What 27+ years of dog training taught me
This didn’t start as an idea. It started with my own dog.
Ziggy was behaviorally out of control, and that experience is what pulled me into dog training and behavior work in the first place. I’ve been on the same side of the problem my clients are on—frustrated, overwhelmed, and trying to figure out what actually works.
Over the past 27+ years working with dogs—and 20 years running Primal Needs and doing board & trains—I started to see a pattern:
The training itself wasn’t the biggest issue.
The transfer back to the owner was.
You can explain things to people all day long, but most don’t retain much from conversation alone. They need something they can go back to—something they can see, follow, and actually apply.
That’s why I first created over 150 pages of written material to guide clients through the reintroduction process when their dog came home. Then I added a full video series, because seeing it in action matters even more than reading it.
Dog training from home
There’s a better way to train (and teach).
But the real shift came about 10 years ago when I started doing expert witness work on dog behavior cases.
Most of that work happens over Zoom—consulting with attorneys, insurance companies, and courts. That’s when it clicked:
I don’t actually need to be in person to teach behavior.
I just need to be able to see clearly what’s happening and guide it correctly.
From there, I started working with clients virtually—and something unexpected happened.
It worked better.
Behavior has to change where it actually happens
Guiding you step-by-step to make lasting behavioral changes.
Instead of me showing up and unintentionally influencing the dog (like a principal walking into a classroom), I had clients film real situations and send them to me. I could break everything down as if I was a fly on the wall—without altering the environment.
That’s when the results started to become more consistent, more transferable, and more real.
The Virtually Guided Behavioral System is the result of all of that.
It’s the same system I’ve used for decades—but instead of me doing the work for you, I guide you step-by-step so you can create the change yourself, in your actual environment.
Because that’s where the behavior is happening.
And that’s where it needs to be fixed.
Learn more: