Answers
to Your Most Common Questions and Concerns:
Let's face it; training dogs "successfully" is NOT a walk in the park. If it was, don't you think we'd see more trained dogs all around us? And breaking your dog's bad habits and solving his behavioral issues is more difficult, even for the most experienced dog experts in the business. Just For Fun, Here's a Challenge for You: See if you can train your dog WITHOUT any yelling, hitting or holding a treat in your hand. And that's only half the battle. Issues like Potty Training, Over-protectiveness, Jumping Up, Play-Biting and being able to have your dog listen to your commands from a distance and off-leash around other dogs, cats or strangers—these will prove to be the hardest of them all. Now, even if you could tackle a few of these issues on your own, studies have proven that people tend to stay more on top of things when they have an expert by their side every step of the way. Bottom line, you can workout at home or even build your own small gym, but having a trainer right there to push you, motivate you, and correct your mistakes is something else. (Just make sure that those exercise machines don't replace your clothes hangers or become a resting place for your kitty)
We are in Sacramento CA. Sorry. No other locations
at the moment. This is why we often have a waiting list and it’s a bit tough to get in. (Be sure to call us if you are in a hurry or have a specific starting date in mind and put in your deposit.)
Usually people bring in their dogs on weekends. It's very important to do the final (pick-up lesson) with everyone who is involved with your dog. From experience, we've noticed weekends are better for people but we are flexible and will meet your schedule.
Kevin only accepts 4-5 dogs at a time so he can focus with one-on-one attention. Sadly, this is one of the reasons not every dog owner is able to get in. Mr. Salem never accepts more dogs than that. He doesn't want to and frankly, since he's so booked up, he doesn't need to. This is why he rather NOT sacrifice quality. NOTE: This is why it makes sense to send in your five hundred dollar deposit fee to reserve the starting date of your choice. And as you ship or drop off your pooch to us, all you pay is the difference.
If You Are Just... Or, Perhaps You Are... * Staying at Home Mom
and the Kids Kick Your Butt Like the Dog Then You Should Definitely Consider Our Doggy Boot Camp. We have put a lot of thoughts into this program and promise that you will not find any weaknesses in our board and train program. Basically, we've put ourselves in YOUR shoes and made sure that you'll know EXACTLY what to do and NOT to do once you take your dog home.
We cannot accept your doggie if he or she isn't current on: We open your eyes to the future and the next level of dog training—“The Diverse Method.” Like a fluent fighter, you need to arm yourself with every tool and every method. It’s not safe or smart to rely on just one way of training as a crutch. The key to greatness is to always have an open mind and a back-up plan, because no method or training tool is guaranteed to work every time, on every dog, and with every owner. That’s just a fact! Our Diverse Method has been originated from dog training and is perfected by Dog Psychology. This means, your dog will end up responding to you because of your leadership and not because he was starved for hours and you waved a slice of beef jerky in front of him. In a nutshell, the "Diverse Method" is about a careful
consideration of your dog's age, size, temperament, breed, strength,
prey drive, as well as meeting your goals and expectations.
We are working very hard to make the available in January of 2012. The Kindle, Ipad, Sony and any download version may be ready sooner than 2012. We've gotten hundreds of requests from all over the world for this book. Our goal is to have it ready in two months. Unfortunately, it really is now out of our hands and totally up to the publisher. There is a lot of effort that goes into creating a book. Please go to our contact page and select the very first option. You will be one of the first to be notified as soon as the book is available. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Not at all! Think about it. Thousands of breeders ship puppies as young as eight weeks old via airlines every day. Now, if a young pup can handle it, what makes you think your stubborn adult brat won't? Sometimes we get dogs straight from the breeder shipped to us to be trained. Dogs are tougher than you think—even the ones that were pampered and spoiled rotten by you. It's usually the owners who get more stressed thinking that their baby's crate will be treated just like another piece of luggage. That is not the case at all. Airlines are both careful and caring when it comes to shipping live animals and, to this date, we’ve never had a complaint.
