Check Out Doug & Elizabeth Simpson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Doug & Elizabeth Simpson.

Hi Doug & Elizabeth, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our desire to help dogs and their people started when we got so frustrated watching people using harsh devices or ineffective coercion in an attempt to change their dogs behavior, and seeing how many dogs were in shelters for reasons that really weren’t hard to solve. Through our experience with Natural Horsemanship we developed a simple 3-step system that help people change their frustrations with their dogs very simply and with lasting results.
It has been a wonderful journey helping people find better relationships with their dogs and changing dogs futures by keeping them in their homes. It is so rewarding to have clients tell us how quickly changes came to their dogs and enabled them to live in greater harmony with their dogs. They often tell us how Tenderfoot Training changed who they became as well. One gentleman even quit his job, and rebuilt his life through Tenderfoot’s teaching.
We help people learn how to focus on their own behaviors in order to gain cooperation with their dogs, and earn the love, trust and respect of their dogs without the use of harsh devices or food. Clients often say they learned more in their first lesson than they ever learned from other entire training programs. Our approach is unique and centered on making a deeper connection with your dog so they look to you for guidance out of relationship and consistent leadership on your part.
We took our decades of experience and put it into a 4 hour, 8 part video which gives you the Tenderfoot 3-Step system, and addresses most any problem you have with your dog. It offers you more detail than you could dream of. We had one person say he watched it everyday for 3 months and learned something new each time. We were astonished.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a great journey. We carved our own path with our methods and that definitely comes with its own challenges. When we started there were about 4 trainers in the Yellow Pages, and now there are dozens and dozens in our area on the web . We have been doing this for decades and experience matters in an unregulated industry. We have clients who come back time and again as new dogs come into their lives, because their experiences were so positive and their dogs were so well behaved. We’ve had TV series on local new programs, written monthly articles for national dog magazines, and been offered shows from National Geographic to Animal Planet. We’ve been rated in the top 10 for Colorado Dog Trainers more than once. We are enjoying recognition on Instagram that has surpassed our expectations, and really enjoy reaching a larger audience through social media. Through social media and our 4 -hour video (available on our website tenderfoottraining.com) we have gained clients from all over the US and the world. It is so fun to be able to help people in Australia, New Zealand, England, Argentina, etc, and we even have a client in Mongolia!
Of course there have been some challenges along the way, for instance we made the top finalists for an incredible international training award, but when terrible fires raged through the home town of the company running the award they had to shut down, and it all came to a halt. Though it is was truly an honor just to be recognized.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Tenderfoot Training is all about working with dogs in a way the dogs already understand, and being as holistic as possible in our care for their entire being. We teach our clients to become more self aware, and more aware of how their dogs respond to them. We don’t use food or harsh devices in our training because the relationship becomes about the food or fear of the device, and not about the person in their life. People often become too harsh in their training, or vending machines with food, and we believe that extremes don’t benefit the dog or the relationship. If you cause fear or pain then you lose trust and it is a terrible way to learn. If you rely on food then the dog is working for the food and not you. We believe the human is the treat.
Everything matters: your tone, touch, energy, body language and intentions. Dogs read you at a deeper level than most people realize, and when the client becomes aware of the subtleties and responds appropriately then things come together seamlessly. It is so beautiful to watch their dog tune into them for the first time, and clients are often brought to tears or equally speechless as they witness their dog find a connection.
Reading our testimonials is a wonderful way to remind ourselves that Tenderfoot Training means something special to so many people who have worked with us. We are so lucky.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Someone once described us as authentic with a ‘special sauce’ in the way we work with dogs and their people. It’s about making a connection to the person in order to help them find their strengths and weaknesses in their relationship with their dog, while discovering what is missing in the dogs world to help them find greater balance and connection in their humans world.
What we love about Tenderfoot Training is that we aren’t about extremes. We don’t use food as a motivator or reward (your love is the treat), and we don’t use harsh devices which create pain and discomfort to force behaviors. Instead we are the middle ground, the place where extremes are not needed because you find the answer at the center. It really is something we take great pride in. If you can engage a 1500lb horse with the tilt of your head or the shift in your stance then you can do it with a dog with just a breath. So cool to watch a dog relax and shift just because they heard you sigh or felt your loving touch.

Pricing:

• $150/hr
• $80 – 4 hr video

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tenderfoottraining.com
• Instagram: @tenderfoot_training
• Facebook: Tenderfoot Training
• Youtube: Tenderfoot Training