Training a dog is 70 percent about teaching the human and 30 percent about teaching the canine, Ember Leash Dog Training owner Skylar McClellan said.
“It’s about consistency and bringing everybody together so that they are all being as consistent as possible with the way that they’re responding to their dog’s behaviors,” McClellan noted. “When the whole family is on the same page, it’s a manageable experience.”
McClellan didn’t discover his passion for dog training until 2019 when he started working at the Woods Humane Society in San Luis Obispo. On his second day of work, he participated in a safety training class with the shelter’s trainer and has loved working with dogs ever since.
“It was like a bolt of lightning,” McClellan said of his first training experience. “I just decided I had to do it.”
At the shelter, he saw firsthand the effectiveness of positive reinforcement training, which the Humane Society of the United States defines as training that “uses a reward for desired behaviors.” In McClellan’s experience, positively reinforcing behaviors has proven much more effective than “teaching a dog to avoid pain or discomfort” by doing the right thing.
“To me, it’s about figuring out what is going on with a dog and giving them a reason to do the behavior that we want them to do,” he explained. “It’s about going toward something rather than about avoiding something.”
One concern people often bring up when it comes to positive reinforcement training is that it requires too many treats, but McClellan noted that a reward does not always have to be food. It can be access to a toy or even some simple love and attention.
“I understand that frustration or that fear from a lot of people because they think that we’re just hot dog peddlers and we just constantly shove treats at the dog, and that’s not the case at all,” he clarified. “There’s a very scientific approach to why we use those levels of reinforcement.”
In 2022, he passed the test to become certified through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, and within the next year, he started Ember Leash Dog Training as a side business while he continued to train dogs at the shelter.
He emphasized that the credentials of a trainer are important because the dog training industry is not regulated, meaning anyone can claim to be a dog expert.
“If you hire a trainer that’s certified, you’re hiring somebody who actually went through courses, and went through the work, and actually did the requirements for it,” he said. “There’s a really intense test.”
McClellan ultimately decided that he wanted to pursue his own dog training business full time in 2024, providing in-home services to dog owners from Paso Robles to Santa Maria. With experience training more than 100 dogs, he specializes in addressing challenges such as impulse control, reactivity, and poor manners, establishing a stronger connection between owners and their pets.
“Helping dogs to stay in their homes rather than helping them to find a home is definitely rewarding,” he said.
McClellan plans to offer group training classes in the new year. To learn more about his methods and the services he provides, visit emberleash.com.
Highlight
• The Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor the grand opening of El Pollo Loco in Lompoc. The event will be held on Jan. 31 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at 925 North H St., featuring a live broadcast from La Buena radio station as well as games and music. El Pollo Loco is a chain restaurant known for its Mexican-inspired cuisine and fire-grilled chicken. Starting at 9:30 a.m., the first 100 customers will receive a special offer of free chicken for one year. For more information about this event, contact the Lompoc Valley Chamber at (805) 736-4567.
Reach Staff Writer Emma Montalbano at emontalbano@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 9, 2025.