… is a team on a MISSION

The awful truth is that we have too many dogs that aren’t “mannerized” to live among us.

People do not have the peace of mind they deserve. The stress, problems, and strife of dealing with a dominant and out of control dog are not what people signed-up for as pet owners. The other sad fact is that thousands of dogs are getting euthanized because of the community’s inability to train dogs… We as humans have perpetuated an attitude that lacks urgency in keeping tabs on man’s best friend.

The CaliK9 team is on a mission to use our specialty in behavior modification and socialization to impact the community’s number of bite cases and number of dogs that get sent to shelters each year – and to reduce the number of folks out there who can’t sleep at night because they have a ticking time bomb running around in their back yard.

… is dog psychology simplified

CaliK9 is about us taking high competition-level obedience and simplifying it for the average pet owner. It’s about taking knowledge that elite dog trainers know, and taking it to empower the community – the streets – the everyday people who need that knowledge.

It’s about us empowering you with the tools to eradicate bad behaviors and to engrain good ones.

It’s about creating a mode of communication between you and your canine.

It’s about facilitating good experiences for you and your dog, and setting-up your dog for success.

It’s about us putting dog psychology into practical terms, applying them in practical situations, and communicating information in ways that relate to YOU.

At the end of the day, it’s about showing you that you have a lot more in common with your dog than you had previously thought.

…is a lifestyle

It’s a commitment – come to us with a disciplined mindset of following through with the method, and we will commit to providing everything you need to be successful.

Practicing the CaliK9 method is about micromanaging your dog’s behavior with consistency, fairness, and firmness – so much that your dog’s good behavior almost cruises into auto-pilot.

It’s about coming to class and exercising pack leadership in and out of your home. It’s about maintaining your leadership so strongly with your dog, your behavior spills out in other facets of your life.

Like it or not, training with CaliK9 may reveal some things about yourself you never would have realized otherwise. We get clients all the time who become more self-aware and observant of their own consistency as human beings, and consequently, it positively affects their quality of life outside of dog training.

… is FUN

NOBODY does what we do the way we do it. There’s no company out there that can match the level of energy, enthusiasm, charisma, and pure passion on a day-to-day basis like the CaliK9 team does…

Watch the YouTube videos – read the Yelp! reviews – see our photos – that’s us out there genuinely having a great time.

We never go out there just to go through the motions – just like fitness gurus never want to go through the exact same workout for so long. Our bodies and minds adapt to repetitive challenges, and so will our dogs. Our classes are a workout for your consistency – we keep it fresh, we keep it live, and we keep our clients and their dogs looking forward to what’s happening next.

… is the TRUTH

You’ve probably done your research – you’ve looked all over the internet, watched videos, read books, asked the resident “expert” at the pet food store – and to no surprise, when you compare all of that information, they all contradict each other.

Let’s take a look at what’s out there:

What about Purely Positive Reinforcement?

These dog trainers always use rewards (such as food or toys) as a way to coax their dog into desired behaviors. Additionally, this method proposes to ignore the dog when it is doing undesired behavior.

The first problem with this training method is that the rewards never go away. You could make a dog do almost anything with a treat in your hand, but what happens when you don’t? These dogs end up blowing-off their trainers when a command is given and there is no valuable reward in sight.

The second glaring problem with this method is there is no correction involved. Ignoring the dog does NOT address the issue. In pack structure, dogs keep each other in line through corrections. If you’re a parent, you’re not going to let your kids blow you off when they commit infractions. Just like with kids, behavioral problems in dogs only escalate when they aren’t addressed.

When you choose not to correct your dog, you are robbing yourself of two things: an opportunity to affirm yourself as the pack leader – and an opportunity for your dog to learn its boundaries.

Down this path, you will spoil your dog into disobedience. And what good is a dog who values a treat above the authority of their pack leader?

What about Force Training?

On the other side of the spectrum are the hardcore force trainers. In this method, trainers physically force their dogs into the desired behavior – and if the dog isn’t performing the desired behavior, the trainer administers a high level of correction or punishment – sometimes without the dog fully understanding what is being asked of it.

Is it really fair for us to correct a dog that doesn’t know what is asked of them? Is it really fair for your parent to hold you to such high expectations when neither of you don’t know what the expectations are in the first place?

Extremists who implement this method compromise the dog’s trust, expression, confidence, and willingness to go through new challenges… and most importantly, extreme force training compromises the bond between you and your dog.

Neither of the two extremes defines what CaliK9 is about.

A Practical Approach: The CaliK9 method

The CaliK9 method is a balance between positive reinforcement and correction – it’s not purely positive, and not purely negative. Purely positive isn’t natural for a dog, and purely negative isn’t fair to the dog. We channel the dog’s natural instinct and genetic predisposition to make them fit into our society.

The method is adaptive, and takes into consideration the dog’s age, body language, temperament, breed, and overall demeanor.

We communicate with the dog in clarity: good and bad; comfort and discomfort; reward and correction; white and black. Positive behavior will always produce positive acknowledgement. Negative behavior always produces a correction. Gray area and lack of consistency only confuses the dog.

The CaliK9 method implements Phases of Learning into its method:

1.       Learning Phase – luring the dog into correct behavior and capturing/marking it with positive reinforcement; associating a verbal command with the behavior; securing the command through repetition.

2.       Distraction Phase – ensuring that the dog’s priority is focusing on you and your commands through a wide variety of distractions.

3.       Correction Phase – correcting the dog verbally or with mild discomfort when the dog disobeys a command that it surely knows.

4.       Maintenance Phase – keeping the dogs learned behavior sharp, and maintaining structure for the dog to operate.

Along with other facets of the method, we ensure that the structure is in place for you and your dog to be successful – it’s down to a simplified science, and all you have to do is show up and commit to the lifestyle.

At the end of the day, CaliK9 is the truth. Those who cannot acknowledge the validity of the CaliK9 principles is either in denial or has read too much contradicting advice about dog training.

Last but definitely not the least, CaliK9…

… is a family and community

There’s a reason why the CaliK9 client base has turned into a close-knit community of similarly minded people. They have a great time with us, and we have a great time with them. Not only is my staff passionate about what we do, but so are our clients.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love my clients – and I hope to extend the CaliK9 family and community far beyond the borders of where we are today.

Peace,
Jas Leverette

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