You need two special bowls that must be mounted on the inside
of the gate. (This is NOT the same bowl as your dog's regular
dish. You may purchase these from your local pet stores.) It helps to write with black marker your dog's first name and your last name on the crate and write whether your dog's friendly or not. We pick up your pooch from Sacramento's International Airport. There is no additional charge for this. IMPORTANT: If you cannot get to
Sacramento for your final lesson, you may fly Kevin at your expense
for one day to you. The cost for this is a one-time fee of $2,900, which covers ALL
of Mr. Salem’s travel expenses. Please contact us for his
available dates. If that’s not enough for you, you might consider the V.I.P package. This package is for those who feel that money is the least of their worries. It offers the Doggie Boot Camp, Kevin flying/driving to you, a videotape of your dog personally being trained by the master himself, along with lifetime phone and e-mail support. Rate: 5,000. (Please call for rates outside the U.S.) Yes and NO. We actually will reveal the secret or, should we say, the common sense answer, for absolutely FREE. And we wouldn't tell you any differently, even if you hired us! The truth is, no matter how good or gifted an expert may be, nobody can guarantee to put a complete end to your dog's destructive chewing. Nobody! The only way you can get your dog to stop chewing on your furniture, the sprinkler system, the phone/cable wires, or ANYTHING valuable, is you have to either crate your dog or use a play or exercise pen. These are the metal fences that can be extended and turned into
a gate, or square or octagon. For big, strong, and more determined
dogs, you need to build a dog run or muzzle your dog. Otherwise, no matter how much you exercise your dog, catch him in the act, soak everything with bitter apple, or even rotate your dog’s toys, once you look away or when you leave for work/school, all bets are off. Dogs usually chew from boredom, when they are curious, when they are mad at you, and when they are still young and teething. It helps to get really strong and spiky toys from the dental section of pet stores, but that still does NOT guarantee a dog won’t chew on inappropriate items. Sorry. We are just being honest with you. You ultimately need to make it impossible for your dog to make any mistakes. Ninety percent of the time your dog is actually taking long naps when you are away. So that destructiveness occurs in the remaining ten percent. Isn’t that ironic? You’re being nice by giving your
dog access to your whole house or your entire yard. And your dog
takes advantage of this and abuses it. Play with your dog in your
yard, for no more than an hour at a time, keep him supervised
or take him for long walks. But, that still does not make your
dog’s jaw tired. It helps to get strong, hard toys to chew
on. The same advice applies for digging, or you could just call
your yard the Swiss Cheese Resort. Heck NO. That's our biggest secret!!! That was a joke. But of course. Just call us to make an appointment. :-) 1- Pinpoint All of Your Training Mistakes: Also, it is NOT how much you work with your dog that counts, but you must look at HOW you actually have been training it. That’s right; that how is far more important. And when you think about it, you already have done at least something on your own here and there, but it hasn't taken you that far. Like anything else, it is correct practice that makes perfect. Some of these were right before your eyes all along, some will make you laugh, and some you knowingly were making them, but didn't care and actually, WANTED your dog to get away with murder. 2- I'll Point Out What You've Done "Correctly" with Your Dog: Although this is extremely rare, there are some of you out there
who have done some good things on your own. This obviously
proves your determination in seeking different alternatives, as
well as getting better, faster results. And we admire you for
that. This is where you'll learn ALL the different ways you can train your dog and solve its bad habits, and which will most likely work the best and the fastest for YOU and YOUR DOG. That's right. We focus on treating each client and each dog based on their own individual needs. Just like people, every dog is unique. The main key to our success is that we train and educate you by being “Diverse.” Sure, some of our tips are plain common sense, but sadly, even "common sense" is NOT that common these days. Not just in dog training, but in general. So, to be able to train dogs correctly, you need to have skills. Applying common sense might get you a well-mannered dog, but training, real dog training, is an art that must be taught and perfected in a pristine manner. And just knowing or applying common sense won’t get you there. (Okay, guys? Men usually have that mindset. After all, a-hem, I’m a guy.)
