“There are many great voices but not all are human.”
Native American Proverb
MY APPROACH to MINDFUL DOG TRAINING
RESPECT
All animals we come in contact with deserve our respect. Especially our dogs, who were handpicked by us to live in our world. They rely on us for all of their needs and we control almost every aspect of their lives. We decide when they get to eat, where and when they can relieve themselves, where and when they should go to sleep, where and when they are allowed outside, even when they are allowed to have access to the things they love to do like sniff, dig and play! We owe it to them to understand them better and provide them with with the same level of respect we expect in return.
EMPATHY
We experience our world primarily through our sense of sight. Dogs experience their world through their noses. Imagine being escorted to a gorgeous beach or stunning mountain trail but being told you cannot look around. You are only allowed to look at what’s right in front of your feet. That would be pretty frustrating and not relaxing at all, right? When we don’t allow time for our dogs to explore the world with their noses, this is exactly what we are doing to them. Taking the time to better understand how dogs experience the world around them, how they communicate and what makes them happy will translate into less frustration and good behavior.
REWARD
Picture yourself being shown a new skill and wanting to succeed. In one scenario. you were only told when you were doing something wrong. You’d have to guess when you behaved correctly. How long would your motivation to please last in that kind of situation? Might this be confusing, frustrating? Now, imagine yourself in another scenario where every time you did something good or right, you were rewarded. Which one would you keep showing up for? Reward-based training is not only more enjoyable for everyone, it’s more effective for sustained, long-term good behavior choices.
humane, science-based Training
There is simply no other way to do it. Dogs deserve the best humanity can give them. We are capable of so much. The research on dogs has exploded in the past decade and now more than ever, there is hard evidence that humane, positive reinforcement based training is the best way to create confident, happy dogs that can behave at their very best no matter what environment they are put in if we set them up for success. They don’t enter this world knowing what our expectations are and we don’t invite them into our lives knowing how to “speak dog” but if we take the time to learn, even a little, we will make our lives easier.
