Today we’d like to introduce you to Terry Flurry.
Hi Terry, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Curbed Behaviors officially formed in 2020. Around that time, my wife left her job to support me full time, and that completely changed what we were capable of building. While I focused on training dogs, caring for them, and maintaining everything physically and operationally, she stepped into the behind the scenes side of the business.
At first, the changes were simple. We moved away from paper contracts and transitioned to digital systems. Then came the website, social media, content creation, and improving the overall client experience. Little by little, we kept building, learning, refining, and establishing ourselves while still living full lives outside of the business.
Somewhere along the way, we got married, became parents to twin girls, and learned how to balance family life with entrepreneurship. Our twins are toddlers now, so yes, our hands are always full. Curbed Behaviors has always been family owned and operated. We are real people who are constantly learning, adapting, and improving.
Last year, we launched the H.E.A.R.T. Initiative, Helping Every Adoptable Rescue Thrive, creating an access pathway to training for dogs in rescue and foster care. Through H.E.A.R.T., rescue and foster dogs automatically received 50% off any training program. But the support did not stop there. We continued helping fosters and rescues maintain training after dogs returned to their care, and we remained available to support adopters during transition periods at no additional cost.
Through this initiative, we had the opportunity to meet incredible people within Houston’s rescue community and work with amazing dogs like Phoenix, Lani, Rambo, and Riley. Riley even made it all the way to The Dodo. She became a true example of what is possible when a rescue dog has a strong foster, rescue, and community behind them.
You can see Riley’s story here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRNCugOD_rt/
This year, we stepped into something completely different. We became the exclusive training partner for Zoomies Dog Park, Houston’s first members only dog park. But Zoomies is more than just a dog park, and we immediately fell in love with what they are building.
Working with clients one on one in that environment has been exciting and refreshing. People love being able to train in real environments, at the bar, in the yard, and in the middle of real world distractions and social settings. Alongside private training, we now host weekly classes, pack walks, community events, and we have even more planned ahead.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. We have built Curbed Behaviors on our own from the ground up, and that has meant learning many things through trial and error. Over the years, we have made plans as we grew, only for some of them to fall through or not work out the way we expected.
We also do not come from formal backgrounds in business, marketing, or entrepreneurship. A lot of what we know has come from taking a leap of faith in ourselves, learning from incredible entrepreneurs we have met along the way, asking questions, and being willing to adapt as we go.
One thing that has always been important to us is practicing people over profits. While we understand this is still a business and we have to make a living, we have always tried to approach things in a way that feels honest, fair, and accessible to the people and dogs we work with.
That mindset has honestly been one of our biggest challenges at times. Remaining competitive while still being able to support ourselves and our family is not always easy, especially in an industry where pricing, sales tactics, and priorities can vary so much from business to business.
We have never needed a flashy lifestyle or excessive amounts of money. We have always focused more on building something genuine, sustainable, and people centered, and we believe that mindset is part of what has set us apart over the years.
We are a husband and wife team, and we are also parents. Our daughters are still very young, so they are not in school yet, and we do not rely on daycare. We also do not have a huge village around us, so most of the time it is just my wife and I balancing everything on our own. That comes with its own challenges because we are constantly trying to juggle parenthood, life, and business all at the same time.
There have been people who doubted us, second guessed us, or questioned what we were building, but we are still here all these years later. Honestly, it feels like we are only getting started.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Curbed Behaviors is a family owned and operated dog training business based in Houston, Texas. We specialize in real world dog training with a strong focus on communication, structure, social skills, and behavior modification. Our goal has always been to help dogs and their owners build a relationship that works beyond a training session and translates into everyday life.
What sets us apart is that we do not believe training should happen in a bubble. We focus heavily on real environments, real distractions, and practical application. Whether that means training around other dogs, working in social settings, going on pack walks, or helping owners learn how to confidently navigate public spaces with their dogs, we want training to feel sustainable and realistic for the people we work with.
We are also known for the relationships we build with both dogs and owners. Curbed Behaviors has always been very people centered. We care deeply about creating an experience where clients feel supported, educated, and understood instead of judged. We have worked with everything from foundational obedience to more complex behavioral cases, and we approach each dog as an individual.
One of the things we are most proud of as a brand is the H.E.A.R.T. Initiative, which stands for Helping Every Adoptable Rescue Thrive. Through H.E.A.R.T., we created an access pathway to training for rescue and foster dogs by offering discounted training and continued support for fosters, rescues, and adopters. That initiative introduced us to incredible people within Houston’s rescue community and allowed us to help dogs who may not have otherwise had access to professional training support.
Another huge milestone for us has been becoming the exclusive training partner for Zoomies Dog Park, Houston’s first members only dog park. That partnership has allowed us to continue expanding the real world aspect of our training while also creating more community centered experiences through classes, pack walks, and events.
More than anything, we want people to know that Curbed Behaviors was built with intention. We are constantly learning, evolving, and improving, but at the center of everything we do is a genuine love for dogs, people, and the relationships between them.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We have already seen the dog training industry change tremendously over the last five years alone, and we believe it will continue evolving even more over the next five to ten years.
One of the biggest shifts we see happening is dog training and dog ownership becoming more deeply embedded into lifestyle and wellness. More people are beginning to view their dogs as true companions that are integrated into everyday life rather than pets that simply stay at home. Because of that, we think there will be a growing demand for training that focuses on real world living, social integration, communication, and overall quality of life for both dogs and owners.
We also think people are becoming more intentional about the experiences they want to share with their dogs. Dog friendly spaces, community events, travel, outdoor activities, and social environments are becoming increasingly common, which means owners are looking for dogs that can confidently exist in those settings. That naturally increases the need for practical, lifestyle based training rather than training that only works in controlled environments.
Another shift we expect to continue seeing is a stronger focus on education and transparency within the industry. Owners today have access to more information than ever before, which means they are asking more questions, researching trainers more carefully, and wanting to better understand the reasoning behind training methods and behavioral work.
At the same time, we think the industry will continue moving toward more relationship based approaches. People want to feel connected to their dogs and involved in the process instead of simply handing their dog off and expecting a quick fix.
Overall, we believe the future of dog training will become more experience driven, community oriented, and integrated into everyday lifestyle than ever before.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curbedbehaviors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curbedbehaviors/?igshid=11eim68yemn3r
