Natessa Weisbrodt

Owner, Trainer,
Dog-Lover

My Philosopy

I started Balanced Behaviors with the simple goal to empower dog owners to build and maintain healthy, positive relationships with their pets.

Dog training programs can be effective, but often the results are limited or temporary. Why? They don’t always provide you as an owner with a true understanding of why dogs behave and react the way they do. Without those fundamentals, even good behaviors can regress back into bad ones, and that’s FRUSTRATING.

How dogs respond and behave in different scenarios depends on how we motivate and reinforce those behaviors, whether we mean to or not. We need to know how to use the tools to maintain positive behavior change, which is why I make owner education a priority in all of my training.

When you truly understand your dog’s behavior and how to communicate with them, that’s when you start getting positive change that sticks.

I believe that dog training should be:

Judgement-Free

Whether it’s your first dog or your fifth, behavior struggles are frustrating.

Beyond that, learning styles often vary from person to person.

My programs put you first to ensure you’re seeing results fast AND enjoying the process, all from the comfort of your home.

Flexible

Have 3 days a week you can commit time to training? Great. Only 1 day? No problem.

Life gets hectic, and we all don’t have the same time or financial resources to commit.

That’s why each program is uniquely designed around your individual needs and goals for your dog.

Empowering

A training program is only valuable if the results are sustainable.

Beyond dog training, I’m here to make sure you have the skills, know-how and ongoing support to make good behaviors stick.

If knowledge is power, I want to turn you into a dog-owner superhero!

GET STARTED

About Me

My name is Natessa (She/Her) and I am the owner and trainer at Balanced Behaviors.

Growing up on a farm in Northern Manitoba, there was never a shortage of animals around. My grandparents even bred and raised Samoyeds. I spent countless hours observing the dogs’ interactions, sparking my initial curiosity to learn more about their social structure and the ways they communicate and learn.

Besides being an all-around animal enthusiast (I have a roster of 6 dogs and 3 cats in my pack), my professional journey to help owners and their pets began in 2005 when I first started studying animal psychology and behavior.

In 2015 I graduated with honors from Maritime Business College here in Halifax, NS. I took the Veterinary Assistant program, which went beyond essential medical knowledge to cover the fundamentals of animal behavior, psychology, handling techniques, nutrition, and more.

Throughout the years, I’ve volunteered at local shelters to gain practical knowledge on rehabilitation, specifically with dogs that would be considered ‘problematic’. I looked at this as an opportunity to not only help them, but refine my handling skills as a trainer (and occasionally ended up adding one to my pack).

While I’ve also had a successful 21-year career in the hospitality industry managing and developing people, I wanted to combine my love for helping others learn with my professional experience and passion for working with animals.

And so, Balanced Behaviors was born!