Frequently asked questions
Why use positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement (also known as reward based training), involves teaching our dogs to offer a desirable behaviour by rewarding them with something they like. This creates a "reinforcement history" where dogs learn to offer the desirable behaviour instead of the problem behaviour.
Positive reinforcement is a scientifically proven method of teaching any animal (including us humans!) which does not require any fear, pain or intimidation to get results.
Positive reinforcement runs our world as humans; we go to work and we get paid. We can teach our dogs by "paying" them for completing a behaviour, and they will be more likely to repeat this behaviour. Would we go back to work if our bosses yelled/hit us? Definitely not!
How does your services work?
Training sessions are completed in your home and eventually transition to parks and streets once your dog is ready to incorporate distractions into their training
By training in home, your dog is in their natural and safe environment, providing me with a clear idea of their baseline behaviour. There is never any pressure or reason for us to place your dogs into the scenarios that cause the problem behaviours we are looking at.
Do you use punishment?
As a qualified positive reinforcement, and fear free professional, I don't use and advise against the use of:
Choke chains
E-collars which shock, spray or vibrate
Slip leads
Prong collars
Spray bottles
Loud clapping
Physical punishment
Yelling/shouting
Pinning, rolling, hard staring dogs
Training such as "flooding" or "they'll get used to it"
Removal of items essential to life (water, food, bedding)
Any training which refer to packs, alphas, dominance
There is no scientific evidence any of these techniques work better than positive reinforcement. Many of these are outdated and debunked training methods and have been found to not only exacerbate the problem behaviour, but cause injury, damage the relationship between you and your dog, and cause a number of other behavioural issues.
How do you train dogs?
My goal is to make training fun, safe, enjoyable and successful for both you and your dog. By using positive reinforcement and fear free, ethical and up to date methods of training, we are able to work on your goals with compassionate and kindness to achieve your desired results. This can be done by using high value food, and in special situations, toys, verbal praise and touch.
Where are you located?
I live in Ipswich and can travel to Ipswich, Brisbane and Logan for our training sessions.
Do you guarantee results?
No. Dogs are individual and sentient beings where training can take time and be different for each dog. Results rely on the amount of time and consistency you put into training. We can work through multiple sessions to work on your goals, but these sessions are to give you the confidence, techniques and hands on guidance for you to train your best friend. If you aren't seeing changes, we can problem solve and go back to basics, and see where we can improve in the training process to begin seeing results.