"Soon after I brought Orion home, he terrorized my 3 cats, began showing signs of aggression, and literally destroyed my apartment. Despite 9 days of training and a boarding facility with a dog trainer, Orion's aggression only got worse. I felt like I had tried everything and was ready to give up.
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Luckily, I continued training, this time with someone who could see Orion in the home and how he interacts with me. After just 2 virtual training sessions with Rhiannon, I have already been given several tools to distract Orion and refocus him when he is scared or aggressive. I also can work on establishing
boundaries through various exercises she has shown me and instructed me though with the dog. Even being a full time student with a full time job I still have been able to do training sessions weekly due to scheduling flexibility. I am so so grateful for all of Rhiannon's help and encouragement. I look forward to our future sessions and seeing how much better me and Orion's relationship will be! Next step is getting him over his fear of the car. I'm excited to see how far he comes and hopefully one day have him jump in on his own free will :) thank you Rhiannon for all your help!"
Anna Claire, SC
About Canis Fidelis
I cried every day for a whole month when I first brought home my rescue Rottweiler, Klaus. It broke my heart how he was so afraid to go potty in my presence that he would hold himself until he was leaking. He chewed through multiple leashes and harnesses. I couldn't leave him alone for more than a few minutes - he was a master at crate escape and even broke out of my apartment and one of my car windows (no injuries, thankfully!). And I can't forget his outbursts towards other dogs. We could be a football field away and he'd be at the end of the leash pulling me almost off my feet. Due to my ignorance he even managed to bite another dog in the face; luckily he didn't seriously injure the other dog and the other dog owner was unusually cool about the whole thing. But it really rattled me how bad that situation could have been.
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All of that happened within one month of brining him home. I was at a breaking point. I felt I either needed to re-home him or do some serious research and work on training him. I decided he was stuck with me no matter what, so it was time to get to work. This is the origin story of Canis Fidelis.
Programs
All programs are done through private lessons so that you're sure to get my full attention.
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The biggest difference between programs is that the larger programs make sure you can trust your dog in more situations. You can choose how much your dog learns and how often we meet... The more your dog learns the more freedom you'll have with your dog, and the more I get to work with your dog the faster you'll get to where you want to be.
Larger programs also have more long-term support after the program ends to ensure your dog doesn't revert to unwanted behaviors.
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All programs are based on the latest proven training methods and take your and your dog's individual needs and lifestyle into account to give you the most effective results.​​
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All programs are results-based, meaning there's no hard time limit or number of lessons.​
Managed mayhem
This program is for you if:​
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You want help managing your situation, or
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You don’t feel like you need a whole training program; you just want a little extra support.
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If your dog is facing some challenging behaviors, you might have already tried to manage your situation. But, it’s just not working for you or your lifestyle. If you could just have a better system in place for keeping everyone safe it would make your life so much better.
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Or, maybe your dog is manageable most of the time and doing pretty well with the basics, but you feel like something’s missing or you’d like more options for fulfilling your dog’s mental and physical exercise needs.​
This program is perfect for people and families who may not be able to commit to a full training program, but would benefit from additional management techniques and tools. I’ll introduce you to tools and methods you may not have heard of before, and we’ll brainstorm together to find creative solutions that work for you and your family and life.
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Additionally, I’ll give you some activities and recommendations for helping your dog at a foundational level. This will help your dog gain confidence and feelings of safety that will support their overall wellbeing, and may help ease the situation even if we don’t focus directly on challenging behaviors or improving training skills.​
This program is typically completed in about 2 weeks and includes:
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1 to 2 weekly lessons in-home or virtually.
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personalized recommendations for management techniques, tools, and systems to help you live more conveniently and safely with your dog.
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exercises and activities to help support your dog’s overall wellbeing in support of their challenging behaviors or training.
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2 virtual support lessons after the program ends, to make sure the things we implement are working well for you.
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Peaceful pup
This program is for you if:​
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You want to resolve your dog’s challenging behaviors, OR
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You want your dog to learn basic cues and skills
If your dog has some challenging behaviors that you just don’t know what to do about, making life full of uncertainty, worry, and stress, then this program is for you. OR if your life would be much less chaotic and frustrating if your dog just knew more basic cues and skills, then this program is also for you.
