After working with thousands of dogs and completing many education courses, I developed a needs-driven behavior modification protocol. It works!  

Ashleigh Warner, a family psychologist, said that  “Beneath every behavior there is a feeling. And beneath every feeling there is a need. And when we meet that need rather than focus on the behavior, we begin to deal with the cause, not the symptom.”  

It is a fabulous quote and sums up the philosophy behind what dog trainers call Positive Reinforcement, or Force Free, or Rewards Based training.  

It is a paradigm shift that occurs at the fundamental level when you transition from a traditional or so-called “Balanced” trainer to a Positive Reinforcement (R+) trainer.  

I use to be a traditional dog trainer; I used aversive tools such as choke and prong collars. I set up the dog and corrected their errors (either verbally or physically) and gave a cookie or praised their successes.

Balanced trainers who criticize R+ trainers do not understand the basic foundation of what using positive reinforcement in training means. It is NOT about giving a treat. If anyone says R+ trainers are nothing but cookie pushers, that person does NOT understand the philosophy behind Positive Reinforcement training. They have never practiced setting a dog up for success; they truly believe a dog NEEDS to be corrected in order to understand what not to do.  

Dogs do NOT learn by teaching them what NOT to do.
Punishment by definition reduces behavior.
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Dogs learn by teaching them what to do
.Reinforcement creates behavior.  

Balanced trainers praise their use of all four quadrants of B.F. Skinner’s learning theory by which ALL mammals learn (including humans). The four quadrants are: positive reinforcement (R+), positive punishment (P+), negative reinforcement (R-) and negative punishment (P-). It is true that learning happens in all four quadrants AND punishment is always at play when learning.

 Punishment is easy. Punishment is reinforcing to the punisher because the reaction to the punishment (if the timing is right) is immediate. No one likes to be physically corrected or chastised when they don’t even know what is being asked of them. Neither do dogs.  

When someone adds punishment to the context of learning, it breaks a trust between the learner and the teacher. Punishment is also determined by the learner, not the teacher. Taking food away from a dog is a punishment (P-). Use of a harness, leash, collar, crate, etc. can all be considered punishers to a learner. So, R+ trainers also use punishment when training. You cannot get away from it. We are all balanced trainers. The difference is traditional trainers will purposefully add punishment to the learning process such as “NO”, a leash pop, a buzz of the shock (use whatever euphemism you like here) collar.  They will also use force and intimidation (sometimes extreme) all in the name of “training”.

 Positive Reinforcement trainers believe in setting up an environment to make a dog successful, managing a dog’s choices that he is able to make, and creating an environment that cultivates joy, fun and trust. It’s not about force, or intimidation, or being in charge (alpha). Someone who is unable to train a down/stay without using a correction or a “no reward marker” is someone who really does not know how to train.

Can I train a dog to down/stay with corrections? Hell, yes! I choose not to because there is a less offensive way to teach.  

All dogs need to learn basic cues (sit, down, stay, recall, leave it, drop, heel, wait, etc.) in order to thrive in the world. A lot of clients call and say “my dog pulls on a leash.” Teaching a confident dog to walk on a loose leash is actually pretty easy. Teaching an anxious, fearful, over-aroused, frustrated, or shut-down (choose one or all) dog is next to impossible for the lay person. The problem with this kind of dog who pulls, isn’t teaching heel -- you cannot heel a dog out of a an emotion/feeling (fear). You must deal with the needs underneath that drive the emotion/feeling that in turn drives the behavior. This ties back to my protocol and why I specialize in behavior modification.

I developed a needs-driven approach that allows the dog to experience “being a dog” again. Armed with the power of choice, freedom and positive reinforcement through thoughtful systematic exposure, your pup will transform. I utilize the most recent science backed methodologies of reward based training, marker training, premack, behavioral adjustment training, counter-conditioning, classical conditioning and desensitization to create a bond built in trust that satisfies the needs the dog is missing.

The modern world is a hostile environment for 90% (my anecdotal number) of dogs. Think about it: Dogs do not come out of the womb wanting to be restrained or wanting to walk on a leash, or wanting to be locked in a crate and left for hours on end. And consider breed characteristics - it is common that a client is not meeting the minimum needs of their dog's breed. i.e., Do not get a Pyrenees unless you want a dog that barks to protect its territory (your yard).  

My training is successful because I discover what the dog has been missing and counter-condition trauma, and I fill the dog's needs. I build confidence off this new feeling of freedom and choice. When a dog makes a choice that you want in a stimulating and difficult environment, then and only then, is that behavior truly trained. If you have to rely on the physical threat of a tool (mainly shock or prong collars), to get behavior out of a dog, then that behavior is NOT trained.

Behavior is only as strong as the reinforcement history. Create a history and you have created a habit. If you allow the dog to practice what you don’t like without creating a reinforcement history of what you do like, then you are training your dog to do what you don’t like, i.e., barking at the fence when someone walks by.  

No matter what you are trying to do -- basic dog training, off-leash reliability, skijoring, or solving issues of fear/anxiety/aggression/resource guarding – fulfilling your dog's breed dependent basic needs (running, sniffing, foraging, tracking, stalking, chasing, etc.) while having a relationship built on trust, (not built on punishment or intimidation), is critical. Once the dog finds training to be fun and rewarding, training becomes easy.  

I do not use any aversive tools such as prong or choke collars, shock collars, or slip leads. I do use food, toys, environment, play, freedom, sniffing and praise as reinforcement. I do not intimidate or force behavior out of the dog. I create an environment of safety that allows the dog the freedom to explore a better way to get what they want or need by setting them up for success. I will not punish or set the dog up for failure just to correct them. There IS a better way.