(Dog Training Elite Mid Oregon welcomes all breeds, all sizes, and all ages | Photo courtesy of Dog Training Elite Mid Oregon)
Dog Training Elite Mid Oregon, part of a nationwide network of 98 franchises offering a combined 500 years of experience, could not have better representation for those in the Bend and Salem areas — a couple with six dogs and ten puppies of their own who “practice what they preach” in employing the company’s human-focused approach.
“Although I grew up training dogs, as my parents both kenneled and bred them for a living, I was blown away by how fast dogs learn with the tools we utilize,” said Jason Simpson, who owns the relatively new franchise with his wife Lara. “It takes me only a day instead of a month,” as was the case with the leash-and-choke-chain method that his parents relied upon and that remains common even today, “and I can teach certain commands such as ‘sit’ in as little time as a minute.”
A member of 4H as he was growing up, and eventually competing at the state level, Simpson’s familiarity with, and respect for, canines is contagious. “I always had at least one dog, and wish I had been able to use the Dog Training Elite’s tools back then,” he said.
“We have clients who actually start crying when they see that behaviors such as dogs pulling their owners everywhere can be corrected really fast,” said Lara Simpson. But the role of dog owners is far from passive. “We work with clients throughout our training process,” the couple said, “and they have to continue the work, although we’re available if clients need ongoing support.”
“Unlike many other competitors in the Bend and Salem areas,” they continued, “our services are highly personalized, with in-home visits and special training sessions to work with specific issues such as counter-surfing, digging, and swimming. We cover the full gamut of obedience (come, sit, down, heel, place), both on/off-leash and around distractions. Also, not all trainers will work with aggressive dogs or certain breeds such as pit bulls, but we don’t discriminate — and welcome all breeds, all sizes, and all ages.”
Dog Training Elite Mid Oregon offers a variety of customized training packages to meet the specific needs of owners and their dogs. These range from standard entry-level (which includes five in-home sessions and 12 group classes) to platinum (eight in-home sessions, unlimited group classes, and lifetime support, even if circumstances change with, for example, the addition of a new child or another dog in the household).
Even dogs as young as eight weeks are eligible for the puppy package, and there is no upper age limit. “It’s never too late,” Jason Simpson said. “If someone wants their senior dog to learn something, we have ways to work on their training. For example, one of our clients has a ten-year-old pet who is going blind, and we’re still using our tools with her very successfully.”
At Dog Training Elite Mid Oregon, as is true with other franchises, “we strongly believe that owners and their families should be an integral part of the training experience, which empowers them and their canines to work together, and creates strong bonds and sustained obedience,” said the husband-wife team.
Areas that can be covered during the training sessions include: leash and potty training; staying and coming; destructive chewing and digging; stealing food, clothing, or other objects; barking, howling and whining; food guarding and begging; mouthing, nipping and playing rough; jumping up and hyperactivity; and anxiety and aggression.
During Dog Training Elite’s boot camp, mandatory for new franchisees, the Simpsons learned from other participants that even with their decades of experience, they had only seen two dogs whose aggressiveness couldn’t be solved — and that was due to neurological issues. “As a rule, aggressive dogs are just scared,” Jason Simpson said.
“It was so fascinating to learn about Dog Training Elite’s training tools that weren’t around in the past, as they result in an incredibly different outcome,” he noted. “E-collars (electronic collars) are nothing like the shock collars introduced in the early 1950s, which delivered an electric shock to a dog’s neck.”
In contrast, he explained, “the e-collars utilized today, with 100 or more levels of blunt stimulation, feel like a gentle tapping sensation. They are used at the lowest possible level to get the dog’s attention, and as a positive communication tool that is effective in 90 percent of situations. Higher levels of stimulation are available for emergency or lifesaving needs — if, for example, a dog is heading toward a busy highway.”
And if clients are initially leery of the e-collar, Simpson said, “we have them try it on themselves. Most people tell us that they cannot even feel the sensation at the low levels used in training.”
“While we welcome all breeds, all sizes, and all ages, training service dogs is our heart,” agreed the couple, a passion that began during a home visit with a woman suffering from hypertension. “Without warning, the dog — having smelled his owner’s breath by licking her mouth, and sensing an imminent medical emergency — lay on top of her until her blood pressure came down,” they recalled. “Without the dog’s action, the woman would have passed out. It was a very impactful experience, as we realized that this service dog is saving his owner’s life on a regular, if not daily, basis.”
As a former U.S. Marine, Jason Simpson added that “my biggest focus is working with veterans who suffer from PTSD, and who often don’t look very different from other people — as their wounds are internal. We’re currently talking with other veteran organizations to help place service dogs — at no charge — with veterans who need them.”
“We don’t raise our voices, teach in a very practical way, and never take ‘no’ for an answer,” said the Simpsons. “Our training is life changing for people and their dogs.”
dogtrainingelite.com/mid-oregon • 541-422-3647
