Meet Phil Reale

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Phil Reale a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Phil, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Confidence and self esteem can be hard to achieve. I believe people can be their own worst critic. Confidence can come in many forms. Knowing the most information possible is a great way to build confidence. Being able to relay that information to others in a way that they understand builds confidence because you see them utilizing the skills you taught them to improve their relationship with their pets! Self esteem follows confidence because you can feel good about yourself knowing you are making a difference.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Dogs have always been a love of mine since I was 3 or 4 years old. I started working in a dog kennel when I was 15 years old. I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian and started working in a vet clinic at 17 years old. While in college I developed a love for psychology. It was during my sophomore year of college that I found Debby Miller. She was a fantastic mentor and let me join her puppy class at The Ohio State University. I realized I could combine my love for dogs and psychology by being a dog trainer. The foundation of positive reinforcement dog training lies in classical and operant conditioning.

For years, I worked in a veterinary clinic and focused my strength of animal behavior on improving the animals emotional state while in for veterinary exams. This improved how the animals acted during the exam because it would decrease their level of fear. We were able to make the dogs and cats feel safer and more comfortable in the exam room and during procedures.

I realized there were so many dogs in need of help. They were scared, untrained, reactive and not living their best life. This in turn meant the person probably does not have the best human-animal bond with their pet.

I enrolled in the Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) in 2019. KPA is a professional dog training program. It is an international academy and is recognized by Veterinary Behaviorists as one of just a handful of trainer programs that they are comfortable referring clients to.

I opened Reale Dog Training in 2019. It is a positive reinforcement dog training company. We use clicker training which is a style of training that teaches the dog what to do. Studies show dogs and all other animals learn significantly faster with this style of training.

Our work at Reale Dog Training has improved the lives of thousands of dogs and their families. We primarily work with dogs that have behavior concerns such as reactivity or even a bite history. The dogs learn life does not have to be scary and they do not have to bark, lunge, growl or bite people, dogs or whatever they think is scary.

We are currently looking to expand so we can help more dogs. We would love to be able to have the space for a well run group daycare, help with rescuing and even fostering dogs.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Thinking back it seems everything is important in life to get to where you are today. It’s important to find the positive in every situation even unfortunate ones. The three areas that were most impactful for me were education, client communication and my experience in the veterinary field.

Education is necessary to do anything well. This does not mean you must have a college degree. It means you know the ins and outs of your line of work better than anyone else. It’s knowing how to connect dots when the in between information is not available. It’s being able to read the room. It’s following the gut feeling because you are so well informed with the information in your field that you are confident if you do something you will get a result even if you don’t have all the information. This is especially important when working in the animal field because they cannot verbally tell you why they are acting the way they do.

I learned early on that you can only help animals as much as their human companion is willing to take on. Communication is key. If the human does not understand then they may make an uninformed decision. I also learned in the veterinary world that you can be the best but if the client doesn’t LOVE you they may not make the best decision for their pet. I remember being 20 years old and listening to a veterinarian I worked with communicate to clients. Dr. Vanessa Douglas had a way of clearly communicating with clients and in turn they would do almost anything she said because they trusted her. The number of pets she saved was amazing not just because she was a wonderful veterinarian but because the clients understood her, listened and did what she said. Honing in on communication skills will get you further than just having the skills and being the best.

In the dog training world knowing how an animal feels is important. I can’t tell you the number of times I show up to a clients house and can just tell the dog does not feel well. Sometimes it’s mentally and sometimes it’s physically. Developing relationships with local veterinarians has helped me help hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs. In nearly every behavior appointment I go to I tell the client to contact their veterinarian. I recently had a case where my previous knowledge of working in the vet world was screaming to me that the dog needed to go to the veterinarian. They had the dog checked out and it had a urinary tract infection. It did not feel well and was acting out with aggression. The veterinarian resolved the UTI and the dog felt better and we saw a decrease in reactive behavior. My own dog had a broken tooth and I knew he didn’t feel well. After his dental cleaning and extraction of his broken tooth, he is more peppy and acting better. Numerous dogs I see do not feel mentally well for various reasons. When we get the dog to the veterinarian and they start behavior medication the training progresses at a faster rate. Often times, dogs are so worried about being outside that they are in an adrenaline mediated state. Therefore, they are in fight or flight mode and learning does not happen fast, if at all. The point here is if you have knowledge in parallel fields from your own you will be better at what you do.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

It’s impossible to pick just one person who has been most helpful. Picking just a few is possible. The veterinarians I worked with over the years have had a powerful role on my development and knowledge. The instructors at the Karen Pryor Academy built my confidence as a dog trainer. The current staff at Reale Dog Training is the core of what is possible today. Without them, I would not be nearly as good of a person. They challenge me, make me do better, and influence more clients than I could do alone. In turn, more dogs and people are living better lives and that’s the word of mouth I see all over social media spreading positive information about Reale Dog Training.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move