Alyssa Vincent, CPDT-KA
Alyssa began working professionally with dogs in 2007 and has occupied many roles in the industry since. From Dog Sitter, to Dog Walker, On leash and Off Leash Group Hikes, and years working at Metro Dog, a Social Boarding and Daycare Facility. In 2016 Alyssa received the certification of Certified Pet Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed. Since then she has sought to continue her education and hone her skills. She regularly attends conferences and makes a point to keep herself up to date on the industry’s newest concepts and research. Focusing on the practice and promotion of utilizing the training/teaching protocol of Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive. This protocol focuses on assessing the environment and the dog’s response to training while working to teach in ways that cause the least stress and discomfort to our dogs. To learn more about this protocol, click here: https://www.ccpdt.org/about-us/least-intrusive-minimally-aversive-lima-effective-behavior-intervention-policy/
Alyssa has worked within municipal and non-profit shelter environments, working with the dogs, the public, volunteers, staff and even cats. She truly enjoys spending time helping dogs with and without homes. Alyssa finds immense joy in explaining dog behavior in a way that people can understand, so they can improve their relationship with their dog.
This is just a quick summary, if you’d like to learn more about her journey, check out the blog post here: "How Did I Get Here?"
A Few of Alyssa’s Favorite Non-Profit Organizations:
While Alyssa believes in continually improving her skills, she also strongly believes in giving back to her community. Alyssa currently volunteers as a member of Shelter Playgroup Alliance and the Humane Alliance of Rescue Trainers. Both are non-profit organizations that help to get and keep animals in homes. Shelter Playgroup Alliance (or SPA) brings free education to animal shelters on an international level. This program helps shelters understand the importance of providing enrichment to their animals while also teaching the practical application to enact change.
Humane Alliance of Rescue Trainers (HART) is a non-profit which focuses on supporting animals while in transition to finding their forever home. The organization matches volunteer trainers with organizations who have a pet in need of training support. By supporting the foster families and rescue organizations, more animals are able to move through the system and into their forever homes, leaving room for more animals to transition out of shelters. Training services are donated by the providing trainers to help already strained organizations put their budgets to quality care for their animals.
The Gavin Buchannan Memorial Foundation is a Solano County Foundation whose goal is to provide bulletproof vests to active duty Police K9’s. Gavin believed whole heartedly that K9s deserve to come home safe each day, after serving their community. While Gavin never lived to fulfill his dream of becoming Law Enforcement, the actions of his foundation have led to the safety of over 40 K9s, fitting their vehicles with Heat Alarms, Canine First Aid Kits and Bullet Proof Vests, all leading to the daily safety of these hard working dogs.
If you’d like to learn more about these amazing causes or can consider making a monetary donation, please take a look at their links below:
Shelter Playgroup Alliance
Humane Alliance of Rescue Trainers
Gavin Buchanan Memorial Foundation (gavinmemorialfoundation.com)
Blueprints Dog Training is a family-focused training company owned and operated by Alyssa Vincent, CPDT-KA. Alyssa has been working with dogs since 2009 and began Blueprints after stepping away from the Shelter world. Her varied background within the dog care world has given her the tremendous opportunity to work with thousands of dogs, owned and un-owned. Her approach is to help the family to better understand their dogs needs and better understand what their dog is communicating. She believes there’s never just one thing that causes a behavior challenge or fixes one. Her goal is to help merge the client’s needs and the dog’s skillset.
Alyssa focuses on changing behavior by addressing the root cause of the behavior. She doesn’t believe in quick fixes and doesn’t rely on equipment to change a dog’s behavior. Alyssa has spent years educating herself and continues to work on her skills and knowledge base to better work with the humans and pets she trains. Her goal is to leave a session having taught both the human and the dog something new.
Her approach is to help the dog understand what their human(s) need from them by teaching them new skills and setting up an environment where they can be successful. Her goal is to help the family understand how changes to their space, routine and training may help to achieve their training goals.
Alyssa hopes to educate her clients better understand that meeting their dogs needs ultimately will help meet theirs. She loves involving all family members and creating an environment where everyone, including the dog, is supported. She strives to keep training fun and attainable while also being realistic in what client’s truly have time for.
To learn more about Alyssa’s training background, see the section below. To learn more about her training programs, check out the Behavior Blog
What’s Blueprints Dog Training All About?
Read below to learn about what makes this program unique!
photo credit to Kathy Kinnear