Training Philosophy

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After having been doing this work for quite some time I have developed a very powerful empathy for dogs and less for their humans. Humans can learn how to speak and read “dog”, but that takes time, effort and change from the human and the human does not want to change their way of doing things, even if this will help their dog out.  I vow to always have your DOG’s interests at heart and will tell you exactly what you NEED to hear to help you dog, not what you WANT to hear.  Only by letting go of your own insecurities and accepting that you don’t know what to do to help your dog, can you learn how to make that beloved canine companion of yours truly happy. I will teach you to be a well-functioning team with your dog, while keeping the fun in there. 

 Walking your dog should be fun and you should be able to bring your dog to the park, shopping drive or beach vacation without it being a hassle or traumatic experience for both. But we also need to understand that this does not come with effort and patience, especially with a rescue dog. They usually have developed all kinds of tactics that served them when they were in their previous life, but that are unwanted living in their new home. They don’t know what a dog bed is or that nobody will steal their food. We need to teach them that in a positive way and this takes time and patience from the human and the dog. I can help you with this. 

My philosophy is based upon balanced training to help your dog be a dog, teach you how to let your dog be dog and to build a team out of your dog and you. This means I use mostly positive reinforcement, but I do think you can say “No!” to a dog and that if you want him off the couch you can gently guide him to the floor while using “off”.   Any tool is safe when used properly, so I do not rule out any tools. We will focus on your balancing your own energy to better help your dog. This so you can build a healthy relationship with your dog.

When making decisions on how to set up a custom program I follow LIMA

 LIMA

LIMA (sort for Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) is a framework that many trainers use to dictate how and when they’ll use different training techniques.

It’s commonly explained in conjunction with the Humane Hierarchy, which Dr. Susan Friedman brought to the training world.

Essentially, the goal of LIMA and the Humane Hierarchy is to help behavior professionals decide which behavioral interventions to use when.

Main Goals as a Behavior Consulant

  1. First, do no harm.

  2. Ensure your learner (and the owner) wants to come back for more. This means training should be fun AND effective.

  3. Understand WTF (What’s The Function of the behavior)?

  4. Strive to build the relationships whenever and wherever possible.

  5. Address the whole picture, the whole animal, the whole family to make behavior changes effective.

How LIMA Helps Me Make Training Decisions

LIMA helps remind the trainer or behavioral consultant that our first question to the owner should be, “What do you want the animal to do here?”

The answer isn’t allowed to be a “dead dog behavior,” which is any behavior that a dead dog can also do (such as NOT barking, NOT chewing, NOT jumping).


THE HUMANE HIERARCHY FOR DOG TRAINING

The Humane Hierarchy gives you a tool for decision-making during training. It explains how you should analyze certain behaviors and approach changing them. The Humane Hierarchy, in order, is:

  1. Health, nutritional, and physical factors -- are there medical, environmental or nutritional factors contributing to the behavior? If so, they should be addressed by a vet.

  2. Antecedents -- are there setting events, motivations, or stimuli that impact the behavior?

  3. Positive reinforcement -- delivering a favorable outcome after a behavior to increase the chances of it happening again (yes, this is the one with the treats).

  4. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior -- reinforcement of an acceptable behavior, removing the reinforcement when a problem behavior happens.

  5. Negative reinforcement -- either punishment by removing a positive reinforcer, removing negative stimulus when the desired behavior happens, or remove reinforcers to change behavior

  6. Positive punishment -- delivering a negative consequence to reduce unwanted behavior

    https://apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/position-statement-lima.pdf