Many times a week I am messaged and asked for advice. More often than not, I have plenty of advice, but I've never met the dog. I have no idea what this dog's temperament is, how it reacts to stimuli, what it's physical condition is, or what it's response to reward vs correction is. I may have a good description given by the owner, and I'll guarantee you that it almost always includes the line, "we love him/her but...".
Let me tell you that it's almost impossible to describe a situation involving a living, breathing thing, and get an accurate piece of advice based on your individual canine and individual circumstances and situation. Plenty of times how an owner depicts a dog, is skewed. They can be too soft or too hard on the dog. Sometimes both. Almost always, they have a biased opinion, wether good or bad.
Past this, you wouldn't call up a mechanic, describe a weird sound and then proceed to try and fix it on your own...would you?
My time, my expertise, my opinion...and my advice...are worthy. They are valuable and I spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours honing my skills. I've learned off trainers far superior to myself, and I've worked my ass off to live solely off of dogs. Nothing else. Just dogs.
I consider myself a fair individual. I try to never overcharge. Ask my friends how easy it is to get me to take their money haha I keep all my fees within the "middle" range of my industry. I have giveaways, packaged prices, and I donate my time to causes that speak to my soul. I've also been known to help a sista out now and again. I LIKE helping people. I won't charge you extra when your consult goes over the hour mark, my boarding is per night vs per day (this makes a huge difference over time!), and I don't charge you mileage. Ever. I put my resources back into my passion. Building new outdoor pens, attending seminars, purchasing new equipment, expanding my dog club needs...and it's all Just. Me. I am a one man operation with a lot of amazing volunteers.
I'll continue to be that person, no matter what other trainers say. No matter what other trainers charge. No matter what I miss out on. I'm ok with where I'm at. I enjoy my life. I get to do the things I love, and spend my time with the people who matter. I don't have to work away and miss out on my life. I get to truly LIVE my life.
So the truth is, please consider me worth your while. When you have an issue crop up, and I've never met your dog, please book a consultation. Take a class. If not from me, from a trainer that suits your needs. There's plenty of good ones out there. Find your person. And if you do that, what I can promise you, is lifelong support of that dog. I won't ever leave you guys behind. Cause you're my people too. 💜🐺🐾🔮