LANNON, WISCONSIN - MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN - WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN
SAVE A DOG, TRAIN A DOG.
Untrained dogs are much more likely to end up at shelters and potentially euthanized, than a trained dog.
"We are dedicated to providing first class, certified dog training,
fostering a culture of responsible & humane pet ownership."
Our dogs are with us for many years and are important companions in our life. We believe if someone needs help training their dog, an experienced trainer can help develop a positive life long bond most owners hope to have with their dog.
Our trainer is a certified Dog Obedience Trainer / Instructor. And was also recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator and Temperament Tester (ATT), Tester.
His dog training career began in 1983 with an enhanced certified skill level. With the knowledge of the modern scientific facts behind dog training, dog behaviors, human instruction and more, he has successfully trained hundreds of dogs. His primary focus is on Obedience but he has vast experience in specialty training as well.
HIS METHODS COMBINE SCIENCE BASED TRAINING WITH POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TECHNIQUES, SUPPORTED BY DOG PSYCHOLOGY AND KIND BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION.
HE BELIEVES ALL SUCCESS IN TRAINING IS DERIVED FROM 3 BASIC ACRONYMS 1. ABC. 2. ABT. 3. DDD.
1. ABC = ALWAYS BE CONSISTENT.
2. ABT = ALWAYS BE TRAINING.
3. DDD = DISTANCE, DISTRACTION AND DURATION.
IN HIS TRAINING SESSIONS, MIKE WILL GO INTO GREAT DETAIL EXPLAINING EACH ACRONYM.
TESTIMONIALS
So, about a year ago my 22 year old daughter thought it would be a good idea to save a dog at a local rescue group. Capri was about 2 years old and is a mix breed but looks like a lab. Capri is the sweetest dog in the world but at about 65 pounds, she is just to much for me to handle when I'm alone at home with her. I can only let her outside on a long leash because if I try to take her for a walk she drags me around our subdivision. I have to hold on for dear life if we happen to walk up on someone else walking their dog. Then a friend told me about Mike and he was our life saver. It did take us about 6 weeks of working together with Mike before Capri wold loose leash walk with us. She is still a little squirrely around other dogs, but way, way better then before. We will continue to work with her with the things we learned from Mike, and if we can't get her to settle down completely around other dogs, then we will get Mike back here to help us. I have never met a person as dedicated to helping people and their dogs than Mike. He spent countless UNCHARGED hours with us just to make sure everything was exactly as we had hoped for. I highly recommend Mike if you need help with your dog. He will make it work.......HE'S THE BEST, HANDS DOWN.
Marcy
Our dog Baxter, is a year old, 125 pound Rottweiler and he bit someone about a month ago. This was completely out of character of anything we had ever seen from him in the past. Never the less, the bite was reported and the County had to intervene. During his observation period, Baxter was placed on home confinement and had to be muzzled whenever he was in our yard. My husband and I were beside ourselves, because we did not want nor did we think Bax deserved to be put down, but that is exactly what we were facing. I had heard about Mike and his training from some people that used him for their dog, so we contacted him to find out if he could help us with Bax. That was the best phone call we ever made. Not only does Mike know what he's doing, he taught us things about Baxter that we didn't even know. It also ended up being important that Mike is a certified trainer, because the County accepted his assessment when they were making their decision about him. They came out again last week and Mike was kind enough to meet with them too. I believe Mike saved Baxter's life with the focus training he worked on with Bax over the last 4 weeks. Bax is no longer on home confinement, he no longer needs to be muzzled in our yard or out in public and the County has indicated no further assessment is needed. We are continuing the training for Baxter with Mike because he's a lot to handle, especially for me, because Bax is as big as me. If you need a trainer to work with a big dog like Baxter, Mike is the guy. It's amazing to see Baster's transformation the moment Mike takes a hold of the leash. Mike knows what he is doing and handles a leash like a band conductor handles a wand.
