About The Trainer
Finn Cross KPA-CTP CCUI
Fox Hollow Dog Training is owned and operated by Finn Cross.
Kindness, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fairness are some values that Finn holds in their personal life and in their dog training.
Finn has been working with dogs professionally since they were seventeen.
Starting in local shelters and rescues, volunteering their time to help care for the animals.
After fostering and placing over 30 dogs in a two-year span Finn dove deeper into training and behavior.
In summer of 2013 Finn pulled a pit bull from a local pound, who they named KayLee.
KayLee came with a long list of issues such as dog aggression, trouble with housebreaking, and a strong prey drive.
KayLee needed to learn how to be a house dog and Finn fell in love with her.
Finn started working at a boarding facility that also offered positive reinforcement training.
They learned much about training dogs with positive reinforcement,
KayLee came leaps and bounds, even earning her Canine Good Citizen title through the AKC!
From then on Finn was hooked on learning everything they could about human and dog behavior with positive reinforcement.
In fall of 2020 Finn adopted a husky mix who they named Fox.
The universe felt that Finn needed to learn a bit more about behavior, so they gave them a pandemic puppy with human reactivity.
One dog with dog reactivity and another with human reactivity, the universe sure is something some times.
Fox was Finn's partner dog through the Karen Pryor Academy.
Helping Fox with his reactivity pushed Finn to learn even more about how to work with nervous dogs and really change emotions for fearful and stressed-out dogs.
Help them learn to be more confident and successful in a very scary world.
In 2022 Finn officially opened their training business,
Fox Hollow Dog Training.
Dedicated to furthering their knowledge in order to provide the most effective, and up to date methods for communicating with our dogs, Finn is always taking continued education seminars and workshops to bring the best training methods to you and your dogs.
We focus on supporting puppies through the vital socializing windows, helping tackle struggles with raising adolescents, and teaching humans the joy of training dogs with positive reinforcement.
We look forward to helping many families in Western MA!
Meet The Dogs!
KayLee
KayLee is a 13(ish) year old pit-bull. Some nicknames for her include Woo, Wooze, Kay, Old Lady.
She is named for the character KayLee from the Sci-Fi show Firefly.
She was one of Finn's first dogs and launched Finn into behavior training.
KayLee came with some serious reactivity to other dogs on top of many of other issues.
She would do what we call "The Raptor Scream" when she would see other dogs.
Together Finn and KayLee worked together to learn to chill out when other dogs appear and even bark at her!
Some of her favorite activities are snoozing under blankets, rolling in the grass and eating every snack she can find.
What does KayLee do at Fox Hollow?
KayLee LOVES puppies, and she plays very gently with them. She helps young puppies learn how to play and greet adult dogs politely.
KayLee also does some work as a distraction dog at a distance or through doors/windows.
Fox
Fox is a 3 year old husky mix!
Some nicknames for Fox include Trotter, Fox Trot, Foxwell, Trot.
Finn and their partner Nic adopted Fox during the 2020 pandemic when Fox was 4 months old.
Fox is named for Fox Mulder from the Sci-Fi show X-Files!
Fox is definitely a spooky boy. He is very nervous of people and prefers to not interact with them.
Fox was Finns partner for the KPA-CTP certification program. It was a difficult course, but together they pulled through!
Finn even named their business after this little dude!
Foxs favorite things to do are snooze on the bed, lay in puddles or swim in any water he can find, and absolutely loves to be chased around the yard. He is so fast!
What does Fox do at Fox Hollow?
Fox is the adventure friend! Fox gets along with every dog he has met so far. He really respects other dogs play and interaction styles and can get along with everyone.
Fox also does some demo work in classes and in videos for people to learn from!
Fox Hollow’s Position on Inclusivity
At Fox Hollow we’ll not only respect each dog's unique selves and abilities, but we welcome guardians of every age, race, gender, ability, neurodivergent status and beyond as well.
As a queer owned business we are passionate about intersectional inclusivity.
We promise that you will always be treated with kindness and respect and we will always work with you to accomplish your training goals!
About Our Methods
At Fox Hollow, we adhere to the LIMA dog training model (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive). Our goal is to be as force-free as possible when working with dogs.
To begin, we ensure that each dog’s natural physical and mental needs are met, which can vary from home to home and dog to dog.
We create management plans to prevent unwanted behaviors and combine these with positive reinforcement to teach our dogs desired behaviors.
We utilize marker training, where we clearly indicate the moment our dogs perform the desired action. Marking can be accomplished using a clicker, a specific word, a hand gesture, or even a gentle touch, depending on our needs and those of our dogs.
We encourage everyone to start with a clicker, as the distinct sound helps facilitate clearer communication, and studies have shown that dogs learn more quickly with clickers.
Through this approach, we assist dogs in adapting to life in our homes without the need for constant direction or punishment.
Our aim is to cultivate a harmonious partnership with our dogs.