Mental and physical well-being are strongly connected. My primary objective is to design a program that suits your dog and ensures that you and your dog can spend as many fun-filled and healthy years together as possible. Good health and even-keeled behavior, proper nutrition and plenty of mental stimulation go hand-in-hand to forge a mutually satisfying and joyful relationship!
Private, in-home body conditioning services are beneficial to all dogs but are especially important for dogs who are predisposed to injury due to congenitally unstable joints, sports injuries, arthritis and cognitive degeneration.
• Post surgery and post injury
• Sports conditioning for working dogs
• Body conditioning for senior dogs, dogs with arthritis
• Occupational Therapy /Mental stimulation for chronically ill and senior dogs
• Body awareness /training for overweight dogs
• Dogs with orthopedic issues (ie: weak knee caps, hip dysplasia)
• Improved reaction and control
• Increased core strength
• Stabilization of weak areas
• Improved balance and proprioception (awareness of the body’s position in space)
• Increased range of motion in joints & elongation of the muscles
• Improved sensory & body awareness
• Preventing sports-related injuries
• Improved cognitive awareness and decreased depression
There are so many reasons why increased body awareness can prevent injuries and provide excellent stimulation for dogs of any age. Post injury/post surgery dogs recover better and more completely given an intelligent exercise program. Dogs with arthritis can experience improved range of motion and flexibility through gentle stretching, massage, as well as core stabilizing exercises. Senior dogs love to play mentally stimulating and endorphin-producing games that help prevent ‘doggie Alzheimer’s’ and depression.
Contact me and let me help give your dog a healthier, higher quality of life!
In New York City, a lot of dogs are latchkey dogs who get minimal exercise while you are at work all day. An alarming number of our dogs are overweight because they have access to food, treats and high calorie biscuits and bones all day long. Carrying around too much weight increases stress on the tendons, ligaments and the tissue surrounding the joints thus increasing the risk for cruciate ligament rupture, hip dysplasia, disc disease and soft tissue injuries of all kinds.
Without question, the best way to combat obesity and restore health is to combine diet change with increased exercise.
At DogRelations NYC, we design a balanced, highly nutritious diet, as well as a sensible and safe exercise program for your dog that allows them to gain healthy, lean muscle tissue while losing fat. Our exercise program includes interval training with your dog to gradually build up endurance and strength for a healthy cardiovascular system, mentally stimulating games to shift the dog’s focus away from food, and core exercises to strengthen joints, increase motion and maintain an injury-free, more active lifestyle!
Give us a call and let’s get your dog back to a healthy weight so they can have maximum quality of life and increased longevity!
We believe that it all starts with food that is free of chemicals, preservatives or cheap and overly-processed ingredients. In other words: dogs as living beings need real food as opposed to extruded pellets that masquerade in a cute package as “dog food”. When it comes to health, we believe that puppies and dogs deserve nothing but the best. We like our clients’ pups to beam with health, shiny coats and a very healthy weight on the lean side.
At DogRelations we have done all the work for you. So if you want to give your dog well-balanced, complete and delicious food choices, contact us and we will design a great menu including treats, snacks and proper portioning for you.
Let us guide you to finding the best and freshest food choices for your puppy or dog to assure they get the best chance to live a very long and healthy life!
Is your dog overweight? A picky eater? Unmotivated? Did you notice your dog has trouble getting up, or is slow sitting down? Does your dog lack exercise? Is the coat not healthy and shiny?
During the Comprehensive Wellness Consultation, we address all of those issues and motivate your dog to eat with gusto. We do fun enrichment walks and use some of your household equipment to build great obstacle courses inside your home or create puzzles for your dog to solve. They will learn useful tricks to turn them into a “helper” dog!
All of the above will be fun for both humans and dogs. It will enhance your relationship and greatly enhance the quality of life for your mixed-species household.
If you need support after your 1 month of support that is included in any Comprehensive Consultations, our online check-ins are the perfect solution to ask simple questions and get answers and feedback.
Rather than waiting until your next lesson, book a 15-minute or 30-minute check-in session.
Completely customized and expert led developed plan to teach you how to shape your puppy’s skills and behaviors – from house training to polite manners
Prevent inappropriate yet normal responses such as jumping, leash pulling, barking, and fear aggression while finding solutions to other undesirable behaviors.
Train your dog to provide essential support with tailored training for your specific needs. Includes letter of confirmation of those specific service training skills and public access behavior.
Promote mental stimulation and a physically fit lifestyle through carefully guided sessions that teach you additional handling skills and enrichment solutions to fulfill your dog’s needs.
Elisabeth came to our home for the standard 90 minute consultation. It was the perfect amount of time. We worked on basic puppy manors and learned the tools needed to teach our little guy many skills. Thanks!
“Elisabeth helped me train my dog Moa via online video lessons. With Elisabeth’s precise and motivating method, we made quick progress and Moa learnt as much as I did. I probably learnt more, actually. I understood the calm and steady process of training, how to be consistent, and look for responses to progress and challenge her.”
