Jean Kolor
& First Friend Canine Consulting
About Jean
Jean Kolor approaches dog training for her busy clients with 35 plus years of animal training and husbandry experience to offer. With an educational background in Animal Science from SUNY Cobleskill (AS) and Cornell University (BS), as well as 22 years of practical experience training puppies and young adult dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Jean has the experience you can trust to help you turn the dog you have into the dog of your dreams.
Jean has been professionally certified by the Karen Pryor Academy. This is considered one of the most prestigious designations for professional dog trainers. Jean’s certification, along with required continuing education, ensures that you and your dog are receiving the most up-to-date training practices based in positive reinforcement — so you can rest easy, knowing you’ll get the best and kindest training possible.
Jean is also community minded and has spent many years supporting rescue organizations, from fostering dogs to training fellow volunteers to providing behavioral consultations. She lives what she teaches and, as a training junkie, Jean spends her free time training and hiking with her own two rescue dogs, Ivy, and Bryson. Ivy and Bryson both hold their Nose Work 2 titles and are training to compete at the Nose Work 3 level.
Dog Trainer New york
The story behind the First Friend
Inspired by the Rudyard Kipling story The Cat That Walked By Himself , First Friend Canine Consulting pays homage to the loyalty of the family dog, beginning with the aptly named First Friend from Kipling’s charming origin story.
Why positive training?
Simply put, because it works. We’re fortunate to benefit from decades of behavioral science clearly demonstrating the power of positive training to transform canine behavior, allowing us to avoid common unwanted (and sometimes tragic) side effects of more traditional punishment based training. Armed with this science, well-educated trainers have en masse set aside old school methods in favor of safer, more humane approaches to training.
As a Karen Pryor Academy graduate and Certified Training Partner, Jean often uses a technique called clicker training, in which a small hand-held noise maker helps bridge the gap of interspecies communication to speed up the training process. Jean particularly likes clicker training for her busy clients and students for just this reason.
Simply put, because it works. We’re fortunate to benefit from decades of behavioral science clearly demonstrating the power of positive training to transform canine behavior, allowing us to avoid common unwanted (and sometimes tragic) side effects of more traditional punishment based training. Armed with this science, well-educated trainers have en masse set aside old school methods in favor of safer, more humane approaches to training.
As a Karen Pryor Academy graduate and Certified Training Partner, Jean often uses a technique called clicker training, in which a small hand-held noise maker helps bridge the gap of interspecies communication to speed up the training process. Jean particularly likes clicker training for her busy clients and students for just this reason.
The First Friend guarantee
Within the serious professional dog training community it is considered unethical to guarantee specific training outcomes. In fact, both leading professional associations—the Pet Professional Guild and the Association for Professional Dog Trainers—forbid doing so. And there’s good reason for that. Dogs are, after all, sentient beings who make independent decisions. How can anyone guarantee the behavior of another living organism?
But what Jean does guarantee is that you will see progress and positive change in your dog, and that she’ll endeavor to put the full force of her experience and expertise into helping you reach your training goals. She also strives to make all of her services and classes as respectful of your precious time and resources as possible.
Ready to work with Jean?
Reach out and let her know how she can help:
Phone: 845.293.3033 | Click To Email
Puppy training classes and dog training classes for the Hudson Valley, including
Poughkeepsie, Wappingers Falls, Beacon and Newburgh.
