On Keeping An Open Mind

A lot of times when a family is looking for a trainer they aren't necessarily looking for a positive reinforcement trainer, and they may not even know what that means! They just have an issue and are looking for help, and quite often the force free, science based methods I present aren't really what they are expecting. The truth is, most people don't think positive reinforcement when they think dog training — it's just not as pervasive in our culture as the "old school" compulsion methods are!

But I absolutely love and appreciate when people come to their training sessions with an open mind and really listen to the advances that have been made in this field. I love watching them draw the parallels that can be found in so many other aspects of life, and how the positive reinforcement mindset reflects philosophies that they've had around child rearing or relationships. For a lot of people, it just makes sense, once they start looking at it differently!  I love seeing that "click" when they put themselves in their dog's shoes and start better understanding their dog's behavior.

Adorable little Bailey is a little bit insecure. He's a tiny guy in a big world, so he has some reactivity when it comes to big dogs or strangers entering his space unexpectedly. His family loves him dearly and began to work on these issues with me, and even though clicker training was totally foreign to them, they listened carefully, asked lot's of questions, and the progress started to show. Bailey is an incredibly smart, super motivated dog, and he took to clicker training immediately. His family now has a whole new set of skills that they will continue to use to build Bailey's confidence and allow him to see the world as a safer, more enjoyable place. Happy clicking, Bailey and family!