Patty Crichton has a lifelong passion for dogs, and it shows when working with her clients' dogs, as well as her own Newfoundlands, and Maltese. She graduated with honors from Arizona Canine Academy, and is a seminar and conference junkie to keep up-to-date on the latest research on canine behavior modification and new training methods. She is above all a relationship-based trainer, wholistically inclined to consider all aspects of your pet's life to ensure a mutually respectful and loving bond.

She is a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers ( http://www.apdt.com ) and peer-approval only Truly Dog Friendly (www.trulydogfriendly.com/blog/?page_id=2).  Patty also has a degree in Nutritional Biochemistry, and has a big interest in the relationship between diet and behavior, as well as health.

Several years ago, Patty became one of the few trainers in the world trained in new research on shaping away fears and aggression. She keeps her toolbox full so she can help as many dogs and their owners as possible! CAT, or Constructional Aggression Treatment, is a dog-friendly alternative to force-based techniques and very effective in certain cases.
 
Energy Healing or Patty's "woo-woo stuff"
After being severely ill for many years, and finding little help from traditional medicine, Patty began a long road to recovery. Her journey took her all over the continent, exploring and learning, then back to bed for recovery! With the help of several skilled healers (with special thanks to Dr. Bob Austin at Quantum Techniques, www.quantumtechniques.com),   Patty eventually learned how to treat herself, and then others,  now including animals. Recently she treated a beagle who was traumatized in a car accident and simply couldn't get in the car without severe anxiety. He is now "back in the saddle" with his Mom, who was skeptical and had tried everything else, and is now utterly delighted. EFT http://www.emofree.com is simple and free to learn, and extremely effective for all kinds of issues. See the sample video below. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, was "invented" by a Stanford engineer, and is now getting much more mainstream press, so Patty has decided to come out of the closet and utilize it and other modalities such as Reconnective Healing™. All that people really care about is RESULTS, so if you're open to trying something new, you now have a practitioner in northern Michigan.  Patty is also certified as a Flower Essence practitioner, and uses several vibrational healing modalities when requested. 

Patty's training techniques extend to people as well; her patience, friendliness, compassion and enthusiasm greatly enhance the training process. She is down-to-earth, with a great spirit of fun; dog training with Patty is not boring! Her goal for you is a happy well-behaved family companion.

"We came for dog training, but clicker training and positive reinforcement methods helped our family, too!     A. G., Elk Rapids

"Can you please take the kids for a few days?!"
a frequent request (answer: no!)


"It's hard to believe how much a difference such simple techniques made. We brought Daisy and thought we'd be coming back for months. That first session training us and her made such a change, we didn't need to bring her back. We've thanked our vet many times for recommending you." A.D., Gaylord