Humane dog training

We don’t use fear/pain/dominance in our training program not just because we love dogs, but also because reinforcement based training methods yield more lasting and desirable results.

Behavior — and our friendship with our dogs — is shaped in our repeated everyday habits, rituals and lifestyle. Trainers might wish to instantly zap/choke/end just one behavior, but they are zapping the whole dog,  their whole relationship with the dog, and the dog’s relationship with the world.

Behaviors aren’t created in an instant. Maturity, understanding and communication skills can’t be rushed.  You can’t force learning, and force in any education is confusing. Using shock/prong/choke and other aversives damage your dog’s trust in you, they damage your dog’s confidence, and they can damage your clarity about what you are witnessing, too!

Reward based training methods create more predictable reliable enduring behaviors, and more bonded communicative dog/handler teams.

At Whole Dog Camp we know that the most effective learning environment is low stress, and kind both for you and for your dog(s). We offer club memberships and customized training programs that accord with the L.I.M.A. (Least Invasive Minimally Aversive) humane training principles of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, ASPCA,  the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, and the American Humane Society.

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Whole Dog Camp at Bliss Woods Farm

136 S Freeport Rd. Freeport Maine 04032

wholedogcamp@gmail.com

Wife, mother, grandmother, herbalist and Lead Trainer,Jenny Ruth Yasi, CPDT-KA, is also a Certified Trick Dog Instructor, CGC Evaluator, member of Association of Professional Dog Trainers, International Policework Dog Association, and a longtime student of Susan Garrett at “SayYes!” Husband, father, grandpa, vegetable-ist and Professional Engineer, Albert Presgraves is the willing partner of Jenny since 1985. Albert is often called in to assist with dogs who are afraid of men!

Jenny has taught many subjects, from guitar, voice, herbal medicine making, to elementary school French, but dogs and many other animals have always been part of her life. In 1996, she completed a self-designed major in Behavior Science and Character development at Vermont College of Norwich University. In 1998 she taught her first dog classes at a Petco, and in 2004 opened Whole Dog Camp on Peaks Island. Since then, Jenny has directly trained over 600 dogs through her humane board and train, and stay and train programs.  Now offering classes in  Freeport, and Portland Maine, our goal is to help you and your dogs find more joy and a more fun in  your relationships with each other.

Jenny has volunteered, earned rally titles  (RL1 and RL2 Award of Excellence) and earned other awards with four dogs. Jenny and her (currently three) dogs  also enjoy freestyle, agility, skjoring and tracking.  She’s introduced behavior science and humane education in schools through her program, “How Animal Trainers Make Big Problems Smaller.”