Family Training Courses
Small Group Courses, Private In-Home Training, Beginner and Advanced Levels
A relaxed and playful approach to model behaviorSM
Mom, Dad, the kids, housemates, housekeepers and even the au pair should all be “on the same page” when it comes to rearing and training a pet dog in the home. All of our training courses are designed to include the entire household, and children of all ages. We teach you how to train your dog using techniques that foster pro-social behavior in human students and dogs alike. Our courses don’t teach “commands and corrections,” instead the mindset is to teach practical tricks and appropriate limits in both behavior and attitude.
Courses are available in small groups of up to ten families, or individual sessions held at our facility or in your location.
How It’s Done
Our method is to teach practical tricks and appropriate limits in both behavior and attitude.
We employ none of the “alpha dog” or “pack leader” dominance centered methods that define other popular training approaches. We don’t profess to speak dog and don’t expect the dog to speak or comprehend English or any other human language. What we do want is to establish a method of communication with the pet to direct its behavior and attitude.
Attitude is everything in a companion dog and so we design everything we teach to foster cooperation over competition from your pet. Training responses such as Come, Sit, Down, Stay and proper leash walking are thought of as tricks cued by you with hand signals and spoken words.
Training is done with a leather or nylon buckle collar and leash. No chain, no clickers and very few treats.
We show you how to apply academic principles of reinforcement to promote appropriate behavior from your dog. We suggest to you how to manage the dog’s environment to prevent inappropriate learning leading to problematic behavior and we teach you humane and effective punishment procedures to inhibit inappropriate behavior.
Utilized together, these three methodologies gives you the best training tools to produce a well-balanced companion dog, one that is subordinate yet confident, playful and yet responsive to you at home and in public on leash.
The Results
Families who attend all of the sessions and complete all of the recommended homework consistently complete the course with a dog whose attitude is improved and who is responsive to its family members.
And for those times when the dog has ideas other than what you expect, you will know how to respond to the dog and how to get it and keep it on the right track.
Results will vary since each dog is unique and comes to family training with its own predispositions and prior experiences we call “baggage.” Likewise, the collective time, effort and aptitude of every family is different and will affect individual outcomes.
