work on what could be seen as unrelated things. We work on leave it, stay, leash skills, drop it, playing together, rules for play sessions, and attention work. What do all of these things have in common? Impulse control. Impulse control is severely lacking in most dogs that have reactivity. Improving that skill has a huge impact on reactivity so practicing those things is important.

Some dogs shape you as a dog trainer. The moment I met Charger, I knew that he was one of those dogs. The dedication of ...
09/14/2024

Some dogs shape you as a dog trainer. The moment I met Charger, I knew that he was one of those dogs. The dedication of owners to help their dogs never ceases to amaze me. Major behavior issues are hard to cope with and challenging to change. The willingness to stick with it and work with professionals can change your life and the life of your dog. Not all dogs are easy. That’s okay.

Address

Littlestown, PA
17340

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 8pm
Tuesday 10am - 8pm
Wednesday 10am - 8pm
Thursday 10am - 8pm
Sunday 10am - 8pm

Telephone

+14404470441

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Videos

Rumble is NOT a calm dog. He's ripped bars apart on his crate (yes, he has a new crate now) and gets excited when he's anticipating something fun. Because he's a high energy, high arousal dog, one of the most important things for him to do is NOT to have constant activity and exercise. Rather it's most important for him to learn to relax and to be okay with being bored. Every outing, we spend half of the training session learning to relax. This creates a balanced dog that is a pleasure to take out. Yes, it is incredibly boring but imagine your dog relaxing while you talk to someone or enjoy a meal at a dog friendly patio.

Rumble is new to learning the auto focus. We practice in pretty quiet areas but he is doing well. Stella has been working on auto focusing since she came to me in October at 3 months old. She's rock solid in any new situation.

Kona is a reactive dog I’m working with. She is not only reactive to dogs but has an intense prey drive that adds another layer to work through. Not all reactivity is the same. Knowing the differences between their causes (fear, aggression, prey drive, barrier frustration, etc.) guides the training that the dog requires. A dog that is fearful needs their confidence built. A dog that reacts because it is restrained needs to work on impulse control and handler focus. This is one of the reasons hiring a trainer that is experienced with reactivity is important. Kona has attacked both other dogs and prey animals. When I start working with a dog like this, I lay a large foundation of impulse control, obedience, and handler engagement as well as teaching the owner safe handling skills and how to use proper equipment. Once the dog and it’s owners have those skills down in easy situations, we slowly increase the difficulty. Kona and her owners have been working hard with her for just over 5 months. This was our first session with a cat.

Evie is a dog that is afraid of anything new. She hasn’t been bathed in a year or more. Her owner has been encouraging her to get in the shower on her own. During our last lesson, I turned the water on to further desensitize her to the idea of getting a bath. She’s doing great!

I often use my own dogs to help with training. With reactive dogs, I start with Bash. He’s so mellow and ignores the other dog that it’s a perfect start. Tibbers helps me next. I purposefully encourage her to be active and bark, which is exactly what I discourage in my clients. 😂 Leyla continues to practice being calm around other dogs, even when they aren't calm. When we started, Leyla was reacting but not overly stressed. Within a few minutes, she was settled and learning.

Nail trims can be a huge challenge for dogs. I've worked with dogs that growl the second they see nail clippers. And other dogs like Evie, that panic if you try to restrain them in any way, including holding a paw. With some patience and dedication, the dogs overcome their fear and relax for this basic grooming need. How do your dogs do for nail trims? If you need help, reach out!

This week Stella has been learning to ring a bell to go out. There's a lot of cool devices out there now! This particular bell rings the receiver but it also sends an alert to your phone. I really like this idea because it ensures that you won't miss when your puppy is asking to go out just because you are out of ear shot. It's also great for anyone who is hearing impaired and not able to hear a typical bell.

Part of potty training is teaching the puppy to go immediately when you go outside. This prevents standing outside in the rain for 20 minutes before work. When we go out, I keep Stella on a short lead. She has 5-6 ft to find her spot to pee. I take her to the same place every time. If she potties immediately, I praise her and let her off the leash to run around and enjoy some freedom. If she doesn’t pee within 5 minutes, we go back inside and she goes into her crate for half an hour and then we try again. If you stick to this, your puppy will be mostly potty trained in a week. Stella immediately pees now every time we go outside. She’s on a mission because she knows all the fun happens AFTER peeing.

Leyla is learning new life skills. Her owners tell me that they are able to walk her in peace most days. She does well with walking past dogs and now we are focusing on being able to relax around dogs. This is a harder skill than directing the nervous energy into movement.

Leyla is making great progress being able to walk past and ignore other dogs.

Stella is going to be the perfect little dog for a family of boys 😂 Just because a dog is fluffy, white, and little doesn't mean it's a delicate purse dog.

We are working hard on potty training. One of the things I do for success is setting up a potty area inside. Many people do this with puppy pads. While they work well in some situations and for some dogs, I have seen a number of generalize from puppy pads to carpet. People then struggle to get their dogs to stop pottying on area rugs and carpet. I prefer to use a tray filled with something you only find outside, like gravel, mulch, or grass. This way the puppy learns to associate outside smells with pottying. The goal is to use the tray the least amount possible but it gives you a way to have your puppy less confined if you must be gone for longer periods of time. Putting a puppy in a kennel for 8-10 hours while you are at work and then again overnight is too long. Having a puppy safe space with a reasonable option for a toilet is a great way to allow your puppy the play space they need. Normally, I would NEVER allow her to potty in the tray while I’m home. I would immediately take her outside but I wanted a video.

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I take a holistic approach to training so your dog becomes a wonderful part of the home and community. I do private, in-home lessons. For the first session, I evaluate the dog and household. Together, we come up with a plan of attack and I demonstrate how to handle various situations. Typically, we meet once a week for a training session until you are satisfied with your dog's actions. Between sessions, I am available through text, phone calls, and email. I use positive training methods. The use of treats, praise, and play are integral to my training. Positive reinforcement creates a dog that wants to please you, that is willing to explore, and that is happy. Using positive methods does not mean that your dog is allowed to misbehave. I am firm in my requests and expect obedience. But the dog, client, and I work with mutual respect and upbeat, loving methods.