Shelly
Mike came to our house for an orientation. After that, we hired him to work with us and our 2 year old Golden Doodle with an attitude. We really didn't think a "routine group lesson" with other dogs would help us with the things we felt we needed help with, so finding Mike was exactly what we needed. We found Mike through Facebook and thought his low prices for one on one training meant he wasn't a very good trainer. Boy were we wrong. For Mike it's not about the money......he really loves dogs and really wants to help create the relationships between dog and owner that I think most dog owners dream of. Barnie was pretty good most of the time, but he really got squirrely around other people and other dogs. It made it almost impossible for us to go for a peaceful walk with him in the neighborhood. Mike took so much time that he never charged for, just explaining what was going on in Barnie's mind, and what the trickle down advantages were to some training that we never realized had an effect on Barnie. I'm happy to say that we now walk Barnie through the neighborhood with ease and actually Barnie seems to recognize he is doing well because he sorta prances with a confidence versus his former out of control lunges. Thank you very much Mike. Barnie's life with us is filled with joy, thanks to you.
Connie
To say that Michael helped us a LOT is to say nothing. After Sophi’s first visit for 4 days I saw a huge change . She became more calm, less anxious, she didn’t pull on a leash when going outside. The biggest difference I noticed is very little barking now and she listens when I ask her to stop barking. She is doing much better around other dogs, which was a big concern of mine, because of an accident at doggy day care about a year ago.
I felt very comfortable leaving her with Michael and his family, you can see they are very much dog lovers. Michael was super attentive to Sophi, he constantly updated me
with pictures and videos of how she is doing and how the training going. He also gave us homework. Sophi really enjoyed her learning
If you are a dog owner, the best thing you can do is seek out Mike's professional help, we love our four legged family members, unfortunately their life is not that long, so why not make it the most memorable experience and enjoy and not make them anxious.
Michael thank you so very much,
Mariya and Sophi
Michael, l can’t thank you enough for your work with Sophi."
Our beloved pup spent 4 days and nights with Michael recently. My biggest areas of concerns were; not behaving on the leash, she now walks calmly right behind me when l say “heel;” Socialization with other dogs. She was introduced to Michaels 5 dogs after 24hrs of being there, to make sure she wasn’t anxious, and happily played with them; She has had potty in the house issues, those are non existent at this point; Most importantly however, Michael successfully crate trained Sophie and got her to enjoy her crate and being in it.
Thank you very much Michael, you’re a true professional who really cares.
-ilya and sophi"
Ilya
Our 8 month old male Standard Poodle Winston grew so fast and we lost complete control of the situation before we knew what hit us. I remember handing him off to Mike the day we dropped him off…….I had to hang on to Winston for deer life, but he calmed down at almost the moment Mike took the leash. I knew Mike would have to deprogram him of all his bad behavior before he would be able to address behaviors my husband and I wanted. We loved our pup and did not want to give him up, so we literally prayed that Mike would be able to help. After about 3 weeks Winston was a different dog, but he still wasn’t where we needed him to be. We left him with Mike for another month and that was the best investment we ever made. We touch base with Mike once or twice a month now just for some refresher work, and thanks to Mike our boy is completely under control now. He is just as lovable and friendly as he always was and we are able to walk with him through the neighborhood without feeling like we were just dragged around by wild horses. Mike certainly does know what he’s doing and we are so lucky to have a trainer of his skill level here in Wisconsin. I highly recommend him to anyone with any kind of dog. He’s the best!!!
Thanks,
Barb
Talk about obedient…..our boy Lance is unbelievable…...I’m sure he’s really a person in a Labrador costume. Lance is so well behaved that during play time, if I tell Lance to stay, other dogs can actually jump on him, tug on his ears or tail and Lance will not move an inch. He will stop on a dime when asked from any distance between me and him. Heel and sit are a piece of cake and he can do so many other things that I can’t even begin to remember them right now. Mike is a one of a kind trainer, he will spend all the time necessary during one of his sessions to not only make sure the dog understands what Mike wants him to do, but Mike makes sure my wife and I understand it too. He treats all dogs like they are his dog, we never felt like we were a “customer” we felt more like our best friend was helping us. I think Mike is fantastic and definitely recommend him.
