Relationship-Centered Support for Understanding Your Dog’s Behavior in Context
Rather than focusing on “fixing” dogs, Behavioral Health Support focuses on helping humans understand canine behavior in context and learn how to engage in ways that meet their dogs’ needs and support safe, healthy development. This perspective emphasizes science-informed education, interpretation, and relational understanding—rather than ineffective obedience framed, forced compliance-based approaches.
Behavior is communication shaped by environment, experience, emotional state, and the quality of a dog’s relationships with the humans around them. Many behaviors labeled as problematic—such as fear, anxiety, reactivity, withdrawal, or aggression—are often expressions of unmet needs, miscommunication, or stress within a broader relational system.
Our Approach
Our approach to Canine Behavioral Health is less like traditional dog training and more like relationship or family counseling. The goal isn’t to change one individual, but to understand the dynamics of the entire household and support humans in meeting their dog’s needs in ways that nurture a secure family bond.
Services are educationally focused and prioritize understanding, communication, human responsibility, and informed decision-making over control, commands, and correction. Some things we help humans with are:
- Interpret what a dog’s behavior is communicating
- Identify challenges in routine, environment, or interactions that support improved well-being, communication, and connection
- Understand how caregiving environments, and especially human behavior and emotional regulation may be contributing to your dog’s behavior
- Understand what agency and autonomy mean, and how to safely support it for your dog
Collaborative Care
When helpful, this work may involve collaboration with families, fosters, rescues, veterinarians, and pet care professionals to support thoughtful transitions, placements, and long-term stability.
Our emphasis is on improving outcomes through understanding, communication, and ethical care.
Who This Support Is For
- Guardians seeking clarity around confusing, concerning, or stressful behaviors
- Dogs experiencing fear, anxiety, reactivity, or difficulty adjusting to change
- Families navigating transitions such as adoption, fostering, relocation, or lifestyle shifts
- Professionals, caregivers, or organizations seeking deeper understanding beyond surface-level explanations
Who This is NOT For
Behavioral Health Support may not be appropriate for:
- Situations requiring immediate medical intervention
- Dogs with severe aggression and hospitalization-level bite histories
- Situations outside available service range
Canine Behavioral Health Support Services
Canine Behavior Consultation & Counseling is designed to help humans understand why behavior is happening, what factors are influencing it, and how to make thoughtful, realistic changes that support both the health of your dog and your bond.
Canine Behavior – Consultation
The Canine Behavior Consultation is the foundation of all behavioral support services, is required before any counseling sessions are scheduled, and is intended to provide clarity, context, and a practical path forward.
During the consultation, a Canine Behavior Counselor will conduct a comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of your dog’s behavior within context — including environment, routines, relational dynamics, triggers, and stressors — to collaboratively identify goals and next steps.
Canine Behavior – Counseling Sessions
Canine Behavior Counseling Sessions support clients as they work through recommendations from the consultation. Sessions are collaborative, flexible, and paced according to the dog’s needs and the household’s capacity.
May include: assistance with implementing recommended changes, building communication skills, adjusting environments, teaching or demonstrating the training exercises or learning tools to improve wellbeing and outcomes for the dog and household.
What's Included?
- A private consultation (in-home or virtual, depending on the case)
- A written evaluative summary which outlines the Professional behavioral assessment and initial interpretation of what’s driving the behavior
- An outline of recommended adjustments, which may include:
- Environmental changes
- Skills or behaviors to teach the dog or just to strengthen
- Social or relational dynamic adjustments
- Caregiving or routine modifications
- Suggestions for what the human(s) need to learn or practice with curated educational resources to help get started.
- Suggested equipment, food, supplements, or tools when appropriate, with trusted resources for purchasing and learning
After Consultation
After the consultation, clients may:
- Implement recommendations independently, or
- Schedule counseling sessions for guided support and hands-on coaching
There is no obligation to continue beyond the consultation.
Pricing
The initial consultation fee is $300.
We do have limited financial support available for those in need. Please mention you may need this when you first reach out. No guarantees are made for financial support availability.
What's Included?
Sessions may focus on:
- Coaching humans through implementation as collaborative support rather than rigid instructions
- Hands-on coaching with client and dog such as: Modeling handling techniques, teaching communication strategies, or demonstrating training exercises
- Refining strategies and recommendations as the dog’s responses and behavior evolves
- Troubleshooting challenges in real time such as making adjustments to the plan as the relationship and environment evolve;
Counseling Deliverables:
- Guided, real-time coaching
- Adjusted recommendations
- Feedback and strategy refinement
- Continued support through scheduled sessions (and defined support channels)
Do I NEED these?
In some cases—particularly when concerns are mild, skill-based, or enrichment-related—a full counseling plan may not be necessary. In those situations, an alternative service, Enrichment Sessions, may be recommended instead. During enrichment sessions, skills or behavioral cues are practiced directly with the dog, and videos are recorded for the humans to use as a reference and guide. You can read about this service and its details on the Pet Care Services page.
Pricing & Options
Session Options
There are no pre-set packages. Each plan is thoughtfully tailored for the dog, the family, and everyday realities.
- Virtual Sessions: $70 per hour
- In-Person Sessions: $100 per session
(typically 60–75 minutes)
Clients who wish to purchase multiple counseling sessions at once may request a bundled rate.
Ongoing Behavioral Health Support
All clients who complete a Canine Behavior Consultation or book Canine Behavior Counseling sessions receive three (3) months of follow-up support. This includes email or phone support for questions or clarification and/or reviews of short client-submitted videos for brief feedback.
If a question can be answered quickly (for example, a brief explanation, clarification, or resource link), there is no additional charge.
If a concern requires more in-depth explanation, modeling, or extended guidance (generally more than 5–10 minutes), a counseling session may be recommended. When appropriate, brief virtual check-ins (20–30 minutes) may be prorated. Our goal is to provide support without creating unnecessary barriers or financial pressure.
Important: NO Guarantees
Behavioral Support is collaborative between humans and animals, and outcome-dependent; specific results cannot be guaranteed. Recommendations may evolve as new information emerges and progress depends on routine consistency, caregiving environment, and human follow-through on recommendations.