Arrive Dog Training

Call Directions Contact the business

Arrive Dog Training our goal is to teach owners how to communicate with their furry friends
with Real World Training

07/28/2026

In our current dog training culture, every dog is an insecure, nervous, fearful wreck who only engages in unwanted, unhealthy behavior because they’re lacking confidence.

In other words, every dog is a freaked out, unstable victim who’s only in need of loving support, cheering on, warm and fuzzy challenges, and zero negative consequences.

And while there are lots of messy dogs, and indeed many who aren’t the most confident, this wildly lopsided focus on confidence building over consequence sharing is probably the biggest obstacle to dogs actually finding a more healthy, balanced, behavior issue-free life.

But of course that belief doesn’t appeal to the countless humans who are desperate to be dysfunctionally gentle, pathologically kind, emotionally selfish, forever caretakers for their surrogate children which they wish to keep, messy, struggling, and dependent.

And while that may sound incredibly harsh, I don’t say this to be nasty—I say it because I see it everywhere. Go scroll IG, TikTok, and Facebook, and what you’ll find are countless versions of the Devouring Mother—with all genders participating.

Dogs made into perpetual fearful, unstable victims which are only served via ultra complex and ultra infective positive-only/force-free “enrichment programs”, “counter-conditioning protocols”, “threshold panicked hyper-management/avoidance”, and of course the de rigueur “confidence building exercises”.

What you won’t find is a wildly simple concept: sharing negative consequences which the dog finds valuable enough to actually stop unwanted, problem behaviors. The reactivity towards other dogs; the barking at strangers, cars, bikes etc; the over the top territorial responses to guests at the door, the whining, barking, tantrumming in the crate… and on and on.

Instead of being crystal clear with your dog as to what is and what isn’t appropriate, and then allowing them to develop appropriate emotional responses once a neutral mindset has been obtained (regardless of where the behavior was coming from), you’ll get all of the fancy, “sophisticated”, virtuous sounding and feeling training protocols that will “foster more confidence”, and then magically the deeply patterned unwanted, and unhealthy behavior will simply disappear.

Nope. It won’t. Because your messy, or just ill-behaved dog doesn’t need more confidence, it needs more clarity as to what are and aren’t appropriate responses, period.

But when our dogs are perpetual fearful infants in need of only our shielding protection from the scary world (and the confidence from us to face it), we find dogs stuck in a perpetual cycle of engaging in unwanted, and unhealthy behavior… with these behaviors viewed only as insecurity and fear, and only helped with something that has no ability to provide what it promises.

PS, I’m not saying a more confident dog isn’t something to strive for, I’m saying that how we view our dogs and how we go about creating confidence is rarely aligned with reality or what’s best for them.

07/09/2026

I find it hilarious that we apply different standards to our dogs than we do to ourselves.

“Hey, if we teach our dogs the rules, then they should know what to do and respond properly. And they shouldn’t need the presence of the tools to remind them and to bring out their best behavior.

Yeah, because you’re a perfect, law abiding angel on the highway when there’s no cops around… because you know the rules.

Haha. We’re so incredibly silly. We still believe that knowing = doing for our dogs, when that simple equation doesn’t even apply to us smarty-pants, morally aware humans.

Can we just be honest with ourselves, about ourselves, and our dogs? We all respond to the awareness of consequences being in play, or not, and we all respond accordingly.

So with that honest assessment, we can jettison the silly notion that dogs who *know* should always *do* without tools present—just as we can jettison the silly notion that we always follow known rules when cops aren’t present.

This isn’t rocket science folks. Tools simply represent the ability of consequences to be delivered… just as your friendly neighborhood cop does. And all of our memory’s respond as expected to that awareness.

So let’s stop fixating on the removal of tools as the evidence of a well trained dog, and then we can stop holding our dogs to standards we ourselves don’t adhere to. :)

07/09/2026

Owners, don’t let this stuff be more complicated and difficult than it really is.

