ABOUT PHD OBEDIENCE

Our Training Philosophy

It's simple. We believe our dogs are much smarter than we give them credit for! We focus on the concept of “play-training” – short training sessions that make learning a game for the dog. Coupling this with lots of positive reinforcement in the form of high-value food treats, an upbeat happy attitude, patting, praise and clear directions, dogs learn quickly and happily. We let dogs “figure things out for themselves”, knowing their discovery of a desired behavior will be more readily learned than one forced upon them. Utilizing a “marker word” to help a dog identify a desired behavior, training progress tends to be consistent. All of this is then individually crafted to meet the specific needs of each dog and owner. We are comfortable working with fearful/fear aggressive and reactive dogs as well as handling the most common canine issues such as housebreaking, jumping, pulling when walking, inappropriate greeting behavior with people and other dogs and excessive barking and/or chewing.

What To Expect

With a Masters degree in Education I understand how people learn best. My goal is to give every owner a "tool box" of skills that can be applied to everyday interactions with their dog. I sincerely believe, if the students in my classes are not having as much fun as their dogs, I'm not doing my job. After all, positive, upbeat, fun training works equally well with humans and dogs! I especially enjoy working with youngsters, of both the human and canine variety. I take a special pride in helping everyone - young and old - to master effective dog training tools, so that their pets are fully integrated members of the family.

OUR TRAINING STAFF

Jody Davidson M.A. , CCPDT - KA

Star of the Discovery+ reality show, “THE MIGHTY UNDERDOGS”

I began training/showing dogs in 1963. Since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of dogs in home, class and shelter situations. Competitvely, with my own dogs, I’ve earned more than 32 AKC Companion Dog titles, 8 Companion Dog Excellent titles and 4 Utility Dog titles as well as more than 64 other AKC Championship, Rally and Obedience titles. Most recently, I brought a little rescue dog all the way to his AKC Trick Dog Elite Performer title, one of a handful of dogs to reach this level. I’m a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, and certified as a Dog Trainer through The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Additionally, I serve as an AKC Canine Good Citizen, Canine Good Citizen Advanced and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator . I am also one of a select group of AKC evaluators eligible to do Temperament Testing. I am proud to be one of the most successful coaches of Junior Showmanship competitors in the country with numerous kids ranked among the top juniors in the nation. My kids regularly qualify for the AKC National Final Junior Showmanship Finals and the Westminster Kennel Club Junior Showmanship Finals. In fact, for the past several years, more students from my program have qualified for these two national events than any other single program in the history of these competitions. In 2021, I proudly had 12 juniors qualify for the AKC Nationals and 7 qualify for Westminster. And in 2022, with an even more stringent set of qualifying criteria, I still have a dozen Juniors going to FL and 5 going to Westminster! Finally, partnered with my Clumber Spaniel Josey, we deployed multiple times as a certified Search and Rescue team, assisting local law enforcement in locating missing persons.

Sarah Eccleton, CPDT-KA

I grew up training dogs and competing in Obedience and Agility in Michigan before moving to Arizona at 18. My background includes involvement in such dog sports as Rally, Herding, Flyball and Scentwork. In addition to my work with PHD, I am the founder and primary trainer at Strawberry Fields Dog Company. I served as the Head Dog Trainer at Soldier’s Best Friend, a Not-For-Profit organization training Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. As a result, I have extensive experience in Shelter Dog Behavior Modification, helping these dogs become stable, and confident in their new homes. I am an AKC Canine Good Citizen, S.T.A.R Puppy and Trick Dog Evaluator. At present, I have four active Australian Shepherds sharing my life.

Alexia Robles

Alexia began showing dogs in conformation and junior handling in 2012. During her junior's career, her Australian Shepherd was her principle juniors’ dog, but she also showed a variety of other breeds. She has put multiple championship titles on dogs , placed in the group ring and handled a dog to Reserve Best in Show. Alexia finished her juniors’ career in August 2018. At that time, she was ranked #17 in the Top 20 Juniors overall in the country. In the Herding group, she was ranked #5, and in Australian Shepherds she was ranked #5 in the country. After juniors Alexia went to work as a live-in assistant for professional handlers and has fine-tuned her skills by working with some of the top dogs in the country. Alexia continues to compete in conformation and enjoys working with all breeds. However, she most enjoys giving back to the sport by teaching and mentoring the next generation of Junior Handlers. You can watch Alexia’s talent in teaching dog handling on THE MIGHTY UNDERDOGS streaming on Discovery+.

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