Palmer woman takes animal training techniques worldwide

PALMER — A local, yet world-renowned dog training expert recently launched an innovative website that teaches people around the world her methods.

Grisha Stewart — a Palmer resident and certified dog trainer — has made her Behavior Adjustment Training available to the world online through the Animal Building Blocks Academy.

Stewart originally developed the Behavior Adjustment Training in 2009 as a means to help dogs that experience fear, frustration and aggression. Drawing from multiple training methods, Stewart’s program focuses on empowering canines to overcome whatever might be bothering them, she said. That means identifying and alternatively managing a dog’s behavior, she said.

“You basically teach them that their behavior has an effect,” Stewart said.

The Behavior Adjustment Training centers on a canine’s needs, rather than the acts of rewarding or reprimanding. Stewart says that a lot of modern training involves suppressing behavior instead of simply channeling it in the right direction. For example, if a dog is eating something they shouldn’t, Stewart said that’s a signal from the animal saying it needs to put something in its mouth. So she teaches people to respond by giving the dog a toy to play with instead.

“I think all the problems that we have with dogs, pretty much all the way down the line, come from needs not being met,” she said.

Stewart’s technique also illustrates how to help a dog cope with anxiety, which may cause it to bark, or be alarmed. When a dog starts to bark at something, the Behavior Adjustment Training advises moving the dog to a comfortable distance from whatever is triggering his or her response. The technique allows the canine to process being around whatever it’s barking at, and overcome its initial fear.

As her 5-month old rescue puppy, Bean, begins to pull on his own leash, Stewart illuminates the ultimate goal of her program. Though some people think that animals are always trying to be dominant over their owners, there is instead a whole range of needs that may cause an animal to act in any manner, according to Stewart.

“He doesn’t really need to be the boss of me, he needs to be the boss of him, and that’s OK,” she said.

Bean tugged at his rope.

Stewart originally shared her new techniques by holding seminars around the world. Two trainers certified in Behavior Adjustment Training now make trips to England, Lithuania, Brazil and Taiwan in her place. This allows Stewart to focus on growing Animal Building Blocks Academy, launched in April.

The members-only website offers three components. Users can learn techniques from standard training videos, participate in live question-and-answer sessions with Stewart, and communicate with one another through a social networking page. A student membership costs $9.95 per month, while a pro membership costs $24.95

Stewart said she intends the site as a way to avoid traveling to seminars and also helps minimize animal training costs.

“I wanted it to be something that people could do in addition to trainers, but if they couldn’t afford a trainer that this would at least get them going,” Stewart said.

Animal Building Blocks Academy now boasts around 1,200 members, with roughly even split between professional trainers and pet owners. Breeders and veterinarians are able to distribute prepaid membership cards for the site to their clients, which Stewart says has generated a lot of the traffic. Stewart has also given rescue shelters across the world a free membership to the website, so they can use it as a resource to empower rescued animals.

For more information, visit animalbuildingblocks.com

Contact Kaden Weaver at 352-2270 or kaden.weaver@frontiersman.com.