Krystal and Eric Nierman || Dog Psychology and Training Center
Eric, Krystal's husband, and George
As a dog owner, it can be difficult to acknowledge that you may need help with training. You want to take a walk downtown with your fur-baby, but they drag you along on a wild ride! What’s even more difficult is finding people who understand your difficulties and who want to help.
Krystal and Eric Nierman have been helping their community by training pups of all backgrounds and learning how to help people around them.
I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Krystal about how they got started, and she said it was really a unique story. While growing up, she wanted to eventually become a vet. Realizing veterinary school was expensive and took a good amount of time to get through, she abandoned the idea. Her first job was at a pet store. Unfortunately, after working there for a while, she found out the store was closing and she needed to find somewhere else to work. During this time, she had been taking her dogs to a dog training facility which offered her a job!
“Where I'm from, dogs weren't considered pets,” she laughed, “They were farm hands! So I never thought of dog training as a career or a choice.” But she was desperate for a job and decided to take it. Krystal finally graduated from nursing school but realized she loved dog training much more than nursing.
Raider, Eric and Krystal's son, helping at Pucks and Paws Night
During this time, Krystal and Eric were living in Indiana and wanted to move south since it was way too cold for them (-20 IS a bit chilly). They started house hunting in Asheville but couldn’t find anything they truly loved. Together, they decided to visit downtown Greenville and, much like many others, fell in love with the area and decided to transfer their love for dog training to the Upstate.
I dug a little deeper into her passions and Krystal said, “The reason I do this day after day is the families that call us who are overwhelmed because they can’t handle their dogs. They just want help, and I find it truly rewarding. Most people don’t realize that their dog develops their personality as they train. Dogs will still have their sweet personality but, when we’re finished, they are mindful and listen. Around here we joke that we will ‘teach you to speak dog.’ After all, only a well-trained dog is man’s best friend.”
Faithful friends holding down the fort!
Krystal and Eric are expanding everyday by adding different programs and adding trainers that work with them. Ultimately, they want to do more dog training in homes so the dogs can learn how to behave in their own home and will adapt easier to instruction. Since dogs are very location oriented, teaching them in places in which they are already familiar is vital to the success of the training.
“We actually only take in two to three dogs at a time because we really want to give them the attention they deserve,” Krystal mentioned. “And we want to focus on replicating the home environment so no matter what the dog has to do, they already have been through the motions and can recall them.”
Even with their busy schedule, Krystal and Eric are also very involved in their community. They attend community events and family events to get to know people and come alongside individuals who are wanting to adopt or need help with current pets. They have also met with Animal Care and talked through incorporating an on boarding process for the staff to learn body language of dogs, finding animals their forever home, digital training series, and ultimately helping both humans and pets.
Temple, left, and George, right, playing after training.
“We’re always present and trying to see where we can be helpful. The other thing we do is we go to preschools with dogs. We teach the kids how to treat dogs, when to back away, and how to love them. We love making it click with little kids!”
These two are very easy to find through their website, www.greenvilledogtraining.com, and you can find them on Facebook (Greenville Dog Training). On their website you can find more about programs, pricing, and the guarantee how they’ll stand by you through thick and thin!
