The Scentsible Method
WE'VE WORKED EVERY CORNER
OF THE DOG WORLD.
ONE TRUTH KEPT PROVING ITSELF.
We help dog owners understand why nothing has worked and build a real relationship with their dog so the results actually last.
Where It Came From
Most Dog Trainers Give You a List of Commands and Send You Home.
We Do Something Different.
Our founder Kelty Forman spent years working every corner of the dog world. Daycares, grooming shops, search and rescue, police K9 units. She trained under the best and studied every method available.
And she kept noticing the same pattern. Results that lasted a few weeks. Dogs that performed in training and fell apart at home. Owners doing everything right and still feeling like they were failing.
So she kept asking: why? What was the common thread in every dog that made lasting progress? What was missing in the ones that didn't?
The answer kept proving itself over 1,000+ dogs across every breed, background, and behavior challenge. It was never the command. It was always the relationship.
Nervous System First
You can't train a dog that isn't ready to learn. We address state before we address behavior.
Understanding Over Compliance
We teach owners to read their dog, not just cue them. Real comprehension creates lasting change.
Results That Hold
Not just in a controlled training session. In your home, on your walks, in actual life.
"The most permanent results always came from the relationship. Not the correction. Not the command. The relationship. That's what this entire method is built around."
Kelty Forman · Founder, The Scentsible Method
The Problem With Traditional Training
MOST TRAINING WORKS
UNTIL IT DOESN'T.
Traditional training asks "how do I get my dog to stop doing that?" instead of "why is my dog doing that in the first place?" One question treats the symptom. The other treats the cause.
When a dog is overwhelmed, confused, or afraid, their nervous system is in survival mode. In that state, they literally cannot process new information, form new habits, or choose differently. Adding corrections to an already dysregulated animal just adds more noise.
You can force a dog to comply. You can't force them to be ready to learn. Those are two completely different things, and that gap is why traditional training results rarely stick beyond a few weeks.
The Framework
THE THREE PILLARS
OF THE METHOD
Every dog. Every session. Every outcome traces back to these three.
Safe
Nervous System Regulation FirstBefore we work on any behavior, we work on what makes learning possible. A dog in survival mode can't process new information. We identify what's driving the overwhelm and remove it, so the nervous system can settle and real change can begin.
Seen
Communication & UnderstandingDogs communicate constantly, through body language, movement, attention, and avoidance. Most owners miss most of it. We teach you to read your dog the way your dog is trying to be read. When a dog feels understood, trust follows. And trust is where everything else starts.
Secure
Confidence Through StructureSecurity comes from predictability, not control. Dogs that feel secure in their environment and their relationship don't need to test limits. We build that confidence through structure and real-world practice, so the behavior holds not just in training, but in actual life.
Safe. Seen. Secure. In that order. Every time. Because a dog that feels all three doesn't need to act out, and an owner who provides all three doesn't need to fight for compliance.
The Process
WHAT WORKING WITH US
ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
The method guides every step, from your first conversation to your last session.
1
Assess the Root
We start with a free assessment to understand what's driving behavior, not just what the behavior looks like. Breed, background, triggers, nervous system baseline.
2
Regulate the State
Before we teach anything, we address what's in the way. Reducing reactivity, building a foundation of safety, and identifying what this specific dog needs to be open to learning.
3
Build the Relationship
We teach you how to read your dog and respond in a way that builds trust. This is where obedience stops feeling like a fight and starts feeling like communication.
4
Transfer to Real Life
We make sure the results hold outside the session, on walks, in your home, with distractions. Behavior that doesn't transfer isn't trained. It's just performed.
What Lasting Change Looks Like
THIS ISN'T ABOUT
BETTER TRICKS.
When a dog is Safe, Seen, and Secure, the changes that show up aren't just behavioral. They're relational. Owners tell us the same things over and over.
01
"My dog actually looks to me now."
Not because they have to. Because they want to. That shift, from avoidance to engagement, is the clearest sign the relationship has changed.
02
"The anxiety just started to settle."
When dogs feel safe and understood, the nervous system regulates. What looked like stubbornness or reactivity often just dissolves.
03
"I stopped dreading walks."
Training that changes the day-to-day experience is the only training worth doing. That's the only outcome we're building toward.
1,000+
Dogs. One
Consistent
Truth.
The Team
THE TRAINERS BEHIND
THE METHOD
Every trainer at Scentsible K9 works within the same framework, because consistent results require a consistent approach.
Kelty Forman
Owner · Head Trainer · Founder of The Scentsible Method
Kelty didn't set out to build a dog training business. She set out to find what actually worked.
She spent years working every corner of the dog world. Daycares. Grooming shops. Search and rescue. Police K9 units. She trained under the best, studied every method, and watched what happened when dogs were pushed, corrected, and drilled into compliance.
And she kept seeing the same thing. Results that lasted a few weeks. Dogs that performed in training and fell apart at home. Owners who did everything right and still felt like they were failing.
So she kept looking. And one truth kept proving itself over and over: the most permanent results always came from the relationship. Not the correction. Not the command. The relationship. That's what The Scentsible Method is built on.
