Black Collar Behavior

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Black Collar Behavior Thoughtful dog training focused on regulation, real life skills, and guardian education.

10/06/2026

I’m not here to turn your dog into a robot.

Dogs bark. They sniff. They get distracted. They have preferences, instincts, and boundaries. And their breed, experiences, and environment all play a role in how they navigate the world.

My goal is to help you better understand your dog, build confidence and real-world skills, and set realistic expectations for the dog in front of you.

Training takes time, consistency, and partnership. It’s about making thoughtful choices, working through challenges, and finding what works for you and your dog.

Because training should make life better for both ends of the leash. 🧡

If that sounds like the approach you’re looking for, let’s talk.

DM me to get started with Black Collar Behavior.

Allow me to re-introduce myself. 👋🏻I’m Sabrina.I started BCB because I love helping people understand the dog in front o...
10/05/2026

Allow me to re-introduce myself. 👋🏻

I’m Sabrina.

I started BCB because I love helping people understand the dog in front of them—not just teaching obedience commands.

To me, working with a dog is about figuring out what’s actually going on with them and finding ways to help them succeed in real life. That means looking at the whole picture—the way a dog communicates, the choices they make, how they respond to their environment, and their breed genetics—instead of forcing every dog into the same box.

My own experiences and what I’ve learned from experienced trainers and my mentors (shout out to Down To Earth Dog Lady, LLC and Elizabeth Ingalls 🐐) have all shaped how I approach training.

Around here, you’ll see a lot of large 🐶 (mostly Harvey and Zelda ), A4P foster dogs, real-life training, things that don’t go perfectly, and definitely an unreasonable amount of treats. Our go-to is Sniff and Shift 🤩.

I believe training should help dogs move through the world with more confidence—and help their people better understand how to support them along the way.

So, if you’re new here, hi. 👋🏻 I’m glad you found us.

And if you’ve been following along, 🖤 thanks for being here!

10/02/2026

Bringing home a new dog is exciting. And it’s really easy to want to do everything right away.

Meet the family. Explore the house. Go for walks. Meet the neighbors. Start training. Show them all the things that are now part of their life.

But your new dog just had their entire world change.

Those first few days are a chance to slow things down and start learning about the dog you brought home.

What makes them comfortable? What are they unsure about? How do they ask for space? Where do they choose to rest? What happens when something is new?

You’ll have plenty of time for everything else.

Have a new dog at home? I’m offering a New Dog, New Routine package to support those first 90 days of change, adjustments, and questions.

The package includes three in-person sessions and three virtual sessions, so we can work through what comes up as your dog gets more comfortable and you learn more about them.

DM me “NEW DOG” to learn more or get started.

And if you know someone bringing home a new dog, send this their way.

09/30/2026

There’s a lot happening between giving a cue and getting the behavior you asked for.

I’m watching what the dog does when something gets harder. What happens when they get distracted. Whether they try again. Whether they pause and think. Whether they start offering something we’ve been practicing.

But these moments also require something from us.

Giving them a second to think instead of immediately repeating ourselves.

Not expecting every repetition to be perfect.

Recognizing when they’re trying, even if they don’t quite get it right.

Adjusting when we’ve made something too difficult.

Roxy is practicing place and duration here while Trinity adds another level of distraction. I’m not looking for her to get every repetition perfect.

I’m looking at how she works through it—and making sure I’m giving her the opportunity to do that.

Training isn’t just about what the dog is learning.

We have to learn how to be better partners in the process, too.

09/28/2026

Apparently starting a dog training business wasn’t enough, so I’m going back to school. 😅

I’m excited to share that I’m now enrolled with CATCH Canine Trainers Academy to continue building my education in 🐶 training and behavior.

Over the last several years, I’ve learned a lot through fostering, volunteering at rescues, hands-on experience, and apprenticing with experienced trainers.

And the more I learn about dogs, the more I realize how much there still is for me to learn.

CATCH gives me the opportunity to dig deeper into things like behavior and body language, how dogs learn, training skills, and behavior problem solving while continuing the hands-on work I’m already doing.

A big part of Black Collar Behavior has always been acknowledging the dog in front of me—not just what they’re doing, but why they might be doing it and what they need from us.

Continuing my education supports that work.

I’m excited to keep learning and to bring what I learn into the sessions I’m doing with dogs and their people.

So, back to school I go. 🐕📚

I’ll be sharing some of what I’m learning along the way, so be sure to follow for more dog training and behavior tips.

09/25/2026

A successful walk with Harvey looks very different from a successful walk with Penny.

