Services
Madison-based Dog training for the modern pet guardian
Lessons designed to train the way you learn, training plans created around your lifestyle, text and email support between lessons at no additional cost, and convenient scheduling at your fingertips. We strive to create a learning environment where not only your dog succeeds at her part, but that you get the empathetic support you need in order to thrive. Compassionate Canine Training Services provides science-based, force-free behavior modification directly to dog guardians in Madison, Wisconsin, the greater Dane County area, and remotely.
Service Dog Task Training and Public Access Training
Service Dog Task Training and Public Access Training
$275/lesson
Comprehensive, step-by-step coaching for handler-trained service dog teams, from puppy prospect selection to advanced public access and specialized task work. Also suitable for teams starting with an adult dog, pending temperament evaluation.
Focus Areas: Prospect temperament evaluation, foundational manners, public access skill building, handler advocacy, and custom task training (e.g., mobility/balance support, non-military PTSD grounding, autism support, or medical alert response).
Our Approach: We guide you through building a cohesive, reliable partnership while prioritizing your working dog’s welfare and mental health at every stage of their career.
Behavior Modification Lesson
$225/lesson
Do you dream of becoming regulars with your dog at local Madison patios and breweries, but leash reactivity holds you back? Or perhaps you’d love to hike the Ice Age Trail through Dane County, if only she wasn’t terrified of approaching strangers or men?
Behavior modification training is tailored specifically to your life, delivered in the comfort of your home and in the real-world environments throughout Greater Madison where those behaviors actually happen.
Tailored interventions for fearful, anxious, highly reactive, or hyper-aroused dogs struggling to navigate modern environments.
Focus Areas: Severe separation distress, stranger anxiety, leash reactivity, handling sensitivity, noise phobias, and barrier frustration.
Our Approach: Using positive reinforcement and force-free handling, we build your dog’s confidence and teach functional coping mechanisms so they can thrive at home and in public.
Aggressive Dog Training & Bite History Management
$300/lesson
Does the stress of managing your dog’s bite history make every ring of the doorbell or neighborhood walk feel like a high-stakes emergency?
Whether you're struggling with severe resource guarding in your Madison home, reactive lunging on narrow Isthmus sidewalks, or panic when guests step through the front door, living with aggression is exhausting and isolating. You don't have to navigate it alone.
Our specialized aggression training provides practical, safety-first management and science-based behavior modification, giving you back peace of mind in your home and confidence in our Dane County community, and beyond.
Specialized behavior modification for dogs displaying offensive or defensive aggression, severe resource guarding, leash reactivity, or an established bite history (teeth-to-skin contact with humans or other animals).
Focus Areas: Environmental safety management, muzzle conditioning, trigger identification, functional behavioral assessment, and emotional desensitization.
Our Approach: We prioritize immediate safety and risk mitigation while systematically changing your dog's underlying emotional state, opening doors for a safe, stress-free lifestyle for your family and community.
Please refer to this bite scale for additional information about what is or is not a bite in this context. This lesson track is for dogs who have shown levels 2-6, or dogs who have frequent level 1 incidents. For safety and effective treatment planning, your trainer reserves the right to determine track placement for dogs with air snaps, lunging, or escalation risks based on severity, frequency, and underlying motive.
Forensic Bite Analysis & Expert Witness Consulting
Services Provided
1. Investigative Post-Bite & Vector Analysis
A comprehensive behavioral reconstruction of a specific bite event or series of aggressive incidents.
Biomechanical & Injury Severity Mapping: Evaluating wound geometry and puncture patterns against validated clinical metrics (using the Dunbar Bite Scale) to objectively score bite severity, intent, and inhibition level.
Environmental & Spatial Vector Analysis: Analyzing triggering conditions, handler positioning, victim posture, physical barriers, and environmental stressors to understand the mechanics of the incident.
Behavioral Context Review: Assessing pre-incident behavioral history, medical factors, resource guarding context, and post-bite behavioral changes.
2. Comprehensive Risk & Behavior Evaluations
Objective, hands-on or observational evaluations conducted under controlled, secure conditions.
Evaluating thresholds for arousal, fear responses, resource guarding, handling sensitivity, and recovery time.
Assessing overall public safety risk, suitability for management/rehabilitation protocols, or whether dangerous/vicious dog designations align with observable evidence.
Objective Advocacy: Evaluating incidents with a dual commitment to understanding the mechanics of canine behavior while advocating for the safety and well-being of the greater community.
3. Expert Witness & Legal Consulting
Professional support for civil, criminal, or municipal administrative proceedings.
Written Expert Reports: Detailed, evidence-based reports suitable for court submission, settlement negotiations, or dangerous dog appeal hearings.
Evidence & Discovery Review: Analyzing police/incident reports, veterinary records, victim statements, photo/video evidence, and opposing testimony for behavioral accuracy.
Deposition & Courtroom Testimony: Clear, articulate testimony breaking down complex animal behavior and learning theory principles for judges, juries, and hearing officers.
Who We Serve
Attorneys (Plaintiff & Defense): Personal injury litigation, dangerous dog defense, premises liability, and landlord-tenant disputes.
Insurance Carriers & Claims Investigators: Objective liability assessments, bite severity verification, and risk mitigation evaluations.
Municipalities & Animal Control Agencies: Independent dangerous/vicious dog designation reviews and administrative hearing evaluations.
Private Dog Owners: Independent safety assessments following a severe incident to determine legal options, home management protocols, or humane end of life options.
Features and Accessibility:
Compassionate Canine understands that there is no "one size fits all" way to meet everyone's needs. With that in mind, we have created some additional accessibility options, just ask! accessibility options, just ask!
Currently, we can provide:
Verbatim transcripts for training videos, including sound descriptions
Scholarships available to mitigate financial hardship. Apply for a scholarship here.
Alternate meeting formats
Meeting reminders
Loaner gear including muzzles, long lines, and kennels