If you’re struggling with the walk, get the right tools needed to sort it out. If you’re struggling with recall, get the right tools needed to sort it out.

Of course you have to educate yourself as to how to properly use them, but countless owners around the world successfully do this on the daily. It’s not rocket science, not if you’re motivated and determined.

And as I shared in the original post, if doing it yourself isn’t your thing, no worries, there’s countless highly skilled trainers who can help you.

But the main point here is to be connected to reality. Use the tools and the training that actually work, and which will actually help you achieve your goals—whether that’s doing it yourself or in who you hire.

And yes, I only addressed the walk and recall, but this of course goes for any issue you’re struggling with or any goals you have. There are tools and training which can absolutely transform you and your dog’s life together. Your job is to not complain that “There’s too many options”, or “There’s so much conflicting information”, your job is to do the work to find the answers that actually deliver what you’re looking to achieve.

You know, just like every other important goal/objective you have in life. Stop complaining that it’s not easy, and start realizing it’s never been easier.

The Good Dog Way
Phoenix, AZ
Gig Harbor, WA

03/15/2026

Re-read that final line until you’re completely out of excuses for your dog’s problem behavior. ;)

03/12/2026

The dog training world isn’t short on nonsense. One of the major nonsensical assertions is that if you have to rely on tools then your dog isn’t trained.

The argument behind this should make anyone who actually knows dogs, and who’s honest, giggle. The argument posits that if you’ve trained your dog what to do, and reinforced what you trained patiently, consistently, and competently… your dog will always listen and will simply do what it’s been taught.

Knowing = doing. Period.

Which means your dog will never find itself torn between what it knows it should do and what it would prefer to do. It will never break place and charge the front door when a guest arrives, because you’ve taught it to hold place no matter what. And your dog will never be off-leash and ignore your recall command when that bunny or enticing dog shows up, because you’ve taught your dog to come back no matter what. And your dog will definitely never blow up at that maniacal Chihuahua straining to get a piece of your best friend, because you’ve taught your dog to ignore naughty monsters on walks no matter what.

Hahahaha…

Just like you and that speed limit. You’d never break that clearly explained and clearly understood law/rule. You’d never be in such a rush that it would damage your “knowing.” You’d never be enticed by the thrill of some extra speed that you’d “forget” the rules. And you’d never just truly innocently forget the speed limit and careen through a 25 zone at 45 because you were distracted by life. Nah.

We don’t use e-collars as a shortcut, quick-fix, or crutch — we use them because we don’t deny reality. We give our dogs the full credit of having conflicting motivations, desires, and brains that can simply get lost in the noise of the moment… just like you.

Any sensible, honest, reality-aligned person knows all too well that knowing and doing are two very different things. Which is why we unapologetically use tools that help dogs (and owners) enjoy the greatest: quality of life, amount of freedom, and degree of safety.

Because everyone “forgets” occasionally. ;)

TLDR: “You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” -AR

02/25/2026

This one always rankles folks.

“Cops and trainers/owners aren’t anything alike!” “It’s not about the threat of unwanted consequences, it’s about the skill, timing, and energy!”

Haha…

So many can’t stand the thought of needing to be an authority figure with their dogs, and everyone is certain that only a monster would imply that the *threat* of unwanted consequences even play a role in their dog’s behavior.

We much prefer the romantic, sweet, love will solve it all, dogs just want to please, teach them what you want and they’ll happily do it… beliefs.

And yet we all know that we ourselves behave differently when the threat of unwanted consequences are in play… and we laughingly share stories of dogs who are angels with one owner and devils with another… or how they their naughtiness disappears the second their trainer appears.

Same you, different behavior depending on who’s present — same dog, different behavior depending on who’s present.

So what about the “skill, timing, and energy” claims? They’re all true — but what are they being used for? Some would say, “To properly reward/cultivate desired behavior, communicate clearly and effectively, and build a healthy relationship.” Yep. Absolutely true.

