K 9 Care

Information may not be reliable

Quality At-Home Dog Training and Behavior Education
Serving The Lehigh Valley area (Including Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton and surrounding communities)
Obedience Training Kindergarten Puppy Training

Welcome to K-9 Care!
I'm Jeff Cushner, Owner and Dog Behavior Expert. I've been researching dog behavior and working with dog owners and their dogs for almost 30 years, succeeding in truly solving simple to complex behavior problems that dog owners like you experience everyday.
This website has many articles and features that will hopefully educate as well as give you confidence that K-9 Care is the way to succeed way beyond what you thought was possible in having well-behaved dogs.

Well-Trained VS. Well-Behaved
So, here you are, looking for a resource to help your dog become better. You are looking for a dog trainer. Right? Consider then what you are really searching for.
Say, for example, you owned a bear. A well-trained bear would be able to perform numerous tricks that would keep you, your family and friends (as well as a TV audience, I suppose) entertained for hours. I’m sure, though, that wouldn’t be a good fit as the bear’s behavior (like aggressiveness, eating habits, and other er.. unsightly behaviors) would probably get the better of you.
Owning a dog is kind of the same thing. When people have normal behavioral problems with their dogs, they usually seek people who are willing to teach their dogs commands which is just like a trained bear. This method, though, doesn/t teach dogs to behave (i.e. what the dogs choose to do do when you aren't telling them what to do.)
Well-behaved dogs, just like well-behaved bears (if any exist) are animals, which you don’t have to worry about; animals that are truly living with you in harmony. A pet doesn’t need to know tricks (this includes sit, stay, down, come, roll over, etc.) to know how to behave.
(Note: Everyone should teach their dogs most of these commands. In the cases of bad behavior, performing is not going to solve any problems.)
Well-behaved dogs respect their owners, clearly know the rules and are quite willing to follow them. They choose not to do those things that you prohibit. Period.
We are all looking for our dogs to be well-behaved. It’s just that most of us don’t know how to achieve it. Well, if you think about it, most dog trainers are in the same boat or else why wouldn’t they be teaching dogs to behave rather than just teaching them to perform?
This is what makes K-9 Care different. We strive to educate you on why those problems are occurring and take direct, clear steps to communicate this in a way dogs very clearly understand, so you achieve the, otherwise, improbable: Having well-BEHAVED dogs!

The technique I use is quite simple. Your Dogs already understand what I’m teaching. It’s not my technique; it’s theirs.
If you ask any other trainer, they’ll cite someone’s “method;” either clicker or command or operant conditioning. All of these techniques are usually simple for the humans to understand but almost impossible for dogs to figure out.

Thank about it; Do you want your dog not to bolt when the door opens or do you want your dog to sit and stay when this occurs?
This may sound the same to you but to a dog, it is worlds apart! In the first case, you’re in synch with your dog; you don’t want him to leave (a rule) and that’s the way that he as well us WE already understand. In the latter, you’re telling him to stay put. Fine. He doesn’t know why but if he’s “trained,” depending on the relationship, to possibly do what you say. The next time, though, he still will have not learned why and you MUST repeat the command again… and again, for as long as you own the dog or until age catches up with him. This is not education as he is not truly learning what you want him to learn.

Most other trainers are teaching you what you already know! Did you ever ask yourself why the results should be any different? After all, if you taught your dog to sit and stay, say, with a treat and when someone opens the door he doesn’t respond properly, should a trainer be any more successful when they are teaching the dog the exact same thing?

Did you ever wonder why your dogs may be feisty and belligerent to you at home, but when they’re with other dogs they become just playful; submissive and/or angelic? It’s because they know they can’t get away with the stuff they might have pulled with you. They know the other dogs already understand what they might try and they know it won’t work!

So, my “method” is what I’ve spent a lifetime understanding; how dogs truly think. When explained, it’s simple for humans to learn and dogs have no learning curve as they already know! These “methods” that other trainers employ may be ridiculously simple to you but impossible for dogs.

A lot of what I teach is educating you to understand your dog and communicate better, with the result of eliminating problems; not just avoiding them. It certainly has nothing to do with distracting them to temporarily take their minds off what they wanted to do in the first place.

If you truly want to understand your dog better and finally solve behavior issues, whether they be a simple jumping or stealing problem to fighting and biting, the only method you should want to use is the one your dogs already know!