Training Philosophy
How We Train Dogs
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[quote_content]Communication, Team Building and Respect = Trust[/quote_content]
[quote_signature name=”Name”]Suzanne Wiebe [/quote_signature]
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30 years of dog training have taught us a few truths:
- Punishment and aversive corrections only work when the dog is close enough to punish
- You can never fully trust a dog who only obeys out of fear
- Dogs who are taught force free give 110%
- Behind every great dog is countless hours of boring exercises and training
- Dogs like to play. They will give far more if they are having fun then if they are afraid.
- Behavior modification and social skills, obedience training, and performance training all take time, patience, and relationship.
We have learned that:
- Bad behaviors can be diminished and eliminated if the dog trusts us to make good choices for them.
- Preventing bad behaviors is better than solving behavior problems.
- Dogs are not programmable. They are emotional, sentient beings who need your attention.
Obedience is the symptom of a good relationship with your dog.
3 Ways to Train
- wait till dog does something wrong and punish them
- wait till they do something right then reward them
- set up situations so the dog will make good choices and learn to work with their handler.
We prefer the third method for several reasons:
- Does not require treats to obtain obedience
- Does not break trust
- Teaches the dog to work with you
- Teaches the dog to let you make choices instead of reacting
- Turns ‘tricks’ (heel, sit, stay) into behaviors
- every time the handler stops the dog sits
- the handler does something, dog waits for command
- dog has not heard a release command so he continues to obey
- the dog continues the behavior whether the handler is present, or not.
- Reduces the chances of a bad situation that will make the dog reactive
- Reduces the number of corrections that may make a dog leash reactive
- Reduces the chances the dog will learn ‘new’ bad behaviors.
- Give the dog an opportunity to rehearse good behavior
We have a no tolerance to abuse policy. Anyone who adheres to abusing their dog will be asked to leave immediately. We are not the training facility to them. We will do all necessary to protect our clients and their dogs.