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PAWSITIVELY K9
A Balanced Approach To Dog Training & Ownership
Growing up I can always remember having a dog in my life, but it wasn't until 2001 (I was 12 years old) that we got our first house dog, Jenna, a 6 month old German Shepherd. Little did I know, that this dog would light a fire in my soul to becoming the dog lover and trainer I am today.
Welcome to my training page, where you'll find services I offer as well as tips & tricks to help cultivate a happy, healthy and more balanced relationship with your dog.
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ABOUT YOUR NEXT FAVORITE DOG TRAINER
My name is Nicole Ernsberger and I have been a professional dog trainer since July 2018. I believe in developing a relationship of understanding between you and your pet, because caring for an animal in your home is as much about responsibility as it is about love.
I've gained my skills over the years through attending various dog training workshops/seminars and fostering dogs that were deemed unadaptable from the shelter. My foster work has really given me chance to hone my craft and build a relationship with an unfamiliar dog that may have trust issues with humans and/or other dogs. It's through my experience of rehabilitating these dogs and assisting in finding them homes that really sparked my passion to pursue dog training as a career.
When it comes to training, I believe that the relationship is the most important thing. A proper relationship can fix your training and proper training can fix your relationship. You really can't have one without the other! Having a strong and stable relationship with your dog can help provide the connection, communication and commitment your dog needs to achieve both balance & fun in life.
I follow the balanced training approach. I believe a dog should know both YES and NO. Meaning I do believe in appropriate and ethical use of punishment & corrections when it comes to training a dog. Having said that, I will say I use very little punishment, but a fair amount of pressure to train & achieve reliable behaviors. Statistically, I would say I am 80% positive reinforcment and 20% pressure based trainer.
When I talk about pressure I am merely talking about communication level pressure. The kind you experience when in your car and the seat belt digger is nagging you to buckle up. It's annoying, not going away, but causes zero harm when being applied. That's exactly how I use pressure and it starts through the leash. Dog has got to understand how things work on a leash before we can expect it to know what to do off leash in & out of the house.
“Everyone thinks they have the best dog.
And none of them are wrong.”