Gray's K-9 Academy
Dog Training & Rehabilitation
 

1. Will I get to visit my dog while its in a board and train program?

  In most cases, visiting your dog while its in training is counterproductive to the rehabilitation and training process. If we decide participation will benefit your dog while in training, we will discuss that while your dog is in training.

 

2. Do we use treats during training?

We do not use special treats but we will use the dogs own food. This helps prevent an upset stomach while the dog is in training. We use food to motivate dogs and help them understand when they make a good decision. In some cases dogs are not food motivated, so we can use alternatives like toys and affection instead.

 

3. Will my dog be safe while its in training around other dogs?

We assure all dogs will be safe during all training sessions. We put rules and safety protocols in place to make sure everyone, your dog and the staff, are safe. Any dog that has a history with biting will be muzzled until trusted around us or the other dogs. No dog is unsupervised. We also have heavy duty wire welded kennels for each dog and cemented bottoms so no one can dig out, climb/jump out, or chew out.

 

4. Why use a prong collar and are they safe?

Prong collars are great tools to communicate with your dog. As a puppy, mother dogs create and teach rules, boundaries and limitations by using her mouth. The prong collar is designed to mimic that behavior, which allows the dog to understand what we want. Prong collars are one of the safest, most humane dog training tools out there if used as entended. If a dog is pulling everywhere it goes and its wearing a nylon collar or choke collar, all the pressure of that collar is going straight to the dogs esophagus making the dog gag and choke. When fitted and used properly, a prong collar is designed to have even pressure all the way around your dogs neck so that the dog will not gag and choke itself and not causing any physical harm to the dog. CLICK HERE to see a video about how to use a prong collar.

5. Do you all work with aggressive dogs or bully breeds?

Yes!! We can train any dog regardless of age, breed or behavior. We have great success in rehabbing aggressing dogs even the most severe cases.

 

6. Why use E-collars? Are they safe? Do they cause pain?

The E-collar will give your dog the freedom it deserves. We use the E-Collar at the lowest level that the dog can feel, which helps reduce the stress level of the dog while in training. Because this collar has 0-100 levels, we start at 1 and gradually go up till your dog can feel it (which is normally between 8-12). I describe the feeling of the E-collar as a bug crawling on you. The E-collar we use is not something you see from the past with static electricity that can actually give you a burn. The E-collar we use here is very similar to something chiropractors and doctors use in modern medicine known as a TENS unit, a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes. 

 

7. Will my dog listen to me after he comes home from training?

YES! While your dog is here for training with us, we will send some homework for you to become familiar with. This homework goes over everything you need to know to continue the training at home. When its time for your pup to go home, we will set up a "go home" session to go over everything your dog has learned. In the "go home" session, we will spend ample time making sure you and all your family are comfortable and confident with how to handle your dog and their new skills.

Its a little like starting a new job, you learn a lot new tasks, rules, and a lot of information in order to do your job properly, but without doing that everyday, you won't retain the knowledge, rules, or tasks that were taught to you. So it is very important that the training continues in your home like it was during training. 

 

8. Where do we work/train your dog?

Your dog will be worked in numerous locations. Any place that is dog friendly we will go. Some examples of places we may work your dog is TSC, college campus's, various pet stores, Lowe's, Home Depot, various parks around middle Georgia, we even take your pet to friends, families, and even current or previous client homes. Depending on what your dog needs most is where we will take them. They will also be worked around many farm animals, dogs, cats, etc. Pictures below are some examples of where we take dogs to train. Click on the images to find out where we're at!