For the past 20 years, Doug Poynter has helped dogs and their owners overcome K9 Behavior problems. For the past 30 years, he has coached, taught or trained people in one fashion or another, starting out of college as a tennis teaching professional in Richmond, Virginia. He then moved to the corporate world as a Sales Trainer and Coach.

During that time, he exercised his love for dogs and training by developing and training the New Adopter’s class for the F.U.R.S. (Friends United with the Richmond Shelter) rescue organization. During the 5 years that he taught the class the return rate for F.U.R.S. adopted dogs went from over 20% to under 1%. He has a unique connection to dogs and he is also able to relate to their human families and teach them how to live and work as a team.

“Behavior problems are what I specialize in. Separation anxiety, unruly behavior, out of control barking, fear, aggression, general not listening or paying attention, OCD and neurotic behavior are all areas I work in. What I find is that although these are K9 Behavior problems, human owners are a big part of the equation. Maybe the biggest part. Once we understand what causes the behavior then we are on our way to fixing it and teaching something better! And once we understand our role in our dog’s behavior, then we can begin to make changes that allow our dogs to relax and become the balanced pets we want to love and adore!”