James River Dog Training

06/24/2024

We offer private, in-home dog training programs for dogs of all ages, specializing in basic obedience, puppy training, and behavior modification. Our trainers aren’t afraid of a challenge, and we never discriminate based on your dog’s age, breed, or temperament.

What makes us unique to dog owners? We stay committed to your training goals until they’ve been met—no matter how long it takes and without additional fees. 💚

06/20/2024

It’s officially sweet summertime ☀️🍉💕

06/19/2024

Happy Juneteenth!

06/17/2024

🌟 Puppy Training 🌟

Our puppy training program is ideal for puppies 7 weeks of age and older. We train puppies of all breeds and sizes. We cover the following topics:

• Potty Training
• Crate Training
• Leash Walking
• Recall
• Basic Commands
• Impulse Control
• Greeting Manners
• Biting, Chewing, Jumping
• Feeding & Exercise Schedule

If you are interested in learning more about our customized, in-home puppy training – contact us today!

06/16/2024

Happy Father’s Day to all the dog dads out there! 🐾💙

06/14/2024

Happy Friday! ❤️

06/13/2024

When your dog is constantly exposed to triggers or situations that cause a negative reaction, this only increases their anxiety and makes the situation worse.

Removing a dog from a situation that does not serve them is never a bad thing. At least until you start a training program and have a plan!

When you train with us, we’ll make sure your dog understands the behavior expectations, we’ll reduce the anxiety and then we’ll proof our training around those triggers, SLOWLY!

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your dog! ❤️

06/10/2024

A new dog or puppy coming into the home and family is a major life change, and some dogs can handle it, and some might have complaints about it. Possible issues like jealousy and resource guarding can occur, and that can include being possessive or aggressive over things like food, toys, and even over the owners! It’s important to help reinforce a healthy relationship between all dogs in the family, especially if puppies are involved.

Not only do we not want to put any of the dogs in harm’s way because of one’s poor behavior, but we also don’t want that poor behavior to seem acceptable to any of the other dogs or puppies in the pack!

For all dogs getting to know each other, the owner must show them that the leader of the pack is ALWAYS the owner first. The dogs should be allowed to socialize and interact, but there must be supervision and also certain situations that you could monitor more, or avoid altogether to avoid failure (i.e.: feeding the dogs separately can prevent any food aggression issues).

When the dogs have to be left alone, it is important that they are separated in the beginning, until things are 100% between the dogs. Making sure both dogs understand obedience, manners, and basic boundaries will help eliminate and avoid bad behaviors in the first place, while also keeping a consistent structure that both dogs can thrive in and feel more encouraged and confident.

Training is a great bonding tool, so maybe while one of your dogs might not need behavior training as much as the other, both can benefit from it, and also cement a positive relationship between the two.

06/07/2024

Happy Donut Day! 🍩💗

06/05/2024

Working with your Veterinarian

Behavior can play a big role in the dog’s overall well-being. For instance, we’ve had clients with dogs that are BANNED from their vet, due to their uncontrollable aggression. The dogs have bitten vet techs and they always struggled to put a muzzle on the dogs whenever the vet came in for the full exam.

Veterinarians and trainers have very similar goals; the approach is just different – a vet does medical checkups and will address any biological issues with the dog, and that can include dental health and also mental health. But when it comes to behavior, most vets can only just prescribe medication or recommend a behavior trainer. As a trainers, we want to address behavior issues that can affect the dog’s general health (and sometimes this can be a vice versa case, where a medical issue might contribute to some poor behaviors).

Veterinarians and trainers want to improve the quality and extend the life of dogs as much as they can. In a way, it’s a team effort. The more information between veterinarian and trainer is shared, the more clear the big picture will be, and the problems that the dog is suffering from can be resolved!

It’s not just about referrals, or getting special discounts at the vet or with training: knowing our vet community is a step to bettering our dogs lives. With a good vet to tackle any medical issues, and a committed trainer to combat the behavioral issues, your dog will be set for behavioral balance and also a lifetime of good health and happiness!

06/03/2024

Dog training is like going to the gym, it takes time to see results!

Changing behavior doesn’t happen overnight. It takes patience, consistency, and time! You won’t see results right away because your dog is learning a new way of life. Just like when we learn new skills it doesn’t happen right away, we need practice and that’s a lot of what training is.

Don’t shy away from changing your dog’s behavior because it won’t happen right away, start the process now so you can begin towards your goals!

Our dogs are with us for a long time, having a well-behaved dog is worth the effort! 🤎

05/31/2024

Off leash freedom is a privilege! Not all dogs can be trusted off leash even with training. Some dogs will always be a flight risk for several reasons.

Our training program always covers a solid recall. Off leash freedom is also included for dogs we feel can be trained for it.

To learn more about our training programs and what they include, visit us online!

05/29/2024

When it comes to behavior in dogs (and people too) it’s important to understand that behavior is not who someone is, it’s what they do.

Training doesn’t change who your dog is, it changes how they act and what they do in situations.

When you train with us, we don’t change your dog’s personality, we bring out the best in them! 🖤

05/27/2024

Happy Memorial Day! 🇺🇸🐶💙

05/24/2024

Dogs bring us so much joy 🖤

05/22/2024

FOOD AGGRESSION

Many owners live in fear of their dogs, especially if they have food aggression. This is a problem. Rather than training their dogs and setting boundaries, they’ve allowed their dog to set the boundaries. I’ve met owners whose dogs were showing signs of dog’s food aggression, sibling aggression, or resource guarding and the excuses of temperament, instincts, or the dog retaining ownership over a space or object were common, such as a food bowl or the dog’s bowl.