But the other side of this “skill, timing, and energy” coin is that these are being used to properly punish/discourage undesired behavior, communicate clearly and effectively where the boundaries are and what the consequences are for trespassing against these established boundaries… and build a healthy relationship.

The only difference between the trainer (or you) and the cop is that the cop is ONLY there to enforce rules/laws. The trainer’s and your job is far more nuanced, and thus for many owners far more emotionally difficult — but also far more fun. Your job is to love, play, feed, adventure, romp — aka, share all the soft and fun stuff — but critically, to also share the unpleasant consequences that balance everything out and cause your dog to offer their best, and to inhibit their worst.

You and your dog aren’t any different. Even if you don’t like to hear to me say it.

02/24/2026

You’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not realize that we have a major reactivity epidemic.

But why? In short, culture, and all its downstream effects.

The training industry, responding to cultural shifts, is hard at work selling you on terribly deep seated, complex emotional causes—and thus terribly difficult, and complex solutions.

Of course you’d also have to be asleep at the wheel to not realize how much current cultural programming has impacted the way that owners live with their dogs.

Rules are suggestions, boundaries are flexible, consequences—if present at all—are underwhelming and thus ignored.

This dysfunctional leadership dynamic has created a massive population of spoiled, entitled, boundary pushing brats.

Of course that’s an entirely unpleasant, and difficult commercial “sell”—not to mention many in the industry are so deeply indoctrinated that they can only view dogs as victims of trauma and genetics—and so we’ve seen the training industry largely sidestep the truth, and instead present reactivity as this wildly complex emotional landscape owners have to *try* to learn to understand and navigate.

And while there are indeed reactive dogs struggling with varying degrees of anxiety, fear, and aggression—they’re absolutely NOT the overwhelming majority of reactivity cases the industry wants you to think they are.

I’m sorry, but on the whole, for most dogs and owners, this stuff is far more simple and straightforward than you’re being told.

For most of you struggling with reactivity issues, the truth is that you’ve created pushy, bratty, entitled canine monsters—not just on the walks, but everywhere—and so the reactive chickens are simply coming home to roost.

I don’t say this as a preachy “gotcha” or condemnation, I say this to hopefully wake up the vast majority of you struggling with reactivity issues, and being told you’ve gotta undergo years of nonsensical rehab protocols, when in reality, you simply need to be a kind, but also unapologetic leader who lays down the law appropriately, and doesn’t suffer brattiness or tantrums gladly.

Put simply, brats are created, not delivered.

02/17/2026

If there was one concept I could get owners to truly devote some serious time to contemplating, understanding, and implementing, it would be this.

All the major, truly problematic, quality-of-life impacting behaviors you’re dealing with now were once tiny little moments of seeming insignificance to you — but which were anything but insignificant to your dog.

Whether it was the bolting out of the crate like a maniac; the jamming through the front door dragging you with them; the pulling and zig-zagging on walks; the not-so-intense “curious” and “playful” staring and barking at other dogs on walks; the following you endlessly through the house and never learning to be alone and always being pet and talked to; the chaotic and constant motion in the house with whining and barking and no ability to settle; the over-the-top charging of the door every time someone approached; the tense and quiet body language (and maybe even low growling) when you approached your dog when they had a favorite toy or food, or you dared to sit too close to them on the couch or bed; the “innocent” jumping up on you or others in a pushy and impolite fashion; the fairly taught commands that were consistent blown off when incompatible with the dog’s desires… and on and on.

All of the above typically start off as something fairly mild and seemingly benign — and slowly, moment by insignificant moment, allowance by insignificant allowance, push by insignificant push the snowball of truly problematic behavior begins to form. And soon enough you have something truly life-impacting on your hands — and because it all occurred so slowly, and so incrementally, you scratch your head trying to figure out how you and your dog got here.

But for the trainers out there, they know exactly how you both got here. Because sadly, they’ve seen this pattern over and over and over.

