Frequently Asked Questions

You can send vaccination records to info@thecooperativecanine.com, upload them to your customer portal account, or have them with you at the time of your appointment.

We require up-to-date vaccinations for all our clients to prevent transfer of diseases between homes.

We require proof of up-to-date Rabies, DHLLP, and Bordetella. You can have them with you, upload them to your customer portal account, or email them to info@thecooperativecanine.com. We also accept titers.

The Cooperative Canine uses email and texts as our main forms of communication. Please make sure you are set up to receive our emails. You will receive emails and texts about upcoming appointments, reservations, and other announcements.

For any services which require us to access your house while you’re not there, we require the use of a mechanical lockbox. We can provide you with one for a one-time fee of $20 (you will keep the lockbox). If you already have a lockbox or prefer to buy your own, our only requirement is that it be mechanical, not electronic. We require a lockbox even if you have a keyless entry system, as we have experienced failures of these systems in the past, leaving us unable to provide care to your pets.

We also require that you provide us with the name and contact information for one LOCAL contact who also has a copy of your key. This contact could be a family member, friend, or neighbor and should be someone who could take care of your pet in case of a catastrophic emergency, such as a natural disaster or fire, or in the event your pet becomes a danger to themself or the pet sitter.

The Cooperative Canine, LLC is a force free, fear free dog training company. We prioritize your dog’s wellbeing and building the relationship between you two as a byproduct of your training journey together.

Our approach to dog training may not be for everyone, and we understand that. It’s important that you choose the service that works best for you and your dog.

Our training is different from a lot of services you may have seen advertisements for. How are we different? First of all, we are dedicated to force free training. That means we won’t use a choke, prong, or shock/e-collar to train your dog. We choose not to use these tools because they hurt your dog both physically and emotionally. There is no way to effectively use these tools without hurting or scaring your dog. Although using these tools will definitely stop behavior, it will do so at the cost of shutting your dog down and potentially making your dog afraid of you—maybe even aggressive.

Just as we would never condone the type of mindset that would incline us to abuse a human, such as...

🛑 I smack my kid/spouse to teach them to respect me
🛑 I spank my kid because I know what’s best for them
🛑 A little tough love builds resilience
🛑 “You made me hit you.”

we would never apply these principles to our living, breathing, sentient dogs (or any other animals either).

Instead, our approach considers the following...

🌟 Are you in pain?
🌟 Are you scared?
🌟 Are you confused?
🌟 What is your underlying emotional need?

because this is the humane way to approach behavioral “problems” no matter what species you’re working with. When you address the UNDERLYING problem, the behavior goes away because it’s no longer needed.

Secondly, we do not guarantee a quick fix or a particular outcome. If this is what you are looking for, we are not your best choice. What we offer is to help you lay a foundation of good behavior and decision-making on the part of your dog. Then we coach you in the maintenance and progression of the skills we built together. Why do we do this? We know you didn’t get a dog to become a dog trainer. (If you did, we’d be out of a job!) However, all behavior must be maintained, just like you maintain your physical health with exercise and nutrition, and we give you the skills to do this. Plus, when you continue working with your dog using our approach, it strengthens your bond with each other.

Finally, we know from recent studies that using force free training makes your dog more optimistic. We love that our choice of training method has this outcome. We want the dogs we train to be joyful participants in their own growth, eager to learn, and happy to engage with life.

You are a good fit to work with us if you...

• Understand that no training outcomes can be guaranteed.
• Can commit to being actively involved in maintaining your dog’s training.
• Want your dog to make good decisions and have a positive outlook on life.

We train basic manners (sit, stay, down, wait, come, etc.). We assist in puppy raising. We also work with behavioral issues such as fear-based aggression, reactivity, resource guarding, intrahousehold dog-dog aggression, dog-cat acclimation, fear/anxiety, hyperarousal, and more.

We do NOT handle separation anxiety. We invite you to try this DIY Separation Anxiety course, created by a certified separation anxiety trainer. It is a cost-effective way to learn how to improve your dog’s wellbeing while you’re gone.

