Canine Command Training

Canine Command Training Animal Behavior College Certified Trainer

Most Thursdays one of the Lee County Domestic Animal Services dogs gets to introduce itself here. Today I want to talk a...
09/03/2026

Most Thursdays one of the Lee County Domestic Animal Services dogs gets to introduce itself here. Today I want to talk about the part that comes after the paperwork.

I volunteer with LCDAS, so I know these dogs before anybody takes them home. They are not broken. Most of them are not even difficult. They are dogs who have had the rug pulled out from under them once already, and they are waiting to find out whether this next place is real.

That shows up in the first two weeks. Pacing. Hiding under the table. Not eating the first day. Following you into every room, or wanting nothing to do with you. Testing a door, a couch, a boundary. People read all of that as a problem with the dog. It is not. It is a dog running the only question it has.

What settles that question is structure. A predictable routine, clear markers, the same rules on Tuesday that were there on Sunday. Give a dog that and you can watch the shoulders come down.

So here is what I do about it. Anyone who adopts one of the dogs I feature gets free professional training from me. I come out to the house, look at your setup, and get the two of you speaking the same language from the start, before the small things have a chance to turn into the big things.

And if you are not a dog person, do not count the shelter out. LCDAS has cats. Sometimes rabbits. You would be surprised who walks out of there as the newest member of the family.

If you want a pet, don't buy at the store. Adopt from LCDAS. Come meet them at 5600 Banner Dr in Fort Myers, or call the shelter at (239) 533-7387. Then call me and I will help you settle them in.

One note on the picture. Those dogs are AI generated. I made that choice deliberately, because this post is about all of them, and I did not want to spend one real dog's photo on a general message when that dog deserves a post of its own. The dogs at LCDAS are very real, and they are still waiting.

- Joe

Joe DeSimone
Canine Command
(239) 963-7676
caninecommand.net
[email protected]

09/02/2026

How you doing, folks. Trainer Joe here with another training tip.

Today I want to talk about marking behaviors.

A marker is a specific word you use to tell your dog that you like what they are doing, or that you do not. Good boy is a reward marker. Use it the moment your dog sits. Off is a correction marker. Use it the moment your dog jumps on your guest.

What makes a marker work is what you pair it with. Pair the reward marker with petting, praise, treats, chews, and a high happy voice, and your dog is going to want to give you that behavior again. Pair the correction marker with a lowered voice and turning away, and use space restriction if the behavior continues.

Most owners have the words right. What they are missing is the timing, and knowing which rewards and corrections actually motivate their particular dog. That is what a trainer sorts out with you, using the positive reinforcement method. Get those pieces lined up and your dog starts offering focused, calm behavior on its own, and never even considers the reactive stuff.

Give me a call and I would be happy to help you. Free consultations always.

- Joe

Joe DeSimone
Canine Command
(239) 963-7676
caninecommand.net
[email protected]

Two sessions. That is all it took with Remy, a standard poodle who by the end of the second one was responding to every ...
08/31/2026

Two sessions. That is all it took with Remy, a standard poodle who by the end of the second one was responding to every command.

I want to be honest about what that actually means, because I do not want anyone reading this and feeling behind. Some dogs pick things up in two sessions. Some take two months. That has almost nothing to do with how smart the dog is or how good the owner is.

What made the difference here was Jerry and Kathryn. They did the loose leash walking exercises between sessions, they read the handouts, and they kept it consistent when I was not standing there watching. That is the part that actually trains a dog. I can show you the mechanics in an afternoon, but your dog learns from what happens on the other six days of the week.

The Easy Walk Harness helped too. Sometimes the right piece of equipment turns a miserable walk into a pleasant one overnight.

If you are working with a dog right now and it feels slow, keep going. Consistency beats speed every single time.

Free consultations always.

Joe DeSimone
Canine Command
(239) 963-7676
caninecommand.net
[email protected]

- Joe

"Certainly no loving God would separate people from their canine friends for eternity."- Stanley Coren, dog psychologist...
08/30/2026

"Certainly no loving God would separate people from their canine friends for eternity."
- Stanley Coren, dog psychologist

Some of the hardest conversations I have had in this work were never about training at all. They were about saying goodbye.

What stays with me is how much that grief says about the love underneath it. You do not hurt like that over something small. You hurt like that because a dog spent years meeting you at the door with joy, every time, no conditions on it, no record kept of the days you did not deserve it.

Twenty-four years in and I still believe that kind of love points to something bigger than us. A dog cannot say it. It just shows you, over and over, until you finally understand.

If you are missing one today, I hope this sits gently with you.

- Joe

If your dog had a job, what would it be?Give me the job title in the comments, because after twenty four years I have me...
08/28/2026

If your dog had a job, what would it be?

Give me the job title in the comments, because after twenty four years I have met some very committed professionals.

Head of security. Doorbell quality control. Crumb inspector. I worked with a beagle once who was plainly in law enforcement and treated every visitor as a person of interest.

Here is the part that is not a joke. Almost every breed we have was developed to do a specific job. Herd something, retrieve something, guard something, follow a scent for miles. That wiring is still in there, and it does not switch off because the dog now lives in a condo with a small yard.

A lot of what gets called a behavior problem is really an employment problem. The dog has drive and no outlet, so they invent their own job. Rearranging the trash. Barking at every car. Herding the kids around the living room. Redecorating the couch cushions.

