Training should take place BEFORE you need it!

 

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Jessica Hudson is a professional dog trainer with more years of experience than she's willing to admit. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the highly respected International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Rest assured that the guidance and information you receive is sensible and proven effective & humane. Jessica's goal is to help dog owners understand why their dog does what they do, how they can change behaviors and do so without punishment, corrections or tools which cause pain or discomfort. 

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My goal is to promote trusting, healthy, and enjoyable relationships for owners and their dogs while resolving behavior issues. My training philosophy is that learning should never be painful, intimidating or forced. Instead, your dog should willingly and happily respond to your cues and have a clear understanding of what is expected. I promote non-aversive tools and methods. Training should be fun for you and your dog! The methods I use in training creates a thinking dog who is motivated to make good choices. In most cases, the humans are learning more than their dog. 

 

My experience with dog behavior and training goes back to early childhood as I have always had a fascination with canine behavior and an obsession with all things dog. As a teenager in the 1980's, I began training with the only information available to me which was correction-based and with the use of prong/pinch collars, choke chains, and leash corrections. All of the books I read then were correction-based and focused on dominance and being the "alpha". I was just a kid but even then I didn't like the responses I was getting from my dogs. They appeared intimidated, seemed afraid to try anything, and were just not as enthusiastic as I hoped. I loved my dogs deeply. I just didn't know of other ways to teach them. 

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Once I was introduced to dog training which did not rely on tools or corrections but rather reinforcement and management, my world was forever changed. I felt more joy, enthusiasm, and learned much faster and thoroughly. My dogs did, too. With new information and mentors to learn from, I gained an entirely new perspective on training and teaching not only dogs but their humans. In the past couple of decades (plus) I have worked with a myriad of clients and their pets improving their lives by resolving behavior issues and teaching manners and more. 

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My clients not only learn why their dogs do what they do, they learn how they directly influence behaviors, how to change behaviors, and how to get happy, willing responses from their dog.

 

Currently, we share our home with Finn, CGC, TDCH, PSD, RATS an American Staffordshire Terrier mix, and Leon, NTD, a 4 pound Long Coat Chihuahua. 

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Finn adores dog sports and we have fun at Barn Hunt and lure coursing events and we LOVE trick training. 

 

I have accrued thousands of hours volunteering for shelters and rescue organizations, previously sitting on the Board of Directors for two rescue groups for over a decade and serving as behavior and training consultant. I enjoy continuing my education and learning each day. I am an active member of various behavior related organizations such as the Pet Professional Guild, the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, No Shock Collar Coalition, and I am the only Associate Certified Dog Behavior Consultant in the state of Alabama certified with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. 

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The husband and I reside in south Mobile County and along with our full-time careers, we run a working cattle farm. We kinda train cows, too. ;)

 

Click here to read the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's position statement on the use of punishment for behavior modification in animals