We use force free methods to train your dog. You may also have heard this method referred to as positive reinforcement or R+. Some people think this refers to merely giving the dog food every time they do what you want, but force free is more than that. Working from a force-free perspective, we try to determine the root cause of your dog’s behavior, because we know that every behavior is the result of an underlying need. (Observe yourself for the next 3 minutes; everything you do is to meet a need, including shifting in your seat, scratching your head, or blinking.) When the underlying need is met, there is no reason for the behavior to occur. For example, if your back was itching where you couldn’t reach it, you might go to the corner to relieve that itch. But if your partner came along and scratched your back, you wouldn’t need to go to the corner. Ultimately, working with your dog means helping your dog feel better about what’s bothering them.

Here are some additional things we might do:

• Use desensitization to help your dog feel better about their environment or other triggers.
• Help your dog build frustration tolerance.
• Help your dog build resilience.
• Help your dog build confidence.
• Teach your dog to communicate their needs with you—and teach you to understand their communication.
• Manage the environment to prevent or limit the occurrence of triggers.
• Teach your dog a different, healthier behavior to use to make themselves feel better.
• Coach you in ways to make your dog feel safe.

For basic skills, we use treats or other things your dog finds rewarding enough to work for. Sometimes your dog wants to work for their ball, so we’ll use that. Sometimes, it’s a tug toy. Notice, that I said things your dog will work for. I use that word because whenever we’re asking a dog to do something for us, something other than what they would have been doing on their own, we are essentially asking them to work for us. When we work, we expect to get paid; why should our dogs be any different? We know that giving our dogs a reward for working for us makes them more likely to want to work for us. And that’s the kind of relationship we want you to have with your dog.

We do not use aversives. Aversives are things that are painful or cause discomfort or fear in your dog. Using aversives with your dog erodes your dog’s trust in you. It is common to use aversives to make a dog stop doing something the guardian doesn’t like. There are several problems with this.

• As mentioned, it can make your dog lose their trust in you.
• Your dog can habituate to the aversive, meaning you have to keep escalating for it to have an effect. This could result in actual injury to your dog, depending on what you’re doing.
• It can cause your dog to exhibit learned helplessness.
• It can cause your dog to become aggressive to you.
• It can cause your dog to avoid the behavior only when you’re not around.
• It doesn’t actually teach your dog a better behavior.

Remember that every behavior is the product of an underlying need. If your back was itching in that spot you can’t reach, but you were prevented from scratching it against the wall, you’d find some other way to scratch it. If you were repeatedly prevented from alleviating the discomfort of the itch, you’d go out of your way to find a way to do so. You’d probably get pretty irritated with whomever was stopping you. Regardless of your dog’s need, it has to be met one way or another. We choose to teach the dog a way to meet the need that works for both the dog and the guardian.

We use harnesses and leashes. On very rare occasions, we might train a client to use a gentle leader or Halti (a kind of head harness). We use treats and toys as rewards. We may use a small, noisemaking device called a clicker to aid in training certain skills.

We do not use prong, choke, or shock/e-collars.

We do not guarantee any particular outcome. There are so many factors that contribute to behavior. Genetics, personal history, learned consequences, outside forces, epigenetics, the health and experiences of the mother while pregnant, the physical health of the dog, and so on. While we have techniques and protocols we can use based on our education and experience, there are times when the root cause of a behavior cannot be ameliorated despite our best efforts. Therefore, we cannot guarantee any results, and we cannot provide a refund if you did not achieve your desired outcome.

Virtual consults offer the convenience of a personal, private consultation from the comfort of your own home. They are especially beneficial if you live outside our service area or if your dog is triggered by strangers in your home, whether they become aggressive/reactive or extremely fearful. Dogs with stranger-related fears can have a more productive experience through virtual consults, as they won’t be triggered by the presence of a trainer in their home. Visit our Virtual Dog Training section to learn more or to schedule a virtual consultation.