Your Family Dog, Your Best Companion

Duane has chosen to work first and foremost with family dogs. He is a renowned canine behavior expert who will:

• Provide results for family dogs of any breed or mix, any size or age, any problem or goal.
• Use his unique approach to help make your dog Your Best Companion.
• Guarantee the results he promises for you and your dog.

The Early Days

Duane was in high school in the ‘70s when he took his first dog – a Samoyed named Frosty – to a local training course. Duane loved that the relationship with his dog progressed from lesson to lesson, and Frosty graduated with flying colors.

That experience had a big impact on Duane. It ignited a passion that led to a lifelong career of working with dogs.

He began working at a prestigious kennel before and after school caring for the dogs that boarded there, including more than 100 show dogs. In his three years there, he had the opportunity to train numerous show dogs. Under his instruction, many of the champion dogs also won obedience titles. Duane’s first celebrity client came from that kennel when he trained Caitlyn Jenner’s Labrador retriever.

Over the next several years, Duane pursued his newfound quest to learn about different dog training methods. He took the time to study many popular ones – like Clicker Training, the Koehler Method, e-collar training, and more – with some big names in the dog training world.

Duane’s Unique & Effective Approach

The personalized training that Duane uses today is based on knowledge gained from years of study, combined with four decades of experience as a professional trainer. It’s what sets him apart from other dog trainers:

Knowledge
Duane’s advice and strategies are grounded in science and an in-depth knowledge of proven methods. He has studied many approaches to training, and borrowed the best from each. Duane would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to many trainers that have helped him become proficient in many of the ways there are to work with dogs including Gary Wilkes, Karen Pryor, Bill Koehler, Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnell, Sue Sternberg, Ted Kerasote, Jack London, Jim Canino, Danny Canino, Steve Scarpita, Martin Deeley, Cesar Millan, Carol Lee Benjamin, Captain Haggerty, Turid Rugaas, Ian Dunbar, Suzanne Clothier, Sophia Yin, Kathy Sdao, The Monks of New Skeet, B. F. Skinner, Richard Wolters, Morgan Spector and many others who have had a direct impact on how he trains.

Experience
Duane’s 40 years of training experience take into account the age of the dog, the traits of the breed, and the personality of the owner he’s working with. He has helped over 8,000 families achieve harmony between the dogs and people.

DUANE’S APPROACH

Training With Love
Duane’s trademark philosophy of Training With Love is based in science, rooted in humane methods, and is the best way to understand your dog. It means approaching each dog from a place of empathy and using methods easily understood by your dog.

Behavior Balancing
Duane uses Behavior Balancing when he trains a dog personally in a board and train program. Behavior Balancing is a term Duane has trademarked and uses to describe the process of taking a dog from their present behavioral state to a more “behaviorally centered” state natural to dogs. The process involves paying very close attention to minute details the dog communicates naturally through their behavior and providing precise, well-timed, appropriate, consistent feedback to guide the dog to become more confident, calm, social, in-control and obedient. Only a few trainers have the ability to do behavior balancing effectively simply because most lack the decades of experience required to read a dog’s subtle behavior cues and respond accordingly, and kennel board and train programs do not offer a conducive environment to do behavior balancing effectively due to the stressfulness of a kennel.

The 4C’s of Dog Training
Duane’s method relies on what he calls the 4C’s of dog training: Compassion, Clarity, Control, and Consistency. The 4C’s are 4 of the most important things to remember when training…

Compassion: refers to coming from a place of love and keeping in mind that your dog is the one being forced to learn and yet we are supposed to be the more intelligent species. If we are supposed to be the smarter species shouldn’t we spend at least as much time learning how our dog communicates as we do trying to get them to learn how we communicate? Maybe even more time?
Clarity: refers to keeping in mind that we are not teaching our dog the english language and that they are not wired for listening as a way of communicating.
Control: refers to working within an environment where you can control the outcome of the training and be assured that the desired result occurs until habits have formed and your dog can be trusted anywhere in any situation.
Consistency: refers to being prepared 100% of the time so that you can be consistent in all your feedback to your dog until habits form.

Duane’s “Other Life”

Although dog training is his passion, Duane has some other unique interests and experiences too…

• In 2011, he and his wife moved to Costa Rica for 4 1/2 years. They helped to build a eco-sustainable community of 45 homes called Osa Mountain Village. The residents – mostly Canadians and Americans – grew most of their own food, raised goats and chickens, and Duane helped to build a wildlife sanctuary.
• Duane also offers his services as a dog behavior expert in other ways:
• He serves as an expert witness in court cases related to dogs. Most are dog bite cases where he’s asked to make an assessment and sometimes testify in court about that assessment and his observations.
• Duane is also available for speaking engagements at dog training conferences and other venues. He specifically likes to speak regarding the training of family dogs that are more difficult than the average dogs most trainers encounter.
• Duane mentors novice trainers that need help with specific dog training cases or are looking to learn more about the art of training family dogs, working with aggressive dogs and rehabilitating shy, timid, abused or rescue dogs.