With Harvey, getting outside, checking out the neighborhood, seeing a few things and being able to move on can be a really good walk. Some days we make it farther than others. Some days we turn around early.

With Penny, we can go farther. She can spend her time sniffing and exploring without me having to think as much about who or what might be around the next corner.

Neither walk is more successful than the other.

I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to walk a certain distance, stay out for a certain amount of time, or make it through the whole thing without our dog reacting.

But that doesn’t tell us whether the walk actually worked for the dog in front of us.

Sometimes success is making it up the hill.

Sometimes it’s ten minutes of sniffing.

Sometimes it’s seeing another dog and having a smaller reaction than last time.

Sometimes it’s knowing when to turn around.

And sometimes it really is just getting out the front door.

Meet your dog where they are. Let their version of a successful walk count.

09/24/2026

Day 3 → Month 3

Same dog.
A lot more confident being herself.

During Penny’s first days with me, she spent most of her time in her crate, only coming out to go potty. Her crate was where she felt safest.

Within the first few days, she started exploring more and coming closer to me on her own. I was careful not to reach for her or force an interaction when she came over to investigate me. She could check me out and walk away.

Within the first few weeks, we started seeing more of Penny’s personality. More exploring. More interaction. More opinions. We learned what she liked, what she didn’t, and how she told us.

And now, three months later, she’s a lot more confident being Penny.

She wants to follow me around and be near me. She’ll sit and snuggle with me or invite me to play.

She gets excited to go for walks—which also means she’s comfortable having her harness put on. She lets me clip her nails. She has fun during our basic training sessions.

And she has more confidence when meeting new friends, like her sisters.

Penny didn’t need me to immediately teach her a bunch of cues or convince her to interact with me.

She needed time.

She needed a safe, predictable routine. Separate spaces. Baby gates. A crate she could retreat to. Space to explore on her own. And the ability to say no without me taking it personally.

Over time, she started making different choices because she trusted me and her environment more.

Three months isn’t a deadline. Not every dog is going to follow the 3-3-3 timeline. Some adjust faster. Some need a lot more time.

But when I compare Penny on Day 3 to Penny at three months, the difference is pretty incredible. I can see what giving her time and space led to.

You don’t need to push a new dog to show you who they are.

You need to give them enough time and space to show you themselves.

—

Have a new dog at home? I’m offering a New Dog, New Routine package to support those first 90 days of change, adjustments, and questions.

Comment or message “New Dog, New Routine” to learn more or get started.

09/21/2026

Walks are supposed to be good for our dogs. But that doesn’t mean every walk is automatically a good experience.

If your dog spends the whole walk pulling, barking, scanning for the next dog or person, and having a hard time with everything happening around them, walking longer doesn’t sound like a good idea for either of you.

Go when it’s less busy. Put more distance between your dog and their triggers. LET THEM SNIFF. It’s not about how far you go or how quickly you get there.

Shorten your walk. Or *warning* unpopular opinion: walk less often.

Take advantage of the moments when your dog looks at something without reacting or offers a check-in. Bring treats with you and reward those moments.

Sometimes 10 minutes of sniffing in a quieter area is worth more than an hour of being overwhelmed.

The goal isn’t to wear your dog down. It’s for your dog to get something good out of the walk.

——

If this sounds like your walks, follow for more ways to make walks better for you and your dog.

Bringing home a new dog comes with a lot of questions.What should our routine look like? How do we handle walks, guests,...
09/19/2026

Bringing home a new dog comes with a lot of questions.

What should our routine look like? How do we handle walks, guests, other dogs, alone time, overexcitement—or the behaviors that start showing up once they get more comfortable?

This fall, I’m offering New Dog, New Routine for dogs brought home within the last 90 days.

🐾 3 one-hour in-person training sessions
🐾 3 30-minute virtual check-ins
🐾 $300

We’ll focus on what your dog and household actually need as you settle into life together.

Limited to 3 households. Book by October 31.

Interested? Send Black Collar Behavior a message or text 484-378-9015 and mention New Dog, New Routine.

Serving Chester County, PA.

09/17/2026

Your dog being friendly doesn’t matter when my dog doesn’t want to meet them.

Maybe my dog is nervous. Maybe they’re overstimulated. Maybe they’re learning to calmly exist around other dogs. Maybe they simply don’t want to be bothered.

My dog doesn’t need a reason that you agree with.

Walking the other way or saying “we need space” or “we don’t want to say hi” should be enough.

Friendly dogs still need to understand boundaries. And where leashes are required, they still need to be on one.

Your dog wanting to say hi doesn’t mean another dog HAS to say hi back.

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Coatesville, PA
19320

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+14843789015

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