At Nashville Tail Blazers, we believe in responsible handling practices and science-based, Positive Reinforcement training. Each of our team members adheres to Fear-Free handling guidelines as outlined by Fear Free Pets. That means we will never interact with your dog in a way that intentionally causes stress, fear, or uses force.

Training is a completely unregulated field, and there’s a lot of misinformation about training methods out there. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior suggests that punishment based training can lead to several behavioral challenges as a result of increased fear and stress on the animal. While we don’t currently offer full training services, one of our managers is a certified trainer through the Karen Pryor Academy and is available to support staff and clients with any behavior questions or concerns we might encounter with the pets in our care.

As part of our commitment to safe and responsible handling, our team members will not use any punishment tools such as shock, prong, or choke collars on your dog. If you use them as part of your daily walks, we ask that you provide a harness or flat collar for our walkers to use instead. If you are currently working with a positive reinforcement trainer, just let us know and our walkers will do their best to help continue and maintain their training during your visits!

Here are some recommendations if you are looking for trainers in the area:

Instinct Nashville

Kym Iffert, CCPDT