Thank you,
David
I don’t think there’s anyone, anywhere that trains dogs like Mike does. He’s like doctors used to be in the old day….making house calls versus making patients wait in a lobby somewhere. Mike came to our house for what he calls an orientation. He wanted to know everything pertinent to our families relationship with Bella, our German Shepherd. He stayed with us for about 2 hours, answered all of our questions, and when we told him we wanted to think things over he gladly left with no pressure and never asked for a penny. My husband and I talked it over and I’m sure we were calling Mike before he even got home. That was the best decision we ever made…. Mike came to our house every other day for the first week, and we could see a difference right away. He really knows what a dog is thinking and can read their body language like he was a dog himself. After the first week we went to sessions at our home every day and after about 3 weeks Bella was by far the best behaved dog we had ever owned. We stuck with Mike with refresher lessons and decided to have her CGC tested, which she passed with flying colors. One think I know now, there is a lot more to training dogs properly than I ever thought. And I realize Mike trained us along the way too. Mikes prices were about as affordable as the cost of the group lessons we almost signed up for at one of the pet stores. Am I glad we met Mike before we went the route of the group lessons. Our Bella is part of our family and couldn’t be a better companion and guard dog for us. She is so obedient and so loving I don’t know what we would have done without Mikes help.
Sharon
Our little girl was a spitfire. She’s was 5 months old when Mike came to our house for our orientation. Mike spent almost 2 hours with us at absolutely no charge. He asked us a million questions about Rosie and am I glad he did. When we started our in home lessons with Mike, we started out with just 2 lessons the first week but we were so comfortable with Mike and his techniques not to mention impressed with his knowledge. Our two sons and one daughter also felt extremely comfortable with Mike and he actually got the kids to be more involved with the training than I ever thought possible. After the second week we quickly ramped up to 5 lessons in a week for another 6 weeks. Now we will really have something if we can just figure out how to get our kids to behave as well as Rosie. Mike knows his stuff, and his friendly demeanor makes him a welcome friend in our home any time. Thank you , thank you , thank you Mike.
Tim and Brianna
Drs. Scott and Fuller documented critical periods in the development of the canine in 1953. A critical period is a specific time in the maturation process when a small amount of experience will produce a great effect on later behavior. It's also a period when learning is easier and knowledge gained is stored in the long term memory. The difference between the amount of effort needed to produce the same effect at different periods determines just how critical the period is. There is a window of opportunity in which certain experiences need to happen at a specific time, or the window will close and the potential benefits of those experiences will be lost.
Understanding the critical periods affords an excellent resource in which to shape the character traits of individual puppies so that they can achieve the highest adaptability potential for their future careers.
There are four stages of development which include neonatal, transitional, socialization and
juvenile. There are also sub-periods which are listed below. These periods are approximations, as all puppies develop according to their individual time-tables.
Neonatal Period - Birth to 14 Days
Newborn puppies are born helpless and completely dependent on their dam. From a sensory viewpoint, the newborn pup is primarily a tactile animal, responding to touch, pain and cold. Their ears and eyes are closed. 90% of their time is spent sleeping, and the rest is devoted to nursing. A puppy's general motor activities at this stage are limited to swim like crawling movements. They cannot regulate their body temperature, nor can they eliminate without their mother's stimulation. Newborn pups show very little activity other than simple patterns of care seeking behavior. The central nervous system is developing rapidly.
It is well established that during this period, short periods of daily handling and other stimuli can have marked, long term effects on a puppy's behavioral and physical development. These effects include accelerated maturation of the nervous system, more rapid hair growth, increased weight gain, enhanced development of motor and problem solving skills, and earlier opening of the eyes. In behavioral terms, puppies exposed to varied stimulation from birth to five weeks were found to be more confident, exploratory and socially adept.
Transition period - 15 to 21 days
This period starts when the eyes open, and ends when the puppy first "startles" on hearing noise. The transitional period is characterized by significant changes and neurologic development. The puppy changes from being highly protected from his environment to extremely sensitive to it. This period is one of transition from neonatal to a more adult like form. All senses are functioning during this time.
Socialization period 22 to 84 days
The socialization period is divided into two phases. The first is primary socialization (canine socialization) and the second is secondary socialization (human socialization). This is the time when the puppy is forming social relationships. Although socialization is an ongoing process which continues for his entire life, this period is a critical one because it's the time in which initiating social relationships is the most effective.
Primary/canine Socialization Period-22 to 49 Days
This is the period where the puppy learns he is a dog. It is very important that he be kept with his littermates and mother during this time. Group coordinated activity and social play occur during this stage. Puppies exhibit playful, aggressive and sexual behaviors between themselves. The central nervous system continues its rapid development.
Secondary/human Socialization Period 50 to 84 Days (7 to 12 weeks)
The secondary socialization period begins when a puppy leaves his mother and littermates to start his new life which is typically at 49 days. Although the puppy should have been exposed to people at a much younger age, this is the time when socialization need to continue in earnest. Puppies should meet as many different types of people as possible during this stage. It is also important to expose the puppy to as many different environments as possible.
