About our training
The Highlights!
Training should be fun for everyone!
My training revolves around creating a dog that WANT’S to engage with us, WANT’S to play with us and WANT’S to listen to us, while still knowing what to do, how to act and what’s expected of them!
We base our training around dogs natural drives, and things they find exciting things they find fulfilling and we do it step by step… Piece by piece… And with guidance all the way. We want everyone feeling like they have gained something every time, without it being a chore and with everyone feeling more and more capable with their dog!
Put another way, we turn the behaviour we want, into a hobby… Something the dog wants to do and is fun.
Whens the last time you needed to be nagged to do a hobby you loved?
Training should be easy to learn!
Even though we use a LOT of canine science and psychology in training, it’s my job to make that easy to understand, easy to use and easy to learn. While I’m more than happy to talk all day about the technical bits, what I’m really here for is to give you the tools you need, and the understanding to use them! We do this in bitesize chunks
We make our dogs and handlers real problem solvers. We give you the exercises, the techniques and skills, but ALSO the understanding, so that outside of a lesson or class, you can build your own training, effectively turn classroom skills into real world skills and yes… Problem solve!
We train for results!
Our training is based around giving you life skills, not passing an exam or getting a certificate (although… Who doesn’t love a nice certificate?!). The training has been developed to give you real results, that last. Not cover up underlying issues with improper training techniques.
We want to give you the tools to have a happy life with your dog and that means getting the results you want and need. We make sure that in 121 sessions, workshop, classes, we constantly assess your needs and change the training accordingly. The trainings about you and your dog.
If you’re having trouble, we wind it back. If you’re shooting ahead, we up the game! You are always working to your own personal level, to get the best possible result.
With extra help when you need it!
If your dog has some deeper issues, we also do 1-2-1 sessions where we can help with behaviour problems, anxiety, fear and all that sort of thing in controlled enviroments, and work to fix the deeper problems. It’s not about hiding problems, its about fixing them… It’s about making your life with your dog better, more relaxed and more fulfilling.
These sessions also work great if you just want to supercharge ANY training, with lessons focused solely on your needs and without any distractions.
Oh, and we also do group workshops that focus on one particular skill… Things like loose lead walking, recalls, and other fun topics. And of course our FREE pack walks.
So here are some of the technical bits!
Below is some technical stuff, but all you really need to know is that we teach force-free, positive training methods. Basically, we teach the science of taking away and adding good, nice things.
We do classes for both old and young dogs. We take any size, any breed and any type of dog.
Positive Reinforcement
Adding something, to make a behaviour More Likely next time.
“That was a good sit, here is a treat. Next time I ask you to sit, you might get another.”
Listening to the sit command is More Likely, because we reward it
Positive Punishment
Adding something, to make a behaviour Less Likely next time.
“When you bark, I will shout at you. You become scared of barking, so are less likely to do it.”
Makes barking Less Likely, because we add punishment
Negative Reinforcement
Taking away something, to make a behaviour More Likely next time.
“You are pulling on the lead, and this is choking you. If you stop pulling, the choking will stop.”
Not pulling is More Likely, because we remove the punishment
Negative (taking away) Punishment
Taking away something, to make behaviour Less Likely next time
“If you jump up, I stop playing with you, so you need to put the feet on the ground.”
Makes jumping Less Likely, because we remove the reward
What you really need to know
So what does that really mean?
The opperant conditioning table above is just a description of how people and dogs learn. Some good, some bad… But learning none the less! So for positive training, we teach dogs what we want, by rewarding success and teaching them to make the right choices. If we do things like ‘tap’ a dogs nose, we might get them to stop barking, but we ALSO teach them to be afraid of hands! Thats part of the oppoerant conditioning we stay away from.
On the other hand, the worse case with positive only training is that that a dog either gets a treat, or doesnt! It doesnt mean we ALWAYS have to treat, and we phase out treats in the long term. But at the start, this is how we work. Its about building behaviours, not punishing failures.
Good training providers teach...
- Owners to tell dogs what they want them to do.
- Owners to reward their dogs for success
- We teach dogs that its ok to fail, while you’re learning
- We build confidence in our dog
- We teach a dog to make the right choices
Bad training providers teach...
- Owners to tell dogs what they DONT want them to do.
- Owners to punish their dogs for failures
- They teach dogs that, while learning, failure means punishment.
- They build Fear and Anxiety in our dog
- They teach a dog to fear the wrong choices
So what does that really mean?
It means that we stick to the green. We teach dogs what we want, by rewarding success and teaching them to make the right choices. If we do things like ‘tap’ a dog’s nose, we might get them to stop barking, but we ALSO teach them to be afraid of hands!
On the other hand, the worse case with positive only training is that that a dog either gets a treat, or doesn’t! It doesn’t mean we ALWAYS have to treat, and we phase out treats in the long term. But at the start, this is how we work. It’s about building behaviours, not punishing failures.
Good training providers teach...
- Owners to tell dogs what they want them to do
- Owners to reward their dogs for success
- We teach dogs that it’s ok to fail, while you’re learning
- We build confidence in our dog
- We teach a dog to make the right choices
Bad training providers teach...
- Owners to tell dogs what they DON’T want them to do
- Owners to punish their dogs for failures
- They teach dogs that, while learning, failure means punishment.
- They build fear and anxiety in our dog
- They teach a dog to fear the wrong choices