We’re a dog training company offering our services and support online, and we can help you no matter where you are in the world. With dog-friendly (and human-friendly) methods, we’ll help you get your dog to trust, love, and listen to you.
That whole inseparable, Timmy-and-Lassie thing. But something is getting in your way.
Maybe you can’t get your dog to listen to you. Maybe your new puppy has turned out to be an absolute terror and you’re not sure you can keep them.
Maybe you don’t even have a dog yet – you’re still in the research phase, but you’re already overwhelmed and terrified of getting it wrong.
No matter what, you’re experiencing a disconnect. A disconnect from your dog, or from why you wanted a dog in the first place.
You want that strong friendship, but you just don’t know how to get there. The information overload and an internet full of conflicting opinions is shutting you down and making you second-guess your every move.
That’s where we come in.
We’re here to guide you through the rough patches and help you build a solid relationship with your dog.
Our mission is to be a safe haven for people who just want to do right by their dog, but are drowning in bad advice, impossible standards, and well-meaning experts who don’t seem to get it.
We’re known for our honest, emotionally validating approach to the early days of life with a new dog. Especially those dark, panicky moments that almost no one else talks about.
We know what it’s like to feel fed up, lost, and exhausted when it comes to our dogs and their “issues.” We know what it’s like, so we’re dedicated to helping other people make it out of that pit of despair and get to the good parts of dog life.
And while this project started as a way to help overwhelmed dog owners feel less alone, it turned into a full-on mission:
To change the conversation around dog training, and to offer a refuge from all the fear, shame, and finger-pointing people are used to getting when they ask for help.
Jake had been running the blog solo for years. Erin adopted a particularly challenging dog (seriously – ask us about the time he ate an entire couch). She emailed Jake to get his thoughts on the situation, and 70 emails later, we decided to get married and also work together. Totally normal, right?
We’re big believers in continuing education, and our idea of the perfect date is attending dog behavior/training conferences together.
We live in Arizona with our dogs Bear, River, Hazel, and Flower, and our cat, Josie.
Here’s a bit about each of us:
I joined 3 Lost Dogs officially in 2021, but this has been part of my life for much longer.
My animal career started in shelters. First as a volunteer, then as staff, then as a department supervisor – working with everything from dogs and cats to cows and horses. I got seriously into dog training after adopting my reactive dog, Bear. Helping him changed the trajectory of my life.
With degrees in science and journalism, one of my roles here is to dig into the latest dog research and translate it into stuff that actually makes sense. I make sure our advice is up-to-date, practical, and rooted in both science and real-life experience.
We live in the US now, but I’m originally from Australia. Yes, my dogs flew across the world to follow me. Yes, I cried like a baby when they landed.
I believe that every dog training decision is a chance to practice our values. And I believe that even when things feel hopeless, there’s a way forward.
I started 3 Lost Dogs in 2009, after years of volunteering in animal shelters and seeing too many dogs surrendered for behavior challenges that could’ve been managed, if only their humans had the right support.
As a trainer, I’ve sort of accidentally ended up with the specialty of helping people through the new-dog blues.
In 2015, I wrote an ebook called I Got a Dog – What Was I Thinking? It struck a chord. Over 8,000 people downloaded it, and that led to the creation of our flagship program, Puppy Survival School.
Or at least it felt that way at the time, back when I had no idea what I was doing and a serious case of the puppy blues. That experience became the story behind our most-shared article: Thinking of Returning Your Puppy? Please Read This First.
I thought he was “dominant” and spent way too long trying to fix him instead of seeing him for what he really was – an anxious little guy who just needed reassurance.
He taught me my hardest, most transformative lesson: how to admit when you’re wrong. And how to look past labels and actually see the dog in front of you.
The one-in-a-lifetime connection. We liked all the same weird stuff, like playing frisbee in the pouring rain.
To me, Merlin represents what’s possible when a human and dog truly understand each other. The kind of partnership that makes you feel like you’re reading each other’s minds. In this burning hellscape of a world, that connection is something to hang on to.
It’s one of the reasons I do this work: to help people make it through the hard, stressful parts of dog life and get to the magic.
We help real people raise real good dogs. Courses, virtual coaching, and other resources to help you navigate the challenge & adventure of life with your dogs.
We started 3 Lost Dogs to provide simple, non-judgy dog training information, and we’ve been helping dog owners feel less lost since 2009.