Juvenile period (12 weeks to 6 months)
The period of rapid growth is complete, and the puppy is approximately two-thirds of its adult size. Compared with the three other stages the juvenile period is one of gradual change, mainly involving the maturing of motor capacities.
SUB PERIODS
Awareness or identification period (21-28 days)
During this stage, the puppy's eyes and ears have recently opened and he becoming aware of the world around him. During this time, his environment should remain stable because he is inundated with stimuli.
Curiosity period (5-7 weeks)
The puppies become very curious at this stage. The type of experiences that the puppy has during this period will have a strong effect on how he will react to humans as an adult.
Behavior refinement period (7-9 weeks)
Researchers have shown that by seven weeks puppies have fully functioning brains based on EEG studies. Anything they learn during this time is permanent.
Fear imprint period (8 to 10 Weeks)
The puppy is very susceptible to long lasting effects of fearful stimuli at this stage. If the puppy perceives an event as traumatic, he may generalize it and it could affect him for the rest of his life. Great care should be taken to avoid fearful reactions during this stage.
Environment awareness period (9-12 weeks)
This is the period when exposure to different environments is important.
Seniority Classification Period (12 to 16 Weeks)
This is the period known as the "age of cutting teeth", and the age of independence. Many behaviorists believe that the end of this period is also the time when the window for effective socialization closes.
Flight Instinct Period (4 to 8 Months)
This period can last for a few days or several weeks. It's a time when a puppy will "test its wings" and wander further away than before. It's like a teenager going through puberty as the puppy is changing physiologically.
Second Fear Impact Period (6 to 14 Months)
This period is also called the fear of new situations period. A well socialized puppy who has been meeting people in an outgoing manner may start to show apprehension or fear toward people and things during this period. This stage is believed to be related to a cognitive recognition of fear which means they interpret it on an intellectual level in addition to an emotional one.
Puberty/young Adulthood period (18 to 24 months)
This period can be marked by a surge in aggression by trying to achieve higher pack status. This is the stage that they may exhibit negative behaviors that had previously been eliminated. This is the time where the negative behaviors of many dogs that have not been properly socialized appear.
Maturity period (1-4 years)
Regular socialization should continue through the life of the dog.
PennHip, OFA Hips, and/or eVet Diagnostics
We do at least one listed. If we do PennHip we may also do preliminary OFA Hips. PennHip is considered to be final tetsting at 4 months of age or older. OFA Hips are not considered final until after 2 years of age. Prior to 1 year of age OFA will not publish hip results on any dogs. If we don't do PennHip, the dog will receive their OFA final hip testing at 2 years of age. eVet Diagnositcs uses the same methodology as OFA.
OFA Elbows
All of our dogs have x-rays of their elbows to determine if they have elbow dysplasia.
Patellas
All of our dogs are examined for patellar luxation. The patellas, or knee caps, can pop out of place which is considered an inherited disease.
PRA, vWD, EIC
Genetic diseases that can be completely avoided if breeders test for the disease. All of our dogs are tested or cleared through parentage for these diseases. PRA causes dogs to go blind at an early age and vWD is a bleeding disorder. EIC is exercise induced collapse. More information can be found about these diseases on our links page.
CERF
This is an eye exam that sould be performed annually to look for things such as cataracts. More information can be found on our links page.
Neonatal Encephalopathy
This is a genetic recessive developmental brain disease in which no puppies ever survive past the age of 7 weeks.
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Doodle Generations
· F1 – Retriever x Poodle = 50% Retriever 50% Poodle
· F1b – Poodle x F1 doodle = 75% Poodle 25% Retriever
· F2b – F1 doodle x F1b doodle = 62.5% Poodle 37.5% Retriever
· F2 – F1 doodle x F1 doodle = 50% Retriever 50% Poodle
· F3 – F1b doodle x F1b doodle = 75% Poodle 25% Retriever
· F1bb – F1b doodle x Poodle = 87.5% Poodle 12.5% Retriever
Multigen – At least third generation
Doodle Sizes
· Petite – 15-30 lbs. 12-16 inches high
· Mini – 25-40 lbs. 16-20 inches high
· Medium – 35-50 lbs. 20-24 inches high
· Standard – 50 lbs. and up 25 inches and higher
