Obedience

Etiquette

Behaviour prevention

Deference

OBEDIENCE SKILLS

Obedience skill development will not only to give you instructional control of your pet; it will also promote a positive connection and a superior working relationship between the two of you. Obedience skills are taught co-operatively. The dog is given an active roll in the learning process, having both the opportunity to voluntarily participate and the opportunity to develop mentally. You and your dog will be able to co-regulate and develop a deeper understanding of one another. The dog is taught how to focus on you and learns how to read your cue system. You in turn learn to read your dog and are better able to guide and teach him. An effective communication system between the two of you develops.

ETIQUETTE

Etiquette is essential for your dog's safety and for a peaceful co-existence within your household. Behaviours like jumping, chasing, chewing, toileting, barking, biting and digging are all typical dog behaviours. We run into problems when these and other normal dog behaviours conflict with our expectations or when they present themselves in socially unacceptable ways. For our dogs to be successful in the human world, they must develop self-regulation, inhibit their responses and be willing to offer alternate behaviours. That is a tall order; one that is not likely to be met without compassionate guidance. Through benevolence, management, skill building and practice we can prevent behaviours we don't want and promote socially acceptable replacement behaviours.

UNWANTED BEHAVIOUR PREVENTION

As the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention..."

Dependent upon the dog's perception, a stimulus may evoke pleasant, unfavourable or neutral feelings. If the dog's first experiences are perceived as significantly unfavourable, this is extremely difficult to change. Considering this, we want to prevent as many bad associations from developing as possible. Associative learning (classical conditioning) is utilized to develop positive or neutral feelings toward novel situations. Our goal is to prevent/limit fearful, irrational or defensive responses whenever possible. This is established by providing pleasant introductions to novel stimulus incrementally in a systematic and controlled manner. This promotes emotional balance within the dog while lowering the potential for embarrassing or dangerous situations in the future.

Deference

Wouldn't it be nice to have your dog naturally defer to you for guidance instead of making his/her own decisions? To gain the respect of your dog based on trust - not fear of a reprimand? Dogs have been selectively bred for tens of thousands of years to take direction from humans. To rely on dominance and compulsion for control is excessive and unnecessary. The truth of the matter is that through specific management, communication, handling and skill building practices, the dog naturally develops deference toward his/her owner and is motivated to work co-operatively.

Once you earn deference from your dog, not only do you have the ability to reliably affect his/her behaviour, you provide the opportunity to develop a profound relationship with your companion.