Your dog's behavior
tells a story.
Data helps us read it. A structured, science-backed process that starts with observation, measures what matters, and builds a training plan around your dog — not a template.
Every caregiver sees different behaviors. Data unifies those perspectives into one clear picture — while revealing what makes each relationship unique.
How it works
From observation to outcomes — four steps.
Observe
I spend time with your companion in their real environment. Before any training begins, I change the physical and social environment to reduce the conditions that make problem behavior likely.
Assess
You complete a guided behavioral survey based on published research — 24 questions across five behavioral factors. Your answers reveal patterns that shape the entire training plan.
Analyze
Your survey results and goals generate a custom dashboard that pinpoints problem behaviors, tracks progress over time, and keeps you moving forward with clear data — not guesswork.
Build
While resolving problem behavior, we create new, useful skills that improve the quality of your everyday life and relationship. Real-life skills your dog can use in real situations.
Companion Survey
Five factors that define your dog's behavior.
The companion survey is based on Bennett & Rohlf (2007), a principal components analysis of 413 dog owners. It maps your dog's behavior across five research-validated factors — giving us a precise starting point, not a hunch.
Disobedient
Won't sit, stay, or come when called. House soiling, poor manners, chasing — the everyday behaviors that erode the relationship.
Nervous
Fear of objects, places, or situations. Startles easily, timid around new people, lacks confidence in unfamiliar environments.
Excitable
Pulls on leash, jumps on people, over-aroused during play or greetings. High energy without an outlet.
Anxious / Destructive
Digs, chews, can't be left alone. Separation-related distress and compulsive patterns that damage the home and the dog's welfare.
Unfriendly / Aggressive
Aggression toward strangers, other dogs, or known people. Socialization gaps that require careful, structured intervention.
The approach
Data-driven, least intrusive, most effective.
Using data helps us find the least intrusive and most effective interventions. This approach reduces the chance of negative side effects and respects the learner's autonomy, dignity, and rights.
Data provides a technically sound plan designed to make problem behavior irrelevant, inefficient, and ineffective — while creating an alternative behavior that provides the same, or more, reinforcement.
How data drives training →Real-life skills, not tricks.
My training focuses on holistically teaching and appreciating real-life, practical canine skills — and using those skills in everyday situations, so that a dog is a well-behaved member of a household and a welcome part of society.
C.L.A.S.S provides dog owners, regardless of skill-level, the opportunity to develop their dogs' real-life skills using effective, reward-based methods. Three levels offer a roadmap to continue training far beyond basic skills.
C.L.A.S.S framework →Ready to start?
No travel, no group classes — just you, me, and your dog. In-home sessions on Mercer Island and surrounding areas.
Work with Will