Canine Behavioural Consultations
In some cases, a behavioural assessment/consultation is required prior to beginning training.
The purpose of a canine behavioural consultation
When assessing a dog, it isn’t simply to see if “the dog can be trained”. It is to observe the dog in depth, study his behaviour, as well as take a case history from the owner. It allows the trainer to look for specific markers from the dog that will indicate both who the dog is, how the dog operates.
By observing these key components in combination with information from the owner we can then determine what course of action would be best suited for the dog and owner in question. Nick can also explain what reasonable expectation we can have going forward should the dog go on to be trained.
Nick & Niko – a Husky mix in from NYC for training
Excellente première rencontre! Nick est a l’écoute et connaît son domaine c’est clair. J’ai pas encore fait le training complet mais clairement Nick sera la bonne person pour accomplir cette tache. J’ai juste hâte de commencer!
-Eric Rousse et Zouki
It was wonderful dealing with Nick. I had communicated with other trainers but Nick is the only one who suggested that a consultation session would be necessary in order for him to evaluate Loki and determine if he thought he could help. The consultation session was over an hour long where Nick took charge of Loki. In that time, we saw him begin to connect with Loki and saw how much he loves dogs and how he had her well-being at heart. This was extremely reassuring to see before leaving our dog in his care.
-Nadine Bouchard & Loki
Nick is absolutely brilliant at what he does. Not only is he the best dog trainer around, he is just as good at teaching people!
We are first time dog owners, and adopted our little dog Luca from the Humane Society after they rescued him from a dog meat farm. He was traumatized, anxious, and scared of just about everything, including my partner. We had a consultation with Nick, and were immediately won over by his approach. He really gets to know the individual dog (and the owners) to come up with a plan for their specific situation. He sets realistic goals for the training, and explains what is possible. He told us, as we suspected, that leaving Luca at the kennel would be far too stressful for him. So we decided to drive out for lessons. You can trust that Nick always has the best interests of the dogs he works with at heart.
We learned so much just in that initial consultation. Nick distills his years of experience studying dog behaviour into clear explanations that anyone can understand. By the end of the training we were confident dog owners with the tools we needed to support our dog. Luca went from belly crawling through doorways, and spending every walk scanning for threats, to a being a happy little guy who trusts us to keep him safe. He heels and sits on command, comes when we call, and snuggles up to my partner on the couch every evening.
We really can’t thank Nick enough, and highly recommend him to anyone looking for a dog trainer, or a dog-owner trainer! We found his youtube videos really helpful before we even went in for training – check them out to get a sense of how he works! Thank you Nick!
– Emma Middleton and Matthieu Aubin with Luca
Montreal’s Best Dog Training for over 25 years!
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