At Training Your Best Friend LLC, we practice only positive reinforcement methods and do not support punishment-based practices. We promise always to treat you and your dog with respect and patience, and to work within your dog’s comfort zone – and yours! While we do encourage you to challenge yourself and your pet during class or at home, we want you to have fun and to enjoy the learning process.
Setting you and your pet up to succeed is our top priority. Our training methods allow you, as a pet owner, to be proactive, not reactive. The bottom line is that dogs do what works for them to get what they want (e.g., attention, a treat, play). By using science based training techniques, we reward the good behaviors and ignore the bad ones. Your dog learns how to choose to do the right thing, rather than how to avoid doing the wrong thing.
Dogs love the training process if it’s a positive experience for them. Training dogs is much more than changing behaviors; it’s teaching a dog to learn how to learn, engaging their minds and bodies so they want to do what we want them to do. We need to work with, not against, our dogs in order to achieve success
Join Our Newsletter
Training is not about imposing your will on your dog; it’s not about making your dog fearful or breaking his will. It’s giving him the tools he needs to live in your world. We use rewards to back up good behavior and reinforce learning. We never use harsh punishment. If you lash out at a dog, verbally or physically, you will teach him fear and disrespect. He won’t trust you. Instead he will associate you with bad feelings. You will become the source of a nasty experience.
Dog training is a combination of vocal commands and physical signals. With training, your attitude and emotion that you teach is the most important factor than training the behavior. In order to achieve a great relationship with your companion, we give you the skills to connect with your dog. You don’t need fancy equipment to train. You need time and patience and a sense of fun!
I concentrate on bringing balance and harmony into the relationship between dogs and their parents. Many dog owners become frustrated and overwhelmed with their dog’s behavior. Sadly, they give up on the dog or resort to older methods of training such as dominance- a misguided attitude for absolute obedience that fosters superiority and justified violence.
A common mistake that people make is that they humanize their dog. Dog psychology is not the same as human psychology. A dog is not a doll, toy, child, purse, status symbol or a weapon. Your dog is a living being with powerful feelings, desires and needs that are different from but not lesser than your own. It is very important to relate to your dog on a canine level and not a human level.
I strongly believe that choosing a dog as your companion is a wonderful opportunity to form a bond with a member of another species. When we take dogs into our home, it is our responsibility to fulfill their instinctual and physical needs so that they can achieve balance. It is essential that you assert yourself as a loving, confident leader by giving your dog exercise, structure and affection–in that order.
I keep my knowledge up to date through courses and webinars to ensure I can provide you with the latest techniques and understanding of your dog. ere is a k
