PHILOSOPHY
"Adam and Zephyr"
I truly believe the following and wish to pass this on to my clients --
Dogs are pack-oriented animals and need a competent and fair leader. Dogs are happier in this situation and it allows them to “just be a dog”.
A competent pack-leader needs to be calm, consistent and confident while communicating with their dog – I call these the four C’s of leadership.
We get what we give. If we are frustrated or tense with our dogs, they will respond with frustrated or tense behavior.
There are few bad dogs, only owners who need some coaching, training and techniques that their dog can understand.
Very few dogs are too far-gone to be rehabilitated but some can require a lot of work. I do not believe in euthanizing a dog and think that, with the proper training and guidance, all dogs can be taught and managed.
You can teach an old dog new tricks and it is never too late to begin correcting unwanted behavior and teaching allowed behavior.
Owners must earn a dog’s respect along with its trust. You can get a dog to trust you in five minutes, but getting them to respect you takes patience, consistency and leadership.
Dogs are not people or children. All dogs have needs that must be fulfilled and, when not met, owners will start to have problems with their dog’s behavior.
You do not need to yell at, strike, scare or belittle your dog in order to get a desired response or behavior. A dog will respond to assertive yet calm instructions and will not respond to frustrated and angry energy.
Don’t expect bad behavior, instead just correct it when it happens. Humans have a bad habit of anticipating outcomes instead of just living in the now and projecting what they want to accomplish.
Dogs must have exercise, training and affection every day – being a dog owner is work.
Mistakes happen. Dogs, like people, are not perfect and do make mistakes. Don't take mistakes personally and just keep moving forward
A correct and proper walk with your dog is one of the best things that you can do together.
All dog owners can become confident and competent pack-leaders with the proper training, guidance and practice.
Dogs are pack-oriented animals and need a competent and fair leader. Dogs are happier in this situation and it allows them to “just be a dog”.
A competent pack-leader needs to be calm, consistent and confident while communicating with their dog – I call these the four C’s of leadership.
We get what we give. If we are frustrated or tense with our dogs, they will respond with frustrated or tense behavior.
There are few bad dogs, only owners who need some coaching, training and techniques that their dog can understand.
Very few dogs are too far-gone to be rehabilitated but some can require a lot of work. I do not believe in euthanizing a dog and think that, with the proper training and guidance, all dogs can be taught and managed.
You can teach an old dog new tricks and it is never too late to begin correcting unwanted behavior and teaching allowed behavior.
Owners must earn a dog’s respect along with its trust. You can get a dog to trust you in five minutes, but getting them to respect you takes patience, consistency and leadership.
Dogs are not people or children. All dogs have needs that must be fulfilled and, when not met, owners will start to have problems with their dog’s behavior.
You do not need to yell at, strike, scare or belittle your dog in order to get a desired response or behavior. A dog will respond to assertive yet calm instructions and will not respond to frustrated and angry energy.
Don’t expect bad behavior, instead just correct it when it happens. Humans have a bad habit of anticipating outcomes instead of just living in the now and projecting what they want to accomplish.
Dogs must have exercise, training and affection every day – being a dog owner is work.
Mistakes happen. Dogs, like people, are not perfect and do make mistakes. Don't take mistakes personally and just keep moving forward
A correct and proper walk with your dog is one of the best things that you can do together.
All dog owners can become confident and competent pack-leaders with the proper training, guidance and practice.
TECHNIQUES
My goal is to teach owners how to properly train their dogs.
For all obedience training, I use only positive training techniques with an emphasis on “marker” training. This conditions and teaches the dog to perform wanted behavior and reduces the likelihood of unwanted behavior.
Positive training techniques are terrific techniques for your dog. These methods are less stressful on the dog, promote a happy and fun experience for the dog, increase the dogs desire to learn and do well and promote more love and respect for the dog’s owner. Not a bad combination.
Positive training techniques, in the beginning, are tougher on the owner because they take a little bit more time to master and use properly. The upside is that training sessions are very upbeat and much more fun than classical dominance or punishment based methods. It may be easier to yell, scream, smack or dominate your dog, and you may get more immediate results, but does the dog learn or is he just reacting?
The underlying success of positive training methods is the use of classical conditioning and learned behavior theories – animals and humans are much more likely to continue behaviors that are rewarded and discontinue behaviors that are not rewarded. The idea is to only pay attention to and reward wanted behavior while totally ignoring and not rewarding all unwanted behavior. Your dog will quickly learn to associate good behavior through the marker word, encouragement words, rewards and affection.
In the long run, training actually becomes easier and quicker once your dog learns that you are teaching him something and that he will be rewarded for doing the correct behavior.
There are three basic rules that an owner follows when applying positive training techniques. The rules are very simple, and though they may seem impossible in the beginning, once you get the hang of it and understand the concept, they are very easy to follow. The basic rules are a) behavior that is rewarded will be repeated, b) behavior that is ignored or not rewarded will go away and c) variable rewarding strengthens any behavior that already exists.
Owner’s should always set their dogs up for success and make sure not to expect too much too soon. Remember, that this is a learning experience and it takes time. Mistakes will happen and, if you are calm, confident and consistent with your communication, your dog will freely present behaviors in hope of doing the right thing to get a reward, will comprehend information much quicker and be more willing to learn new and advanced behavior.
For all obedience training, I use only positive training techniques with an emphasis on “marker” training. This conditions and teaches the dog to perform wanted behavior and reduces the likelihood of unwanted behavior.
Positive training techniques are terrific techniques for your dog. These methods are less stressful on the dog, promote a happy and fun experience for the dog, increase the dogs desire to learn and do well and promote more love and respect for the dog’s owner. Not a bad combination.
Positive training techniques, in the beginning, are tougher on the owner because they take a little bit more time to master and use properly. The upside is that training sessions are very upbeat and much more fun than classical dominance or punishment based methods. It may be easier to yell, scream, smack or dominate your dog, and you may get more immediate results, but does the dog learn or is he just reacting?
The underlying success of positive training methods is the use of classical conditioning and learned behavior theories – animals and humans are much more likely to continue behaviors that are rewarded and discontinue behaviors that are not rewarded. The idea is to only pay attention to and reward wanted behavior while totally ignoring and not rewarding all unwanted behavior. Your dog will quickly learn to associate good behavior through the marker word, encouragement words, rewards and affection.
In the long run, training actually becomes easier and quicker once your dog learns that you are teaching him something and that he will be rewarded for doing the correct behavior.
There are three basic rules that an owner follows when applying positive training techniques. The rules are very simple, and though they may seem impossible in the beginning, once you get the hang of it and understand the concept, they are very easy to follow. The basic rules are a) behavior that is rewarded will be repeated, b) behavior that is ignored or not rewarded will go away and c) variable rewarding strengthens any behavior that already exists.
Owner’s should always set their dogs up for success and make sure not to expect too much too soon. Remember, that this is a learning experience and it takes time. Mistakes will happen and, if you are calm, confident and consistent with your communication, your dog will freely present behaviors in hope of doing the right thing to get a reward, will comprehend information much quicker and be more willing to learn new and advanced behavior.
“If love alone produced the perfect dog, there would be no bad dogs in the world”