You probably have already tried an eight-week "treat-training" program. What's worse, the trainer looked you in the eye and promised that your dog WILL eventually listen to you anywhere, anytime, and WITHOUT any treats. (It's only eight weeks and hey, it’s even scientifically proven.) Fast forward to today: Your dog graduated and got his doggie diploma from that class. Now be honest! Does he obey all the commands perfectly without those yummy treats? How about around other dogs, cats or your visitors? After all, it's unrealistic to expect you to carry goodies with you for the rest of your life. Hmm.. now don't get mad. Sit down. Take a deep breath and look at that diploma again. Look, nobody’s saying not to ever give your poor dog any treats. But, you need to be smart and productive and stay away from bribery at all costs. Here is an eyebrow-raising fact: Would YOU still work for your company or your cool boss once they weaned you off your paychecks? Forget the raise. How about totally cutting off your allowance? That's what you are doing to your poor dog. Once you gradually cut down the treats while training and eventually TOTALLY stop that nonsense altogether, your dog will automatically assume either mommy doesn't love me like the old days, or has simply gone broke and can't afford a bag of milk bones anymore. (Aha! You probably never looked at it that way, but treat-trainers will never tell you this, or never get it themselves. Their way of thinking is completely different from ours.) But these trainers argue: "What is the dog's reward then? Dogs should get a reward for responding to our commands." I will answer your question with another question: What is the reward of our kids responding to us? Did you always get a gift, a toy, a treat, a cookie, EVERY TIME you listened to your parents? We hope you see the logic behind this. Your dog should listen to you, with or without any bribery. Sit. Why? Because I said so and because you are my dog. Is that too much to ask? Because your life and the rewards you get are much better than what homeless dogs or dogs that are in shelters have. To some of you this might sound a bit harsh, but it's the truth. You really have to consider that balance. Give your dog some treats, but only sometimes, and as a surprise. Bottom line, your dog will learn to respond to you because she'll notice that it makes you proud, happy and because you said so. And not because of a little beef jerky, a body-slam, a rolled-up newspaper, or you, sounding like a marine sergeant. Besides, dogs can hear 3-4 times better than we can.
Remember, Cesar Millan from the National Geographic channel, currently the most talked-about dog expert, has been taking in dogs for years. Call it rehab or boot camp, it's the same concept. With us, you get our guarantee in—WRITING. Yes, even with our Doggie Boot Camp program. So it is NOT a sales-pitch. However, we do respect your skepticism and will put your mind at ease with this thought-provoking fact: How do you think dogs for the blind, therapy dogs, hunting dogs, search and rescue dogs, bomb detection dogs, and most K-9 police dogs get their training? You guessed it. The majority of these dogs are actually trained in a board and train fashion. You don't have to take our word for it. Research this for yourself. In fact, the most impressively trained dogs in the world take a blind person to the bus stop, bring back a bird from a mile away, run like a flying bullet and bite a person ON COMMAND and let go ON COMMAND, help a handicapped person with her daily routine AND detect a bomb without blowing themselves or their handlers up. Guess what? Every one of these dogs were trained by an expert and—NOT—their owners. Now, when you teach those dogs in a board and train fashion such amazing and sophisticated tasks, your training goals all of a sudden may seem very basic, even minor. Wouldn't you agree? Even challenging tasks such as solving your dog's aggression or teaching him to respond off-leash is nothing compared to a dog sniffing out a bomb and everybody walking away alive and in one piece. Once your dog is trained by Kevin, the hard part is out of the way. The next step is educating and training you, your spouse, your kids and roommates to stay on top of things. No offense, any dog expert will agree with us that the hardest part is teaching the owners. We don't agree with the saying: "NO bad dogs...only bad owners." We've trained some pretty crazy and even EVIL dogs who came with the kindest and most responsible owners.