The truth is, it’s not instinct or temperament, and a dog can’t own anything. The tendency for a dog to show aggressive behavior such as growl, snap, or bare teeth if his/her owner tries to touch something they see as theirs is a simple issue of behavior. This is especially common where food is concerned, and this is known as food aggression.

If you’ve ever tried to pet your dog while they are eating, been snapped at while trying to remove their dish for any reason, or if you have two dogs that bicker or fight over food, you’ve got a case of food aggression on your hands. It can be fixed, with proper training.

Don’t let food aggression affect when your dog eats. Starting working with them when they are young to avoid any aggressive behavior.

05/20/2024

WHY DO DOGS FIGHT?

Dog on dog aggression or “dog fights” most commonly stem from two instincts in dogs. These instincts can be categorized into: the will to be dominate and fear. If you own multiple dogs, and one dog demonstrates aggression towards one of your other dogs, they are most likely trying to be dominant. The dog exhibiting dominant behavior wants to be seen as the leader of the pack and aggression is an effective way for them to establish themselves.

However, if the trigger is a strange dog walking by or at the park, your dog could be trying to show dominance, or it may feel threatened for its safety or the safety of his home/family (which he would view as pack mates).

Although this aggression may never be meant to hurt people or the other dog, unfortunately it often does. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of stories of owners or children getting injured because they were trying to break up the fight between dogs or were simply in the way of the attacking dog.

05/17/2024

MASTER THE WALK!

If you have a dog that pulls on leash, gets reactive or aggressive then we can help! We’ll help you train your dog to walk nicely on the leash and focus on you instead of the distractions around you.

Learn to master the walk with your dog! Canine Trade Group trainers can teach any dog to walk properly on leash. Visit us online, or contact us to learn more.

05/14/2024

It is always easier to teach your dog manners and instill boundaries when they are young and impressionable. However, contrary to popular belief, older dogs can learn new tricks as well as pick up bad habits. The only difference between training an older dog versus a puppy is that we must first rule out any health issues. We must be certain that your older dog’s aggression is not due to arthritis or that their sudden lapse in housebreaking isn’t the result of incontinence. Once your dog is cleared by a vet we can begin training.

Maybe you’ve adopted a new pet and now your older dog is becoming destructive and fighting for your attention. Or maybe your older dog has always had a problem with their possessiveness and now it has gotten out of control. Regardless of what factors have played a part in your dog’s bad behavior, we can help!

05/12/2024

Happy Mother's Day! 🐾💗

05/10/2024

The sooner you address a behavioral issue the better. It is important to train a dog not only when they are a puppy, but also if they are an adult dog who is going through a lifestyle change.

Moving to a new home is one of the most common stressors that dogs deal with that is often overlooked. We have seen so many dogs slowly revert and/or pick up a negative behavior in their adult years due to a lifestyle change and many people justify their behavior by blaming it on their old age when that is not always the case.

It is important to get behavior problems under control as soon as your dog starts misbehaving!

05/07/2024

When you train with us, you won’t regret it! 🤎

05/05/2024

Enjoy your day! ❤️

05/03/2024

Kids and Dogs

This can be a tough combination. Kids don’t know better, and dogs can only communicate in two ways – fight or flight.

As dog trainers we can never express enough how important it is to manage your dog and your kids. It’s for the safety of both the dog and the children. The image below shows a great comparison of things we wouldn’t allow our child to do to another adult or child, so we should NEVER allow them to do this to a dog.

05/01/2024

Redirecting Aggression

There are several reasons why a dog would redirect on a person or other dog. It usually stems from the dog being over stimulated and unable to control their emotions and anxiety.

This is a behavior that can be corrected with proper training. We’ll help you teach your dog impulse control, basic obedience, and focus. We’lll also teach you how to recognize a situation that could trigger this behavior and get your dog under control BEFORE they get over stimulated.

It’s important to understand that a dog CANNOT be trained when they are in a stressed or reactive state of mind, training can only be done before they get to that point.

When you train with us, we train your dog, AND we teach you how to understand dog behavior.

04/29/2024

Can you trim your dog’s nails?

If you are struggling to trim your dog’s nails and do regular grooming with them, we can help! It’s crucial for a dog owner to be able to handle their dog, whether for a nail trim, to examine them, or groom them.

We’ll teach you how to properly handle your dog during these times and we’ll desensitize them to this handling.

04/26/2024

Happy Friday! 🐾💚

Enjoy these fun dog facts by the AKC.

Do we dog lovers ever tire of learning more about dogs? See what you know (and don't know) with the AKC's 30 fun facts about dogs.

04/24/2024

Dog Behavior Tip:

Just because a dog is wagging their tail DOES NOT mean they are happy and friendly! Can it mean they are happy and friendly? Yes, of course! But it doesn’t always.

Dogs wag their tails for many reasons, like when they are excited, aroused, or anxious. So never assume a dog is friendly just because they are wagging their tail.

04/22/2024

Happy Earth Day! 🌎 🐾

04/22/2024

Training in Public

It’s important to train your dog in public when they are ready to handle it. Lots of dogs are well-behaved inside the home without distractions, but all that training goes out the window when they get in public settings.

When you are ready to start training your dog in public, be sure to take it slow! Don’t rush into those over stimulating situations with your dog an expect them to behave like they do at home. Start slowly and work your way into it. It takes time and patience, but your dog will get there!