Congratulations! You must be here because you just adopted a puppy, a new dog, or have made the decision to actually train the dog that you already have...
Responsible dog ownership is my goal. If you have a dog, he is your responsibility and wouldn't it be wonderful to have a well-behaved companion that you can take anywhere? That is no-doubt attainable for most every dog and their owner. A small time commitment daily and the knowledge on just what to do with that time is what you need to have a well mannered dog. Through positive reinforcement methods, training is not work for your dog, but training is fun and games for them and they look forward to working with us.
Private In-Home Instruction or Group Class?
I do both private in-home instruction as well as group class. Which is better? That would be up to you. They both have their advantages and disadvantages....
In-home instruction is for those that would like one on one training or just have a specific problem behavior. Your dog will be more comfortable learning in his own environment with little to no distraction. The cost is initially higher, but not in the long run since we can get right to business because there IS no distractions in your home. The only drawback is there is no interaction with other dogs. Socialization with other friendly dogs is very important and should be arranged as often as possible.
Class instruction is of course cheaper per session because of the number of people in the class. Another plus in my Puppy Headstart class is off-leash play during or after class. Your dog will be able to learn dog "body language" and learn to love to play with other dogs. Socializing with other like minded people is a good thing for you too!
About Me
I’m Paula Weir of PAWS UP Dog Training
Just like most people that are in the dog business I have loved animals of all types throughout my life. It didn’t actually occur to me until 1999 to “get into” the dog business. In 1999 I got a German Shepherd pup named Samson and wanted to raise him right, train him and have a dog that would be a pleasure to be around. Serious study began at that time.
I read everything that I could get my hands on and found that there is conflicting information out there in the dog training world. I started Samson with compulsion training. This simply means that he wore a choke chain and was jerked whenever he did the wrong thing. Doesn’t sound very nice does it? No, it didn’t to me either.
I kept up my research and found a better way - positive reinforcement training. This is training where the dog is rewarded when they do something right. Bad behavior is ignored or the dog is distracted from doing the unwanted behavior and then immediately rewarded for doing what we like. Makes much more sense to me. Wow. I loved it.
I volunteered at a shelter thinking that I could make a difference, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn't stand going into the shelters seeing the sad and frustrated faces of those hopeless dogs. There had to be something else that I could do.
An opportunity opened up in a local community to give dog training classes in 2004. I jumped at the chance and loved it. Once I started giving classes and attending more seminars I found my opportunity to make a difference in a positive environment. Puppy Headstart is my alternative to the shelter situation. I wanted to work with the puppies and their owners on the front end . Meaning that instead of finding homes for unwanted, thrown away dogs, I would join with owners to get them on the right track with their pups so they wouldn’t end up at a shelter.
Since 1999, I've continued to research through reading, training my own dogs, working with other dogs, attending seminars and competing in dog agility. I have attended seminars from the top positive trainers in the dog industry. Jean Donaldson, Ian Dunbar, Brenda Aloff, Melissa Alexander, Suzanne Clothier, and Karen Pryor to name a few. I also joined the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (#66603 - http://www.apdt.com ) and started attending their annual conventions. I've attended the APDT conventions for the last 3 years. Last year, I attended the 5-Day APDT Conference in Portland Oregon where I went to 4 different seminars per day as well as buying the conference CD that I could listen to all of the other speakers that I missed while attending. In November of 2007, I went to a 3-Day Susan Garrett Seminar in Houston where I could fine-tune many of her techniques that I was exposed to beforehand. In April I attended a 3-day seminar with Brenda Aloff and Steve White that was hosted by Michele Crouse of Super-K9. (http://www.super-k9.com/steve-and-brenda-details.html)
September 13 and 14th, I will be attending the C.A.T. for dogs seminar in Dallas. http://www.spca.org/site/PageNavigator/CATforDogs?JServSessionIdr012=e0a6t01jf4.app20a . This is technique to Shape Away Aggression and isPresented by:Kellie Snider, MS & Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, PhD. I will be taking my GSD Samson to be used as the "passive" demo dog in the "hands on" portion of the seminar.
At the moment, I'm immersed in the Karen Pryor Academy - check it out http://www.karenpryoracademy.com . This is a very intense training course and I hope to have my certification in February of 2009.
As you can see, keeping current on the latest positive dog training techniques is very important to me and is what I love to do!
So now here I am – I have been giving classes and working with owners in their homes since 2004. I now have Samson who is 9 years old, Barley, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who has just turned 4, and Prada who is my Border Collie puppy who just turned 1 year old on July 13, 2008. I got Prada from a wonderful breeder - Tracy Heinlein at http://www.blastoffbc.com . I continue to fill her once "empty head" with all the good stuff that makes her a joy to live with and a joy to take anywhere that dogs are welcome! Samson is now retired from agility, Barley is a crazy agility addict and I will be working with Prada so she loves the sport just as much as Barley and I do.
Contact Info
Paula Weir
pawsupdogs@hotmail.com
214-476-1701
