Try our 3 tiered approach to dog training.
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Communicate.
If our dogs don’t know what we want, we can’t blame them for not behaving in a way that we like. Dogs are extremely perceptive, but they don’t have the power of speech that we do. Learning how to communicate with animals is an art form unto itself.
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Lead.
As part of our families, our dogs depend on us for their livelihoods. As such, they become a reflection of who we are and the choices we make on a day-to-day level. Leadership is about bringing as much value as we can to the relationships we build together.
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Fulfill.
I strive to help my clients have the happiest, most confident, stable, balanced dogs on the planet. Like humans, our dogs have needs on a physical, psychological, and spiritual level. To have the most joy with our dogs we must fulfill their needs as deeply and thoroughly as we can.
Relationship based, reinforcement based dog training
Relationship-based dog training focuses on everything that goes into building a strong, complete relationship with your dog. It can be a tricky thing to teach since every second that you’re with your dog you are building some form of a relationship.
Everyone knows that dogs need training to live their freest, fullest lives. But, typically what gets overlooked is that it needs to be training + relationship. If you have a strong relationship but little training, you can still have peace and joy with your dog. But, the reverse is not true. Training without relationship is worthless. You can’t out-train a bad relationship.
While some may refer to my style of training as “balanced” I prefer to use the term reinforcement based. New behaviors are learned through reinforcement but “reinforcement based” does not mean reinforcement only. Sometimes it is necessary to say no.
Training is a lifestyle
If, like I do, you have serious goals for your life with your dogs, you have to be as patient with yourself as you are with them. Training takes time. This is why I recommend never skipping a day of work. A little can go long way. For me, with my dogs, we’re never finished. I always want us to be better today than yesterday. There’s no final destination. Training is a lifestyle.
