American K-9
About Our Business
For the past 25 years, I have had the pleasure of training
dogs and handlers for Southern New England, Cape Cod and
the Islands.  I have worked with over 2,500 + clients and
their pets.

I am an animal behaviorist.   I specialize in aggression and
last hope situations.  I work closely with Animal Control
Officers in extreme cases with wonderful results.

We have built a reputation for not only handling the tail
wagging jumpers but everything in between right up to the
teeth showing biters.

My background started with being a certified veterinarian
technician at Tufts and also practiced with an holistic
veterinarian who specialized in acupuncture and alternative
medicine.  We have also worked with the MSPCA and
understand the sensitive issues involving adopted animals.
We are a family run establishment, my adult son and
teenage daughter both work for the business. We
understand that a dog is very much part of the family, and
strongly encourage all who interact with the pet to come
along to training.  It really is fun for the whole family.

My experience includes:

Schutzund I; AKC; Canine Good Citizen; Certificate of Merit in
Stock Dog; Sled dogs; Flyball; Agility; Tracking; Rally;
Hunting; Tricks; 9 Years at the Barnstable County Fair Sheep
Herding Demonstration;  Canine Demonstrations at
numerous Fairs and Community Events all over
Massachusetts and the Cape and Islands.

We have several different training locations.  We are now
serving customers from Plymouth to P-Town, MA.

I also breed AKC & ABC Border Collies, AKC Labs and TICA
Certified Ragdoll Cats.


Our Training Philosophy

Over the years we have studied and educated ourselves on
many different training styles & methods, and even tried a
few of the gimmicks. Our training guidelines grow and
adapted over time, as we find new ways for us humans
to better communicate with animals. We are not afraid to
change and to do what works, and we believe
thats what set's us apart from a lot of other dog schools.

First and foremost we believe in training with a
pack mentality. When you bring a dog into your home, you
began living in a " wolf pack" whether you realized it or not.
Dogs can't and never will communicate or socially interact
the way humans do, and when we start trying to all sort of
problems arise.   Pack mentality, quite simply put, is
mimicking the behavior and actions of an alpha dog or wolf
in a given situation, in order to key into the dogs natural
instinct to follow the alphas lead with calm submissive
behavior. Dogs are preprogrammed with a chain of
command that we trainers call the pack. Every dog has a
rank in the pack, and all dogs want order and balance
in their pack, but it is the missed signals and
miscommunication between us and them over long periods
of time that bring everything to a boiling point. It is also the
dogs natural instinct to try to gain the alpha position over
time, so training and knowledge of canine behavior allows
one to realize these "tests" and end them quickly
in an alpha like way. Pack mentality has an added bonus in
that when you surround a dog in a certain way,  with a
healthy, happy, calm submissive pack, the dog begins
to take on the characteristics of that pack, and leaves
their old ways behind, then through some simple rules and
guidelines, the animal can return to its old situation with a
new lease on life.

Conditioned Response,  Positive Reinforcement
and Positive Motivation

Conditioned Response is a learned response or behavior
from a given stimuli. Ivan Pavlov demonstrated in his
scientific experiments that if he blew a whistle directly
before he fed his dog a delicious meal, over a period of time
he could trigger his dog to salivate and demonstrate
"hungry" behavior with out showing any food. The dogs
conditioned response was to feel hungry when it heard that
whistle blow. Well over the years, and this is no secret,
trainers have learned to adapt conditioned
response through positively motivating "stimuli"
(I.E. food, ball, tug toys, praise,affection,etc.etc.) to develop a
pattern of obedient behavior, and we have worked this into
our programs as well. We also use the Canines natural
drive, or will to work, and  the dog's instinct to please its
pack leader. Done correctly, the animal will be excited to
display these obedient behaviors, so they may receive their
reward.

In-short, it has been our lives work assuring ourselves we
are providing the most current and effective training
techniques and information. We strive to fulfill our
commitment to you and your pet, no matter how bad the
case, and urge you to call today for your FREE Evaluation and
opportunity to join our tight knit animal community!
(508)-259-1911
Email:
americank9@comcast.net
Obedience Training & Canine Psychology Centers
Cathy Johnston: Owner/Trainer
EST. 1989
Dog Training That Works!