About Gene
I’m Gene Long, founder of Believe the Dog and a relationship-based behavior consultant.
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I’ve worked professionally with dogs and the people who live with them since 2012, specializing in fearful, anxious, and reactive dogs, multi-dog homes, and complex behavior cases.
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I began my professional education through the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior, where I trained under Laurie Luck and graduated with distinction as a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. I was awarded a scholarship from the B.F. Skinner Foundation.
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My background extends well beyond dog training. I’ve spent decades studying and teaching mindfulness meditation and breathwork, including intensive traditional Zen training in Kyoto, Japan, and three years living and practicing in a largely silent retreat in the forest. I’ve also studied and taught nonviolent communication, de-escalation, and conflict resolution. I’ve taught individuals and groups, served as visiting faculty for universities and organizations, worked in trauma-informed care, and directed a nonprofit serving people with dementia and their families.
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On the surface, those experiences may seem far removed from working with dogs. To me, they are deeply connected.
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Again and again, I have found myself in situations where words alone were not enough. I had to pay attention to what was happening beneath them: breathing, movement, tension, distance, timing, emotion, and the effect my own presence was having on another.
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You learn to observe.
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You learn that adding pressure can make communication harder. You learn to notice small changes. You learn to wait long enough to see what happens next. And you learn that your own behavior is always part of the interaction.
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Those lessons came with me to dogs.
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Along with years of private behavior consulting, I have worked extensively with shelter dogs and volunteer handlers in a jail dogs program. I’ve worked with newly adopted dogs trying to find safety in an unfamiliar world, puppies just beginning to learn how to navigate ours, dogs whose fear made everyday life extraordinarily difficult, and families trying to restore safety in homes where dogs were struggling to live together.
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I’m also frequently contacted after someone has already worked with another trainer—or several—and the problem remains. Sometimes the previous approach simply wasn’t enough. Sometimes the dog was misunderstood. And sometimes attempts to change the behavior created more fear or conflict.
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Those cases have taught me to look carefully before deciding what needs to change.
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My job is not simply to train a dog.
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It is to observe, ask better questions, help people understand what they are seeing, and teach them what they can do differently.
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That is why I think of myself as a teacher as much as a behavior consultant.
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The dogs have been some of my best teachers, too.
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They have continually reinforced something I learned long before Believe the Dog had a name:
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Paying closer attention changes what you see.
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And what you see changes what you do.
HOW TO BEGIN
Tell me what has been happening. I will reply within 72 hours to arrange a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation.
During the call, we’ll talk about your concerns and decide whether working together makes sense. If so, we’ll schedule your online behavior consultation.
TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON WITH YOUR DOG