DuBay Dog Training

03/07/2025

With permission from the owner, I want to share the story of Gatlin and Tobi ❤️

Laura reached out to me last October regarding her two pups, Gatlin, the black pittie mix, and Tobi, the old English bulldog. They started out as best buds and would play together, but a dynamic shift in their home with their eldest dogs passing caused them to start brawling in common living spaces within their home. As you can imagine, life became very stressful for the owners.

I came out and did a consultation and learned that Gatlin had terrible anxiety and was guarding Laura from Tobi. On top of that, Tobi was in more pain than the owners thought due to a previous injury causing exacerbated reactions to Gatlin's guarding. Together, we formulated a plan that suited their lifestyle while also addressing the needs of Tobi and Gatlin. Gatlin was put on an anxiety medication and Tobi was reevaluated for his pain which is managed much better now. Then the owners put in WORK. And I mean WORK. They did hundreds of reps of a counter-conditioning exercise I gave them on top of keeping up with management and desensitization exercises. But they did it, and now Gatlin and Tobi can BOTH snuggle with Laura, AT THE SAME TIME ❤️

I am so proud of this entire family and everything they did. They really showed what can happen when the work is put into something. They aren't completely done with everything yet, but the fact that they can be all out on the couch in the living room is HUGE.

**Please note, the video does show two dogs fighting. Do not watch if this is something that bothers you!!

03/07/2025

Someone in a group I'm in posted this and I love it ❤️

"When I started training, I was taught if a dog resists when you're teaching them a new behavior, you must persist because if you back off, or change your tactics, you're letting the dog "win" and prolonging an inevitable power struggle.

30 + years later, I can tell you that's nonsense.

Almost every "power struggle" I've had with a dog was because I insisted on making something about my authority instead of about the dog "getting it."

Dogs rarely (if ever) resist for the sake of resisting. They resist for reasons.

Taking a few moments (or days even) to figure out why and make appropriate adjustments isn't caving. Training isn't a competition and it shouldn't be about power (mine or the dog's)

The dog doesn't "win" if I see him struggling and I change my approach to help him succeed.

Actually, I guess he does win, but not at my expense.

I get what I'm looking for, and he gets to feel good about doing it. To me that's both of us winning.

As Buck Branaman says "No one has to lose for me to win."

There is no need to view training as a competition between the trainer and the dog."

I used to think like this too, but I'm so glad I was able to learn differently fairly quickly. This is why every case is so different and why I tailor everything to a specific situation. Out of the hundreds of dogs I've met, no two have been exactly the same.

03/06/2025

It would be so exciting for DuBay Dog Training to be on the ballet this year! Please nominate me if you enjoyed working with me!!

Submit your favorite area companies for consideration and be entered to win a gift card!

03/04/2025

People: I hope my dog is having a good time at training...

Me: oh don't worry, they're having a blast!!

Cooper is having the BEST day! Look at him go!!

03/04/2025

Hey, hey YOU!! It's me, Nova! I'm here to tell you that intermediate class is now posted for you all to sign up and take your training to the next level! Just click the link here:

https://dubaydogtraining.as.me/

See you soon!!!

**Intermediate is only for those that have taken my adult or puppy basic class.**

02/27/2025

I haven't told you all yet, but starting in three weeks, I will be downing the amount of dogs I take for day training from 3 to 2. Some dogs, like Vinny here, need some extra time with me to help decompress after some sessions where we're working through some tough stuff. Therefore you will see price increases so that I can continue to provide your pups with the best care possible!!

02/26/2025

Meet Cooper! Cooper is a dog currently being fostered with Fetch Foster and Rescue. They signed him up for day training so I could help with his anxiety.

With my anxious pups, I like to start by teaching them they have choices AND that they have the power to make them. So many things in our animals lives are dictated for them, and poor Cooper here has a history of coercion into things he was greatly uncomfortable with.

In this video, Cooper is making the choice to interact with me. Whenever Cooper puts his paws on the blue towel, I interact with him, this includes asking for something he may not like, in this case it's putting his nose to my hand. You can see the first couple of times I ask, he turns his head away. I advocate for that choice by tossing a treat so he can move his body even farther away from me and out of that trapped feeling. What I'm trying to tell him is that I LOVE that he told me he was uncomfortable, and now I can help him make a choice that is probably MORE comfortable for him. You can see he understood i was going to start asking for things that were uncomfortable to him as he hesitantly approached the towel again. Once again, I told him that was okay and he didn't have to come back by tossing a treat away. After he saw I wasn't going to force him, watch his body language as he comes back to the towel, HAPPY BUTT WIGGLES!!! And after a few reps of this, he starts to actually nose target my hand!!! Woohoo!!

At the end, you can see he didn't fully come back on the towel. He told me he was done so we stopped and moved on.

Although it looks like nothing, this is a big deal for Cooper. I feel honored that Fetch chose me to help this guy and I can't wait to watch his progress ❤️

02/26/2025

Check out these cute little pupper friends!!! We had SIX graduates this round (Nala not pictured). What a mix of personalities! Way to give me a challenge and keep my life spicy 🌶️

I loved getting to work with these guys and watching them grow! I can't wait to see the amazing dogs they turn into. Congratulations everyone! 🎓

02/14/2025

I had one little intermediate graduate tonight with a ✨PERFECT SCORE✨ on her exam!!! It was amazing watching Willow grow and hearing how the skills learned here have helped at home. Congratulations Willow and owners!