Don't forget that dogs are a lot like humans. Some learn quickly and some don't. Most are very smart, but they are also very stubborn. I'm sure many of you will agree that your dog is intelligent and knows exactly what you are saying or what you want from him, yet he still chooses to play dumb with you. This always comes down to mastering dog psychology and your training technique. If we could add one more factor: it’s also due to your leadership skills. You see, you might be in charge most of the time, but not ALL of the time and your dog knows this very well. But in general, in our first lesson we cover these questions: * How old and what breed is your
dog?
We work your dog three times per day. To be exact, twice by Kevin and once by one of his assistants. All these trainers have been expertly trained personally by Kevin. The idea is for your dog to also respond to a female's voice. Each time your dog will be trained anywhere from around 30 min. to no more than 40 min. at a time. Again, this depends on your dog's age, breed, strong personality and, of course, your specific goals. We work your dog three times daily and then move to once daily through the end of the training to make sure it matches your lifestyle. Let's face it; it is highly unlikely you and your family will be able to continue with training three times a day for the rest of your dog's life. However, once a day, or even three times a week, is realistic and achievable for most of us.
We never “over-train” your dog. By that, we mean giving you back a dog that is scared, cowers, or performs like a robot and has no more of his unique personality. Our Diverse Method is a smart combination of dog training with dog psychology. In a nutshell, if your training progress isn't getting you the results you are looking for, then we recommend changing it. Doing the same wrong, ineffective, or boring routine isn't our cup of tea. Ironically, the majority of dog trainers and dog schools haven't really discovered the true power of being Diverse. So, if their way of training works for you and your dog, great. If not, they'll ask you to stand aside, leave, or get rid of your dog. Their way or the highway is their mentality. Bottom line, we are all different, and one method or one philosophy doesn't always work with humans. What makes you think it isn’t the same when it comes to training an animal?
What do topnotch trainers use with THEIR dogs? The answer is simple: whatever works best for them and their dogs. Why should it be any different with you? Our job is to properly educate you and let you even TRY a tool of your choice. As long as it is not done in an aggressive or inhumane fashion, we encourage you to be diverse with your choice of training tool. Again, being Diverse simply means—you have a choice. This also depends on your handling ability, the strength of your dog, the size of your dog, his age, temperament, sensitivity, speed, as well as your own strength and expectations. Unlike a typical trainer, we take the time to actually educate you on the pros and cons of each training tool. So the answer is: Different strokes for different folks. Whatever works best for you and your pooch is what you should rely on. This is because no “one tool” works on every dog. Sounds like common sense, doesn't it? But you'd be amazed how this isn't so when you research other dog schools.
We are more about educating you and correcting your mistakes and building good habits from the start. The idea is to be proactive. You see, whether you do anything or not, your dog is still constantly learning. What's worse, your pup is actually getting away with bad habits and taking advantage of your lack of knowledge and poor technique. They are just like kids. We will help you tackle all puppy issues such as: Housebreaking, play-biting, jumping up, separation anxiety, excitement/fearful urination, crate training, boundary and border training in your home (which rooms do you allow/forbid your pup), and accepting and not fighting or biting the leash. As far as obedience commands, the only three commands you can teach a pup that young are: Sit, Lie Down, Stay and Come.
Absolutely. However, since Kevin's schedule doesn't allow him just to meet with you, you may hire him to do just one lesson with you. If you like what he is all about, then that fee will go towards any plan of your choice. This would be a ninety-minute lesson where you can see him work with you and your dog to see if everything is as you hoped and expected. If you insist that Kevin must see your dog first, you may e-mail us his cute photo. No joke. We are not trying to be a smart ass here, but Kevin trains about ten to twelve dogs on a daily basis and is not that easy to reach. But no matter how Cujo, or how much a brat your dog may be, Kevin will still give your dog an honest chance. Best of all, he will NOT even charge you if your dog in his expert opinion is plain un-trainable. (Although that is extremely unlikely. Difficult cases are what put Kevin on the map.)
