Training Philosophy
Thank you for caring about how I train! I care a lot about it too.
The Super Short Version
Positive-Reinforcement
The Slightly Longer Version
Prevention: I believe quick relief and lasting change start with proactive changes to the environment and human behavior so it’s almost impossible for your dog to do the wrong thing.
Reward-Based: my approach prioritizes setting the dog up for success so I can reward him for getting it right.
Emotional Well-Being: I care, deeply, about how your dog feels — not just how he behaves. Good behavior (alone) isn’t good enough.
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Reward-Based
Positive-reinforcement.
Force-free.
Fear-free.
Reward-based.
What does all that mean?
I could say a lot about everything it means, but in short it means that my primary tactic for training dogs is to reward instead of punish.
Things I do as a reward-based trainer:
Identify what I want the dog to do
Motivate using rewards the dog finds valuable — typically food
Plan for the dog to succeed:
Break behavior down into baby steps
Make the right choice very easy
Remove the wrong choice as an option
Gradually increase distractions
Take responsibility for the dog’s failures/errors
Minimize emotional distress
Things I do not do as a reward-based trainer:
Bribe the dog
Chiefly deal with bad behavior by ignoring it
Assert dominance
Train using tools or techniques the dog wants to avoid (such as prong collars)
Intentionally provoke the bad behavior
Plan for the dog to fail
Correct the dog for his failures/errors
Prevention
“If your dog digs in the trash can, the first step to fixing that problem is to put the trash can in the pantry or switch to a locking lid trash can.”
As a budding dog trainer, I think I felt like Prevention was a cop-out: why can’t you just teach the dog to stay out of the trash?!?
I’ve grown as a trainer since then, but instead of using Prevention less — I’m more mature and advanced now, right?? — I probably use it more. Rather than seeing it as an inferior solution compared to “TRAINING,” I see it as a mandatory part of a successful, positive-reinforcement dog training plan.
I define Prevention as: proactive changes we make to the environment, routines or human behavior that make it almost impossible for the dog to do the wrong thing.
Prevention is a must because halting rehearsal of the wrong behavior is a must. And the only realistic way to immediately do that is to remove the wrong choice as an option.
Instead of thinking that we choose between Prevention OR Training to solve behavior problems, I now see the choice as Prevention OR Prevention and Training.
Prevention is a must!
Emotional Well-Being
This is huge for me. I care deeply about how your dog feels — not just how he behaves.
From his training time to his play time, I want your dog to experience life with as much confidence, security, clarity and enjoyment as possible.
I care very little about “perfect obedience” if the dog is also distressed.
To me, that’s not perfect.
We don’t have to pick one or the other, though. Your dog can do well and feel good. In fact, we need your dog to feel good in order to truly do well both now and in the future.
Training at Koinonia is a two-way street. Yes, I want dogs to understand what their owners want, but I also want owners to grow in their understanding of how their dog is feeling.