The fix is usually not more exercise. It is more purpose. Scent games where you hide treats and let them find them. Puzzle feeders instead of a bowl. Five minutes of training reps before dinner. Let them carry something on the walk. Ten focused minutes of using their brain will tire a dog out more than an hour of aimless wandering.

Give a dog a job and a surprising number of problems just quietly go away.

So what is your dog's official job title? I want to hear these.

- Joe

Meet Star Your Happy Companion 🌟Hi, I’m Star, a 7-month-old, spayed, tan Staffordshire Terrier with a laid-back, cheerfu...
08/27/2026

Meet Star Your Happy Companion 🌟

Hi, I’m Star, a 7-month-old, spayed, tan Staffordshire Terrier with a laid-back, cheerful disposition! Trainer Joe told me they named me Star because my smile and personality light up anyone I’m with!! I’m down for doing anything my person wants from calm leash walking and commands to cuddling! Trainer Joe tells me I have great manners and will make a loving family dog! He knows my tail never stops wagging when I’m around other dogs and people

As you can see from my picture, I’m ready for my forever family. I promise to be the most loyal companion you could ever ask for!

💚 Bonus: Joe DeSimone of Canine Command, 239-963-7676, is offering FREE professional training to the lucky person who adopts me so we can start our journey together on the right paw!

📍 Come meet me at Lee County Domestic Animal Services, (239)533-7387
📅 Don’t wait—I won’t be here much longer!
📍 5600 Banner Dr, Fort Myers, FL

08/26/2026

This dog has some notes on his own training.

Scout would like the record to show that when I came to his house, I did
not just work with him. I gave his humans homework too.

He is not wrong, and that is the part most people do not expect when they
call me.

Here is why it matters. A dog cannot follow rules that keep changing on
them. One person says off, another says down. Somebody enforces it on
Monday and lets it go on Thursday because they are tired. The dog is not
being stubborn at that point, the dog is guessing. And a guessing dog
looks exactly like a disobedient dog.

So I teach the dog the skills, and then I teach the family how to hold
the line once I am gone. Same words, same expectations, every single
time. When that clicks, a surprising number of problems settle down
without anybody working on them directly.

It is also why I come to your home instead of asking you to bring your
dog somewhere. Your dog behaves differently in your own living room than
they do in a training facility, and the living room is where the problem
actually lives. I need to see the doorbell, the kitchen, the couch, the
route you walk. That is the real environment.

24 years of doing this in Southwest Florida homes and that has not
changed.

If your dog is running your house right now, let's talk about it. Free
consultations always.

Scout is an AI character. Joe and the training are very real.

Joe DeSimone
Canine Command
(239) 963-7676
caninecommand.net
[email protected]

- Joe

Congratulations Scout!When I first met this handsome goldendoodle, two things were happening.He jumped on everybody who ...
08/24/2026

Congratulations Scout!

When I first met this handsome goldendoodle, two things were happening.
He jumped on everybody who came through the door, and he pulled on his
leash the entire walk.

Both of those are extremely common, and both are very fixable.

Now Scout holds a calm sit stay in front of people instead of launching
at them, and he walks right at your side on a loose leash. He also aced
every focus and obedience exercise we ran and came out at the top of his
class.

Here is the part I want to give credit for. Madeleine and Anthony did the
work between sessions. They stayed consistent, they used the same words,
and they practiced when I was not there. That is why this stuck.

Scout is well on his way to becoming a true canine good citizen, and I
could not be prouder of all three of them.

If your dog is jumping on guests or dragging you down the street, let's
talk about it. Free consultations always.

Joe DeSimone
Canine Command
(239) 963-7676
caninecommand.net
[email protected]

- Joe

"Certainly no loving God would separate people from their canine friends for eternity."- Stanley Coren, dog psychologist...
08/23/2026

"Certainly no loving God would separate people from their canine friends for eternity."
- Stanley Coren, dog psychologist

I have sat with a lot of families over the years, and some of the hardest conversations I have ever had were not about training at all. They were about saying goodbye.

What always stays with me is how much that grief says about the love. You do not hurt like that over something small. You hurt like that because a dog spent years teaching you what it looks like to be met at the door with joy, every time, no conditions on it.

Twenty-four years in and I still believe that kind of love points to something bigger than us. A dog cannot tell you it loves you. It just shows you, over and over, until you finally understand.

If you are missing one today, I hope this sits gently with you.

- Joe

Beach day or couch day?I want to know which one your dog is, because I see both and they are equally committed to it.The...
08/22/2026

Beach day or couch day?

I want to know which one your dog is, because I see both and they are equally committed to it.

There are dogs who hear the car door and lose their minds because they know where you are going. And there are dogs who take one step onto hot pavement, look up at you, and turn right back around.

Here is the thing worth knowing. Dogs do not cool off the way we do. They have very few sweat glands, so panting is doing almost all the work. That means a Southwest Florida afternoon takes a lot more out of your dog than it takes out of you, and they will keep going long past the point they should stop because they want to be with you.

So if your dog is a couch dog in August, that is not laziness. That is a dog with good sense.

And if yours is a beach dog, go early or go late, bring more water than you think you need, and check the sand first. Press the back of your hand to it for five seconds. If you cannot hold it, neither can their paws.

Now settle a debate for me. Beach or couch? Tell me in the comments.

- Joe

Address

21750 River Ranch Road
Estero, FL
33928

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 9pm
Tuesday 10am - 9pm
Wednesday 10am - 9pm
Thursday 10am - 9pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

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+12399637676

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