KAY HOFFELD

Kay Hoffeld is a highly respected force-free dog trainer with over 15 years of experience in animal care and training.

A graduate of the Animal Behavior College, Kay combines her academic foundation with hands-on expertise. Her exceptional
reputation is underscored by her status as an American Kennel Club Temperament Test and Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and her active membership in the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT).
Kay's career spans a wide range of roles, from training and behavior modification to managing care for domestic, farm, and exotic animals. She even spent a few years on the local K9 Search and Rescue team! Kay has a special way with dogs who need a little help with things like anxiety, reactivity and aggression. She is a ‘Mentor Trainer’ with the ABC, educating the next generation of dog trainers. Kay also partners with a few local rescue 501c3 organizations and offers free and discounted services for recently rescued dogs from 4EverYours Rescue!

Her approach is rooted in positive reinforcement, ensuring humane and effective training tailored to each dog's unique needs. Dedicated to fostering better relationships and communication between dogs and their owners, Kay's commitment to excellence, professionalism, and compassion makes her an invaluable resource for clients seeking expert training and behavioral support.

Kay lives on a small, yet fully-functioning, homestead in the beautiful Sierra Mountains. Her training center is neighbor to chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits and one very loud goose! (Amazing socialization opportunities!) When Kay isn’t training dogs or hiking with them in the mountains, she is often found in a peaceful sunny spot, enjoying a good book.

What is positive reinforcement training and why should we use it? Positive reinforcement, or force free training, is science based training!

It’s all based on the work of Dr. Pavlov and his dog. Dr. Pavlov built an association in his dogs brain by ringing a bell at the exact same time he fed his dog, every single time. After the repetition of this process, he could ring the bell with no food present, and the dog would begin to salivate as if it was already eating.

(If you’ve heard of clicker training, this is also the foundation of clicker training. Instead of a bell or clicker, we just use our voice as the positive reward marker! We build up an association between the word ‘Yay!’ and a treat.)

Pavlovs study has been repeated with modern science to study the results and what was found is that when the association is properly built up, a dog‘s neural pathways will light up when it hears its positive vocal marker in the exact same way as if the dog was eating a treat! Even if there are no treats present.

When we use positive reinforcement training, we are actually training the brain send impulses down particular neural pathways and we are building lifelong habits and responses!

Positive reinforcement training does not mean that you are going to need to use treats forever, just while you are building up your association to your positive vocal marker. Once your dog is responding and behaving properly, you wean them off of the treats (using what we call the ‘jackpot method’) and you will receive the same lifelong behaviors without any treats present!

The dog training world is continuously changing and growing as we get more information and as science advances. All of the most respected dog training organizations now follow LIMA. (The Least Intrusive, Minimally, Aversive Approach) This means that forceful training and aversive techniques are not just quickly falling out of fashion, but have been proven to be less effective.

The entire basis of our training is that we not only want your dogs to WANT to do the things you ask them, but to also ENJOY them and think that they are the fun and exciting things that could happen.

We want a dog who is not just willing, but is eager!

When we build these associations properly, you are going to have a dog that listens to you 100% of the time. On or off leash, with or without distractions present. You will be able to trust in your dogs responses, because listening to you is the most exciting thing possible!

Not only as positive reinforcement training the quickest method to get the results you want it is the most effective and the longest lasting and most of all, it’s going to give you the best relationship possible with your dog!