Praise the behavior you want to see again,
interrupt unwanted behavior and teach your dog what to do instead.
We are balanced trainers.
We believe in –
- Clear communication
- Praise
- Treats to make it faster and more successful
- Phasing out treats
- Having a back-up plan if treats don’t work
- Teaching what you want your dog to do
- Preventing problems as much as possible
- Working with the dog you’ve got (not the one you imagine her to be)
- Having clear goals
We teach dogs what to do, step by step. We use treats initially to teach the concept and make the training more effective, but we always have an alternative for situations where treats are not enough. We respect dogs and their intelligence and we know they’re capable of lots when things are explained clearly.
This is in contrast to purely positive trainers. Purely positive training means never saying “no” or “that’s not allowed”, even if your puppy is chewing on you or the couch, the person is to wait until the dog stops the unwanted behavior, then reward the dog when he stops.
We believe dogs deserve better.
We’ve found, in our long experience, that dogs appreciate clear communication and knowing what the rules are. Everyone is more relaxed when they know what’s expected of them. Then you can focus on praise and having fun together.
We also believe dogs vary. We adjust our recommendations depending on the needs of the dog and their person. We want to see everyone make progress and enjoy each other’s company. After all, that’s why people and dogs go so well together.
If this is what you’re looking for, we’d love to have you in our classes.
If you’d like to read more, see Why We Train the Way We Do.
See what we teach in our basic obedience class and our puppy class.
Our dog training articles cover a number of problem solving solutions as well as tips on how to teach your dog.