It actually means for as long as you remain a dog owner. In reality, it is a lifetime membership for YOU. We are the only dog school in the entire Sacramento area that offers this sweet deal. I'm sure you’ll agree that it just makes sense that, once you get on track, it is even easier to get OFF track. Our Lifetime Program is for those who value luxury, repetition, and want a well-behaved dog for life. (Life is not an eight-week course every Wednesday night at seven. As Charlie Sheen calls it, winning! But you are not winning at all. You’re rushing through traffic, juggling the kids, and hoping you’ll see the results you hoped for.) With us, you can even spread out your private lessons to months or even years down the road.
E-mail AND call us. You'll notice from the way our contact page is designed, you'll be able to simply checkmark all of your dog's bad habits and your goals. This way we know who you are in advance and what are your specific goals. We are known for answering our lines and returning phone calls ASAP. E-mails are also read and responded to personally by our top trainer Kevin on a daily basis. So it is very rare that you'll get our recording. If you do, it means we are out training dogs or assisting others on the phone. We still do our best to get back to you within the same day. We know that you need help with your dog, and need it NOW. We've heard of dog schools and dog trainers who hardly ever answer their lines or don’t care to even return your calls. Watch your hair grow gray waiting for a callback. We find this very unprofessional. You might be surprised to learn that the majority of dog trainers are NOT full-time committed dog trainers, or might be just into teaching group classes. Perhaps the reason they are not answering is their class might be all full.
Total off-leash means: complete verbal control of your dog under ANY circumstances. Whether you give your dog a command or want to stop his unwanted bad behavior such as: Jumping, Barking, Mouthing, Scratching, Snapping, Stealing Off Counters, Whimpering, Chasing Cats, to even Peeing and Pooping where NOT allowed, if you always depend on a leash or a cookie to get your dog to mind you, sorry, but your dog isn't really off-trained trained. (That’s cookie-trained.) If there is a leash law, wouldn't you agree then all dogs MUST be off-leash trained?
Although there is a time and place for such tools, we normally don't start with those. Now, if you truly have exhausted all options, we might consider them. Even then, we still leave it up to YOU and our Video Clip proves this. We accomplished all those tasks without the use of remote training collars. (Just look at how happy, relaxed and obedient the dogs are as they respond to commands on our clip.)
!!! SCAM ALERT -- BUYER BEWARE -- CONSUMER ALERT !!! Be on the lookout of trainers who just REFUSE
to give you any references. You can bet your dog's life
on it that this is a red flag. Think about it, if they are
truly proud of their training method, delivered what they
promised, and have the right work ethics with their clients,
then they should have no problem giving you a few names.
This is even more important if they DO NOT have any classes
for you to observe. !!! Dog
Secrets .com !!! * Jaw-Dropping Video
Clip * Testimonials * FAQ
* Surprise/Refer Someone Else to Our Site
!!! PLEASE READ !!! Kevin's team of trainers are all pro and excellent in what they do. You are working with trainers who do this for a living and truly show the love and compassion of working with you and your pooch. Unfortunately most trainers these days lack people skills. They end up talking and treating YOU, like you're the dog. When you DO find a trainer with a decent personality, you soon find out that they are totally clueless when it comes to delivering--REAL--results. Our trainers teach with kindness, consideration, and most importantly with respect to you and your dog's needs. Kevin wouldn't have them on our team if this wasn't the case. Your dog is going to get trained by our top instructor Kevin, and his team of qualified trainers. Since the first lesson is the most important, Kevin will personally
assist you with these. This is a ninty minute lesson with the
master himself and you get to pick his brain and see him do his
magic on your dog. He tells it all and holds nothing back while
making sure that you are totally happy and of course even--impressed
through the entire session!
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