Ever since I was very young, my love for animals (especially dogs) was strong. While on family vacations I was often sequestered to the rear of the station wagon, behind the gear, with my transistor radio, snacks, Tiger beat magazine (the "I Wanna be a BRADY" issue) and Spike, my lab/terrier mix and partner in crime.
The fact that Spikey was actually older than I, who was training who was always in question. In the back of that station wagon was my first lesson in training that my father taught me...Down-Stay. To this day I'm not sure if my father was talking to me or the dog, but that tweaked my interest in training and I studied many guides as well as handled countless friends and relatives dogs while I pursued other careers.
As I began to dive in to the world of animal behavior as it pertains to training methods, I found that when seeking basic training classes to get re-acquainted with my studies, there were training methods polar from mine and understanding of canine behavior seldom was used as a part of training at all.
In my mid-thirties I decided to change careers and jumped
in head first to the ring of professional trainer. I needed more hands
on work with a wide variety of dogs and temperaments, so I worked for
a downtown boarding kennel as a handler/kennel assistant as well as volunteering
for local rescue groups. This is when I was able to develop my own methods
as well as picking the brains of generous local trainers that I worked
with in
PACK MENTALITY is the way your dog comes to understand you, and his role within your family...
your PACK...his PACK.
Michael Ward Founder/Trainer Pack-Mentality Training