Our Philosophy & Methodology
Albert Einstein once said, “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
Our #1 goal in all we do is to enhance the human-canine bond by providing our clients with quality education and proper skills training to help build and maintain a loving, joyful and mutually respectful relationship.
This is why we approach each dog as an individual, and extend the same respect to the people who love them – whether we are working one-on-one, or in a group setting.
We are committed to using a gentle and humane approach. We focus on fostering behaviors that we want through positive reinforcement, using whatever technique(s) best motivates your inquisitive canine.
The specific training techniques we employ are all rooted in the scientific methods of animal learning. This approach is not new by any means. Positive reinforcement, reward-based training methods have been around for decades, used successfully throughout the world in a variety of contexts.
Unlike using an aversive approach, which increases the risk of potential harmful effects including injury to your dog, self, or other animals and people, decreased learning (due to stressful situation), and increased fear-related and aggressive behaviors, we’ve found the humane, force-free approach is both effective and easy to employ once you and your inquisitive canine are properly trained.
Our approach also focuses on prevention! Although we are “problem solvers” we are also “problem preventers”: we enjoy teaching dogs what we want, motivating them to make good behavior choices, thereby preventing having to fix things down the road. Starting out on the right paw from the beginning helps save resources – especially the emotional ones.
Our Goals
For Pet Parents
- To understand how dogs learn, how they communicate, and what would be considered their normal, species-specific behaviors.
- To understand what motivates your dog, then use this knowledge to reward and reinforce the behaviors you want.
- To develop problem-solving skills: applying the tools and techniques learned in training to real-life situations.
- To be able to physically handle your dog using friendly, humane methods.
- To understand the basic physical and mental needs of your dog, and how to provide those needs in ways to help achieve your goals.
For Dogs
- To keep all dogs safe and comfortable!
- To provide for their overall physical and mental well-being, using the most effective, humane techniques possible.
- To help build self-confidence through training, learning and mental stimulation.
- To teach them to have control over their own decisions and outcomes from their behavior choices.
- To enhance and enrich their lives, so they can thrive.