Dog Training is a Team Effort!
True success in dog training requires a team effort between you and your dog, and a key factor in your success will be properly utilizing the right tools for the job. A professional dog trainer can be an extremely useful tool as a third member of the team for you and your dog. To be a successful team, we must each know our roles and responsibilities. Part of my responsibility will be to make sure that you have a good understanding of the tools, methods, and training philosophy that I use. I want to make sure that we are a “good fit” as a team. Therefore, I share information on my tools, methods, and philosophy on my website and facebook page, so that you can be certain you are comfortable with who I am as a trainer, as well as, with my tools and techniques. As you will see in my videos, I get excited about dog training, and I want you to be excited about your dog’s training too!
Our success will be dependent upon one another. Therefore as the dog owner, you also have responsibilities. I have noted four key responsibilities that will ensure that we are a good team and achieve the best training results for your dog:
1)You are comfortable with my training style.
I need you to be completely comfortable with my techniques. I utilize a balanced training approach which simply means that I utilize a variety of tools based on the individual dog and that specific dog’s needs. I will utilize praise, treats, and rewards, but I will also correct inappropriate behavior and defiance. Through consistency in our communication with your pet, we will teach your dog how to maintain a calm, respectful state of being.
2)You are committed to continue training.
I need you to realize that training will not be complete once your dog is returned to you, but rather the foundation will be established and your dog will then be ready for you to maintain his/her training. As part of the training team, you must be willing to continue your dog’s training at home utilizing the communication system we teach and using the training tools and techniques that will be shared.
Even if you doubt it at times, let me re-assure you… your dog is capable of learning!! Dogs are smart. They are also very adaptable and will take the path of least resistance. If you do teach your dog, your dog will do whatever he finds that works best for him. If you teach your dog great skills but do not continue implement/ maintain the training, your dog will revert to less desirable behaviors. Without your continuation of the training and implementing the new rules and boundaries, your dog will go back to the bad behaviors that you are currently seeking to change.
Continuing the training also means incorporating daily use of the training tools. After participating in one of our training programs, your dog will have learned a new communication system using these training tools. If you deny him access to these tools, you are denying yourself the ability to communicate with your dog. You are also creating inconsistency and confusion. Failing to communicate with your dog in the way that he understands will cause your dog will revert back to making his own decisions. In the absence of clear communication, leadership, and guidance, he will make his own decisions and ignore you. Of course, a dog that makes poor behavioral choices and does not listen are the primary reasons most owners seek training assistance in the first place.
3)Your whole family is “all in.”
The entire family has to be “on-board” for training to be effective. When a team does not communicate or enforce the same game-plan, they will lose. It is important that everyone in your family is willing to apply the new communication system and tools. As noted above, inconsistent use of the training tools and communication system will breed inconsistent performance. Dogs are influenced by their environment, therefore, the whole family needs to be on-board with the tools, the communication system, and the rules. We are not just training a dog, we are setting up a more productive “way of being” for your dog and family. In other words, we are establishing a new family lifestyle that promotes calmness in the dog and in the home!
4)You are willing to change yourself to change your dog.
This is an important one and can be extremely hard for some owners. However, you need to realize that the “maintenance” of your dog’s training will have to occur not just during “training sessions” but also in day-to-day life. While designated training sessions will be necessary, the most important aspect of maintaining the training with your dog will be new structure and discipline throughout the day. This is especially important for dogs with behavioral concerns. The behavioral concerns you are asking us to address in your dog stem from something – perhaps from something in the environment, perhaps in the way you may be communicating with your dog, perhaps in some unfounded anxiety or fear in your dog. Together, we will work to identify the cause of the unwanted behavior and correct it. However, correcting the behavior will very likely require you to change how you interact with your dog. Changing how you interact with your dog can be very difficult for some owners.
What does that look like? It will be different for different dogs and different homes, but some examples could be: crating your dog, denying your dog access to your bed or couch, utilizing a leash more frequently in the home, denying your dog “free roam or wandering” of your home, exercising your dog.
By changing the way you interact with your dog and incorporating structure, rules, and boundaries, you are “training” your dog in all your interactions with him. You are also clarifying your expectations for him. Additionally, you are also building value in your leadership and creating a more secure environment for your dog. Leadership and security are necessities.
Why these four items are so important:
I understand that the above lists a number of rules and regulations. However, in the end, when you and your dog have completed training, it is my sincere desire that you will enjoy your dog more than ever before! If you are equipped with the right communication system and understand how to appropriately and lovingly respond to your dogs’ choices, then the possibilities for including your dog in more of your daily life dramatically increase! You can take your dog to new places, build on the commands that he/she has learned, and have control of your dog in places that you did not have control in before, such as the vet’s office, a park, a busy city sidewalk, etc. By working together, we can teach your dog a way of “being” that is acceptable in your home and in our human world allowing them to thrive within it and allowing you to enjoy your dog more than ever before!
The new rules we establish will not be arbitrary. But for each rule that we establish, there will be a reason behind the rule that we will clearly explain to you. In addition to your dog’s happiness, I want your whole family to be happy, satisfied, and at peace when at home with your pet.
By incorporating consistency, fun play-times, and some new tools that we will share with you, you can have the canine companion you have longed for. After completing training, the level of success in dog training you achieve with your dog is directly related to your level of consistency in providing the the aforementioned rules, structure, boundaries, and communication system via the tools your dog is familiar with.
After reading these expectations and checking out my training style on my website and facebook videos, if you feel that I am the right trainer for you, your family, and, of course, your dog, then please submit an application online!