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Our Training Philosophy
I am a reward based trainer. What’s that mean? It means I reward the dog when it does something I like. Science shows us that any behaviour that is rewarded will happen again and again. Behaviour that is not rewarded will go away.
For example, I call my dog and each time he comes to me I reward him with a great experience that he loves and then send him off to play again. I call him again and we have another reward experience. I keep kibble in my pockets so that I can continually treat my dog for coming. (but a reward is experience is much greater than a single treat). Not only does he come when called, but he often come over to me just to check in. This is how positive reinforcement works and it has amazing power!
However, positive is not permissive.
I expect my dog to come when called; I expect him to be calm for anything he wants (‘say please’); I expect him to behave in a well mannered way, always. My training philosophy involves rewarding good behaviour and teaching the dog to control himself. All animals make choices constantly; choice based training teaches the dog that making the right choice is very rewarding indeed. In the words of Sarah Kalnajs, “I would rather feed my dog for ever, than cause him pain forever”.
Reward the behaviour you want; interrupt the behaviour you don’t want; manage all behaviors you don’t want, until you train them.
STOP REHEARSAL of unwanted behavior. “A dog becomes more of what it does everyday” (Tom Mitchell, DVM)
There are many myths out there about dogs and how to train them. Here are some of the more common myths.
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