And that’s why, if you’re working with someone experienced and wise, you’ll hear them pushing you over and over to learn to re-see the small moments for what they really are: the gateways to either your dog’s best, or your dog’s worst.

PS, and if you want to know how we undo all this and retrain your dog — and how you can do the same — simply reverse this process. See every small inappropriate moment and interaction as profoundly important, and respond accordingly. Wise and experienced trainers don’t try to tackle your dog’s worst stuff in its worst moment or presentation, no, they go after all the small moments which have unhealthy flavors to them and build relationship leverage and momentum there. And with diligence and consistency, they manage to slowly melt the snowball that you’ve created via allowance, and build another one that’s healthy, enjoyable, and safe.

02/12/2026

Here’s the thing that’s rarely talked about in the training world when it comes to serious behavior issues.

All the training—tools, approach, structure, rules, lifestyle etc—are only as good as their delivery system is believable and healthy.

If how you show up and thus how you feel (to your dog), doesn’t create the proper emotional buy-in—meaning your relationship/association will be toxic—this dynamic will undermine the very best tools, training, and everything else you try to leverage to create what is in reality just superficial buy-in.

All of my clients who’ve had serious dogs with serious issues—who’ve succeeded—have not only had to do the incredibly hard work involved with the obvious training components, they’ve also taken on the far more difficult, and thus the far less explored personal transformation component.

If you think you’re going to transform a creature who is profoundly dialed in to every element of you are and how you show up (and what boundaries they can push to best satisfy their desires), simply by way of implementing some smart training, but not ever transforming yourself—the delivery system—you’re gravely mistaken.

With my own dogs 20+ years ago, and their considerably serious behavior issues, not only did I have to get the right tools, the right training, and the right lifestyle in place… I also had to fundamentally transform who I was, and how I showed up, which slowly changed how my dogs felt about me…

This personal transformation was what enabled everything else to finally work, and finally create the change I was seeking. And I can promise you that if you’re doing all the training “stuff” and still stuck in a dysfunctional cycle with problem behavior, it’s almost certainly due to the delivery system needing improvement.

Which begs the question: have you honestly asked yourself what might be lacking in your daily, moment-to-moment interactions/presentation that could be standing in your way? What messages are you sharing with your dog that are undermining your progress? How do you honestly feel about rules, structure, accountability, authority, leadership, power dynamics?

Who you are will always trump what you do.

01/30/2026

While there’s plenty of folks who will happily tell you no such thing is needed, and your heart will happily agree with them, reality doesn’t much care about those pedaling falsehoods, or your emotional preferences.

We can continue to go down this road of denial and delusion, but I promise you you’ll only end up deeper in the struggle—and so will your dog.

There’s a reason any honest and knowledgeable trainer can typically stop most of the unwanted behaviors that are making your life miserable; and do so close to immediately—because they’re not enveloped in denial or delusion. Sure they have more skills and knowledge, but their primary advantage is a firm grasp on reality and an unwillingness to dance around it.

And a large part of that embrace of reality is the embrace of skillfully applied, emotionally neutral punishment. Of course they teach the other stuff—the behaviors you DO want—but that’s easy…both to do and to talk about. Punishment is the elephant in the room; the elephant very few want to look squarely in the eyes.

That all said, it’s your life and your call. You get to do this dog training and dog-living-with thing however you want. But from where I stand, and from the dogs and owners I see who are both struggling and miserable and in need of help, the avoidance of that which can transform all this struggle and misery is both selfish and emotionally immature.

Choosing to bring a dog into your life SHOULD mean choosing to do all that is beneficial for them, including—perhaps especially including—that which is difficult, uncomfortable, and emotionally challenging.

Address

50 Old State Highway 801 N
Morehead, KY
40351

Telephone

+18127320092

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Arrive Dog Training posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Arrive Dog Training:

Shortcuts

Share

Category