Credentials
- BS Psychology, Boise State University
- Certified Police K9 Handler, Narcotics Detection
- AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
- Volunteer, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
- Scent Work Instructor, NACSW / K9 Nose Work
- Certified E-Collar Training, Paraclete K9
Alyssa Harris
Trainer · AKC Evaluator · Multi-Sport Dog Handler
Alyssa didn't grow up around dogs, she grew up with them. Her household has always been full of them, and more often than not, they're German Shepherds. She's spent her life learning to read the breed from the inside out, which means she brings a level of instinctive fluency to her sessions that's hard to teach.
With experience in AKC evaluations and a deep passion for scent detection and barn hunt, her sessions are focused, upbeat, and built around what each dog is actually telling her. She knows dogs better than most people know people, and it shows.
She doesn't shy away from the dogs other trainers find intimidating. High-drive shepherds, reactive mixes, dogs with too much engine and not enough outlet, those are her people. She knows what it takes to channel that energy, and she knows when to step back and let a dog be exactly what they are.
Jennifer Grentz
Trainer · Confidence & Focus Specialist
Jennifer is the kind of trainer who never stops rooting for the dog. Patient, perceptive, and genuinely passionate about the process, she's in this work because she believes every dog deserves to feel regulated, not just obedient.
She's an active participant in dog sports herself, which gives her a firsthand understanding of what it looks like when a dog is truly engaged versus just compliant. She specializes in tapping into a dog's natural instincts and using them as the vehicle for learning, turning what looks like a problem into a purpose. Her sessions are playful, grounded, and built to last.
She's the trainer owners come to when their dog has been written off as "too much," "too shy," or "too distracted." She doesn't see the labels, she sees the dog underneath, and she gets to work figuring out what game, sport, or structured outlet will give that dog a way to feel useful. Once a dog has a job they love, the rest of the behavior tends to fall in line.
Neo Blake
Trainer · Purpose & Creative Outlet Specialist
Neo's connection with animals goes well beyond dogs. He works with chickens, cats, and just about anything that breathes, because he genuinely believes that repetition through associative learning can teach any animal anything. That conviction shows up in every session he runs.
His own dog works in acting, modeling, and service work, a testament to what's possible when training is built on real communication and trust rather than compliance. Neo specializes in helping dogs find their purpose: the job, the sport, or the creative outlet that turns excess energy into focus and makes the dog-owner relationship feel like actual teamwork.
He's the trainer for dogs whose brains need a job. The high-drive shepherd who can't settle. The clever pup who's gotten too smart for ordinary training. The shelter dog whose energy keeps getting them returned. Those dogs aren't broken, they're under-employed. Neo finds the work that fits them, and the rest of the behavior unlocks from there.
Shana Sklar
Trainer · Anxious & Fearful Dog Specialist
Shana spent years as a nurse, learning to read the small signs most people miss: the shallow breath, the tight jaw, the way fear shows up in a body before it shows up in words. That training never left her. It just found a new application.
The shift came at home. Her own dog was struggling, and traditional training wasn't moving the needle. When she started focusing on nervous system regulation instead, the same principles she'd spent years applying to anxious patients, and everything changed. Faster than she expected, deeper than she thought possible. That's when she knew this was the work.
Today she specializes in anxious and fearful dogs, and the humans who love them. She teaches owners how to regulate their own nervous systems first, because a dog can't settle when the person holding the leash is wound tight. Her sessions are calm, deliberate, and rooted in a quiet conviction: fear is information, not failure. She's here for both ends of the leash: the dog who's scared, and the human who's exhausted from trying everything.
Want to join our team? Contact us
Common Questions
QUESTIONS ABOUT
THE METHOD
What makes The Scentsible Method different from positive reinforcement or balanced training?
Most training debates center on tools and techniques, reward vs. correction. We think that's the wrong conversation. The Scentsible Method starts with the nervous system: is this dog in a state where they can actually learn? Once that foundation is in place, we layer in communication and structure. The result is behavior change that's genuinely internalized, not performed for treats and not compliance through pressure.
What does "nervous system first" actually mean in practice?
It means we don't start a training session by drilling commands. We start by asking: what is this dog's baseline state right now? Are they overwhelmed? Hyperaroused? Shut down? We identify what's driving that state, whether that's environment, routine, unmet needs, or past experience, and we address it first. A dog in survival mode cannot process new information. Once the nervous system regulates, learning becomes possible, and results become permanent.
Is this method science-based?
Yes. Our approach is grounded in behavioral science, learning theory, and what research tells us about how stress impacts cognition and memory consolidation. When a dog's nervous system is overwhelmed, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for learning, impulse control, and decision-making, essentially goes offline. We work with that biology, not against it.
What kinds of dogs does this method work best for?
The method works for any dog because it starts with the individual, not a protocol. That said, it's especially effective for reactive dogs, anxious dogs, dogs with inconsistent obedience, and dogs who've been through previous training that didn't stick. If your dog performs in sessions and falls apart at home, this is the approach designed for exactly that gap.
Do you use prong collars, e-collars, or aversive tools?
We focus on behavior change through regulation, clarity, and skill building, not pressure or aversion. If you have questions about specific tools or past training experiences, we'll walk through your dog's situation and tell you honestly what we think will be most effective and most appropriate for your dog specifically.
How do I find out if this is the right fit for my dog?
Start with our free assessment. It takes a few minutes and helps us understand what's driving your dog's behavior before we recommend anything. If you'd prefer to jump straight to a conversation, book an in-person consultation.
Ready to See the Difference?