“Where do I begin? Elisabeth is a treasure. We adopted our sweet pup just before lockdown in February 2020 and I knew she would be instrumental in training (our pup and us)! Then lockdown occurred, we moved out of NYC, and I panicked. Elisabeth to the rescue! She swiftly adapted and began offering us virtual training. She is a master and we are so thankful for her!
My experience with Elisabeth of Dog Relations has been consistent and remarkable for 2-1/2 years. It is not my experience. It is the experience of me, my family and my staff – all of whom were trained by her so that we acted consistently to our new puppy. She was empathetic, compassionate and patient with us as she was with our dog.
We met her when we were frustrated by the pup who was not fresh from a litter and being 8-12 weeks old, but rather more like five months old and was accustomed to running with a “pack” of other dogs, all Tibetan terriers who like independence and are not people-pleasers like golden retrievers.
We had a Tibetan terrier and wanted another one and knew that with enough loving, we would make it work. After one month of trying it on our own and with traditional trainers, we called friends for help who had dogs with behavioral problems and they said that she was the “dog whisperer”. They urged us to be in touch.
She met our dog and we watched her in action. Her results were clearly visible and she gave logical and easy-to-understand instructions to us, getting inside the head of the dog to establish “a relationship”.
Our patience had come to frayed edges by that time, however, and although we saw improvement over the next two weeks, we saw that we were not consistent with her counsel and that a lot of different people were dealing with the same animal and he was playing each one of us and he was winning.
We embarked upon a radical plan which was: we left town for close to three weeks. She moved in to our home. Everyone was in boot training who remained in the residence. The dog was the principal being trained.
When we returned to the United States, our dog listened to us (after we were trained by Elisabeth) and has never stopped listening. Sit. Stay. Up. Down. Patience. Restraint. Polite. Give paw. Walks well. All the things a dog could do and should do. He sits when getting to curbs. Doesn’t bark or bother other dogs on the street. Plays well with others. Is friendly with everyone. Does not steal or beg for food. It was magic.
Elisabeth has continued the reinforcement and the dog is constantly learning more and more problem-solving, having greater stimulation and she has become part of his life and our lives.
It has been a revelation and a blessing.
We recommend her to anyone at any time
My 11 year old lab Alex’s arthritis was catching up with him. It became very difficult for him to move around and sometimes he would fall. After a terrible fall down a set of stairs Elisabeth guided me to a great neurologist and after Alex’s surgery started an in home physical rehabilitation program. Alex walked again, enjoyed his walks through the neighborhood, learned to ring poochie bells and loved it. The care Elisabeth gave her contributed a lot to his quality of life.
Rocky is doing so well! We had an especially nice long walk this morning. He was able to pass many dogs, even big ones, without trouble (he pulled a little, but I told him to sit and wait and he did!). He barks a bit at the door, but calms quickly.
I’m still training him regularly and feeding him the raw diet, and it’s really making a difference. A few neighbors with dogs he’s always barked at before have even remarked on how much better behaved he is!
So, thank you thank you thank you Elisabeth!
Elisabeth was one of the key people in helping maintain the spirit and integrity of Lola’s life. Everyday Lola looked forward to her time with Elisabeth. It was a great relationship that we all rejoiced in. Elisabeth is a kind dog genius. Her help cannot be overestimated and went far beyond what one can buy. Lolabelle loved her.
We all loved her.
My dogs and I have never personally met Elisabeth, but thanks to the internet we’ve been able to communicate. Elisabeth has given me really good advice with dietary problems I had with my dogs and the results were instant. It was amazing! I also have been reading her great articles on dog training and behavior She helps me be a more responsible guardian. My dogs are very grateful and would love to meet her. I can only imagine what she could do for us in person!!!!
“We love Elisabeth and her amazing talent, we’re so grateful for the astonishing difference she made in our lives. Our hairy kids adore her. 100000% yes!”
Dear Elisabeth,
David and I read your wonderful and enlightening letter. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time to care and relate your experience and wisdom to our problem.
When you said “Fear Aggression” the biggest lightbulb went off. We always thought that Zeus was over protective of David, but I think you absolutely have nailed it. Now we have an entirely different perspective.
We also are thankful for you excellent description of Schutzhund training and why that would not be a good option for Zeus. And most of all in one simple sentence, you have explained to us the importance of the positive reinforcement training. When you said that it is much better to do something because you want to do it, than worrying about some terrible thing happening if you don’t, again the sky actually parted for us. I never knew that was the reason for that kind of training. When we worked with the folks at Santa Fe Tails previously, no one ever said that. We just thought it was a newer, more modern way to train dogs. And we worried that they gave far too many treats. And finally your wonderful explanation of deferential behavior gives us such hope for Zeus’s future. I could not bear the thought of living a life of constant fear about him and for him and you actually have lifted a terrible and ominous weight off of the situation. Our only challenge now, is can these folks train us to understand and work in this way with Zeus?
Could I ask you to recommend a book or DVD that would be appropriate for us to learn to work with Zeus in this manner?
I am ever grateful to Freddie and Myrna for discussing our problem with you and I am ever grateful to you for your amazing expertise and for being so generous in sharing this with us.
Warm regards,
Roberta Remy and David Shields