02/11/2025

Hello everyone! I am working on building up some more indoor enrichment activities for the pups that train with me all day. I'm looking for any donations you might have, random stuff really! Things you never use or were planning to throw away! My list is not limited to only these items, but here's a good idea of what I'm looking for:

• storage containers (any kind)
• cardboard boxes/toilet paper rolls/paper towel rolls
• pots/pans/tins/muffin tins
• lick mats or Kongs
• puzzle toys

If you have something that you're not sure if I want, just reach out and ask!

*Pictured are Nilly and Leena, two of the pups currently training with me! They can't wait to see what you bring!

02/10/2025

I've been keeping a secret....

For the past month I have been a member of the PETPro community! Brace yourself, here comes a long life update:

As I've been chugging along in my business and adding all of these new services for clients, I realized that I am STRUGGLING. I work a ton! Like a crazy ton! And I get it, I'm starting up something new, I'm supposed to work a ton, but I just couldn't help but think that there's a better way to do things and I needed help. When I was going to college, I never planned on owning my own business, that's not what I went to school for. And now here I am, running a whole business, working crazy hours, and barely making ends meat.

On top of this, I'm seeing an increasing number of very difficult cases, which I'm excited about as I love working on behavior modification, but also there aren't a ton of people for me to turn to for help if I'm stuck. I have some trainer friends in the area, but they also work full time jobs and can't drop everything all the time to help me. I also recently learned that I am now getting clients from people I used to refer out to, making me their final hope in some cases. No pressure 🫣

I knew I needed help in multiple areas and was lucky enough to stumble across PETPro. With this six month program I get my own personal mentor, access to a friendly forum where I can ask questions and get answers, group calls where we go through things together, and a bunch of different classes that teach things in regards to training AND owning a business.

The first thing my mentor helped me realize is that I am undercharging. I work way more than 40 hours a week and can't even live off of what I make. I should be able to do that, especially if it's in my control. During our meeting, I told her how I always tried to charge what I felt my knowledge was worth, and she opened my eyes to there being more than just that. Yes I can charge based on that, but not solely that. I also need to take into account that if I charge more I will get clients that are truly invested in their dogs future, I will get clients that want to understand and learn, I will make enough that I have time to continue my education to better benefit my clients and serve my community to the best of my ability, and I will be able to take time off when I need a rest or to even work with my own dogs!

All that being said, you will be starting to see some shifts and changes in how I train and how I run my programs. You will also be seeing some price increases in the near future, not all at once, but in an effort to get me to a place where I can sustainably support my business and my family.

Thank you all so much for supporting me! I really appreciate all of you for giving me a shot, for referring me to others, and for trusting me with the care of your furry babies ❤️ I'm looking forward to growing as a trainer, business owner, and person and I can't wait to share my new knowledge with all of you!

02/01/2025

Everyone, meet Kona! Kona had an evaluation a few months ago for human aggression. The owners lead very busy lives and decided to sign her up for my day training program so she could get more repetitions of counter-conditioning in throughout the week. Part of Kona's aggression is guarding toys,high value food items, as well as her space. We just finished up week three and I took this video of me working with her. Although the video is a bit clunky, this is something Kona definitely would have snapped at me for three weeks ago. I just love getting to see the progress in these kids and need to share my excitement for how well Kona is doing. So please enjoy this awkward video!

** PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I am a professional and this is not our first session together.

01/29/2025

Meet the first graduating class of 2025!!!! What a fun class with a huge mix of personalities. Loved getting to teach these guys ❤️ congratulations puppers and owners! 🎓

01/27/2025

Hello all! Looking for some volunteers to help me with some sessions with Lou! All volunteers get added to a list for discounts off of future services. I'm looking for someone this Thursday at 12 and 2. Let me know if you're available!

01/03/2025

Hello! It's me, asking for help, again 😂

My buddy Lou is coming back to the building for another round of training this month. Starting next week, he will be with me every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for four weeks.

While he's with me, we will be trying out a new form of training I've been studying called Behavior Adjustment Training or BAT. BAT is all about empowering dogs that struggle with reactivity to make choices all by themselves that inherently feel good.

I'm asking again for volunteers to come and help out Lou and myself. These BAT sessions will be a max of 20 minutes long and I would prefer to have two a day if possible. My goal is to do a minimum of 20 of these training sessions during his time with me this month. I would like to start with just people, preferably women with objects like hats or umbrellas, and then do some sessions with dogs starting the second or third week. I would prefer to do these sessions around noon and 2p.m. if possible! If neither of those times work for you but you want to help, let me know and I can see if I can rearrange the training schedule that day! These sessions need to be done in open areas so there is opportunity for sniffing and free movement with a lot of distance, so I have a few location options to meet up at for these, two are clos to my building, and the other one in mind is at the university. If you can think of any others, I'm open to suggestions! It just needs to be 10 minutes or less from my building 🙂

Anyone that helps gets $10 off any future training service each time they come out. Please message me if you think you can help!!

12/29/2024

The DuBay Dog Training pups hope you enjoyed your holiday season!! Nova says Christmas parties are exhausting!!!! It's hard work getting all of the scritches while unwrapping new toys and treats!

But Pluto is wide awake and ready to remind you that classes will be starting up again this January!!! We still have spots open for our adult basic obedience class and the intermediate class (offered for any pup that passed either the puppy basics or adult basic obedience classes)! We also have some spots open for the February puppy class!

Nova will probably still be napping away, but Pluto and I will be there, how about you???

Click here to sign up:
https://dubaydogtraining.as.me/

12/09/2024

Hello friends! I'm looking for a person who can do a session with Lou and I tomorrow around either 9 and/or noon! We're trying out a new method that I'm learning about and we can use all of the practice we can get before we really dive into the process in January. I don't need you to bring anything special, just your lovely self! I can also come to you if you're fairly close to the building. Let me know if you can help us out!!