About Us
The goal of Your Dog’s Friend is to help keep dogs out of shelters by educating and supporting their humans.
Your Dog’s Friend is a non-profit, 501-C3 organization established to deal with three issues:
- When people bring home their new dogs, they often have no idea what to do or where to turn with questions and concerns.
- Dogs are often returned to shelters for problems that could have been prevented in the first place or that could still be remedied.
- Dog parents need better education, so they don’t put their dogs in jeopardy and contribute to behavior issues.
We promote positive methods of training and behavior modification because they are effective, build trust, and unlike harsher, compulsion methods, cannot cause pain, aggression or fear in dogs. We also encourage early socialization and training for puppies to reduce the chance of behavior issues later.
Your Dog’s Friend offers behavior and training advice when pet parents email or call about their behavior or training concerns; sponsors free webinars by trainers, veterinary behaviorists, and other dog-related professionals and has videos of these webinars available afterward; presents a monthly webinar just for new adopters and puppy parents; refers dog parents to positive trainers, pet walkers and vacation care; and holds positive dog training classes, including ongoing puppy classes. Our website is meant to be a resource for dog parents, and our e-newsletter includes articles on training and behavior.
Why It Matters
There are still so many dog parents, trainers, veterinarians, and rescue/shelter staff who use or recommend outdated training and behavior methods that can actually cause behavior problems to develop. These dogs then end up back in shelters and are often euthanized. The damage could have been prevented if the public were more aware that alternatives exist to dominance-oriented, choke and yank methods of training. These same methods are used when behavior issues arise, even though many of these behaviors, such as reactivity or even aggression, are rooted in fear. Your Dog’s Friend’s educates the public about how dogs learn and what dogs need. We teach dog parents how to build trust and manners using only positive training methods. We are available to answer questions, give referrals, and calm fears. In all of these ways, we attempt to prevent and remedy behavior problems, help dogs become lifetime companions, and keep dogs out of shelters.