This program focuses EITHER on transforming your dog’s negative behaviors into positive ones, OR teaching your dog basic cues and skills to make life less stressful for everyone involved.
Behavior option: We will actively help your dog change the way they think, feel, and behave in challenging situations. While we won’t focus on teaching cues, we may include one or two in support of changing your pup’s behavior. For example, “stay” can be helpful for dog’s facing separation anxiety.
Cues and skills option: We will focus solely on teaching your dog useful cues and skills to make life a breeze with your dog. The cues include: sit, stay, come, lay down, place, drop it, leave it, this way, wait, and off. The skills covered include: loose leash walking, not rushing out of an open door, and not jumping on people.
Both options include everything in the “Managed mayhem” program.
This program is typically completed in about 8 weeks and includes:
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1 to 2 weekly lessons wherever the problem behavior occurs.
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everything in the “Managed mayhem” program.
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5 months of in-person support after the program ends.
Totally thriving
This is the most popular program!
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If you're dreaming of a calm and enjoyable life with your dog anywhere, then this program is for you. This program is perfect for people and families who want their dog to handle any situation confidently and calmly, even high energy situations. This program also includes any additional training you can think of to make life even more stable, certain, and fun with your dog.​
This program includes everything in both of the “Peaceful pup” program options, but also includes any other training cues you would find useful. In this program we’ll also expand your dog’s world and help them navigate new environments and situations - not just where their current challenges are.
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This program comes with a few other awesome bonuses. You'll have the option for trainer-only lessons, to be even more flexible with your schedule while also speeding up the training process. Another speed benefit that additionally gives better results is that you get up to 3 full-day lessons where I devote my entire day just to your dog!
You'll also have the peace of mind that should anything come up in the future, I've got you covered - this program comes with lifetime support. That means that if your dog lives to be 15 years old, you'll have me on call that whole time.​
This program is typically completed in about 12 weeks and includes:
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Everything in both of the “Peaceful pup” program options.
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Expand training to new places and situations.
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Additional unlimited cues! Fun cues, convenient cues, automatic behaviors… whatever you can think of!
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Convenient BONUSES: optional trainer-only sessions and up to 3 full-day sessions where I devote my entire day to only your dog, both for better and faster results.
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Lifetime in-person support after the program ends.
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How it works
Request a free consultation call
During this short call you can tell me a bit about your dog and the problems you're facing with them, and you can ask me any questions you might have - I'll have a few for you too. This call will help us get to know each other a bit better before committing to anything.
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Schedule an assessment - $80
Assessments are in-person home visits and last about an hour. We'll get to meet face-to-face, ask each other more questions, and I'll get to see your dog in action so we can decide if we'd be a good fit working together. We'll discuss different program options, and you'll receive a summary of the assessment via email afterwards. The summary can also be useful for consulting with vets, veterinary behaviorists, dog walkers, dog sitters, and can even help people in the household better understand how they feel about the situation.
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Enroll in a program
An assessment is required prior to starting a program. I have several programs that cover a range of things from jumping and leash pulling to more advanced obedience to fear and reactivity to health and wellness. Programs are results-based, meaning there isn't a hard limit on number of sessions or program duration. We'll cover all the details during our assessment, so you can choose the program that fits your preferences.
Testimonials
Certifications, Conferences, & Completed Courses
Aggression in Dogs Conference 2024
Better Than Fetch Herding Games
New Mexico Tech University Seminar
Watch Now!
My Story
My name is Rhiannon and I love helping people live happily and peacefully with their dogs.
When I decided to earn my PhD in Geophysics and become Dr. Rhiannon, I knew I loved research and solving problems. Geophysics was a natural progression from my Bachelor’s in Physics, and it was interesting enough. But as I continued developing my research and problem-solving skills and applying them to my own life, it became clear to me that I was significantly more passionate about solving other problems – particularly those involving my dogs. It has been deeply and profoundly rewarding to help my dogs overcome problems on the behavior side from severe separation anxiety and reactivity to problems on the wellness side, like constant skin yeast infections and allergies.
I understand firsthand how sad, frustrating, and expensive it can be to live with both troubled and ill dogs, and I would love for nothing more than to help you and your beloved pup overcome your challenges and live happy and healthy together.
My Dogs
These are the pups who taught (and continue to teach!) me much of what I needed to learn to be able to help others with their dogs.
