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My Training Philosophy
Over 20 years ago, when I first was introduce to the formal methods used by successful field trainers by highly successful trainers, I questioned some of what I saw and was being taught. Clearly those methods were successful and had been proven, why would I question them? But I did. Despite lingering questions, I followed the methods I had been taught very closely and was successful even with the first few dogs I trained professionally. As the years and dogs trained accumulated and I became better able to read a dog, I started to integrate some of my long held ideas into my training program. At the foundation of that was a thought to refine training related pressure and where possible optimize the entire program eliminating any pressure beyond what was optimal for any particular dog.
A lot of training related pressure questions are met with responses such as:
That's the way it has to be done.
That's the way so and so does it and they're World Champ.
The book [DVD] or program I'm following show this technique.
It's the way I've always do it, it's successful so why would I change?
"Successful", that's a word I hear often in regard to training programs or application. Over 30 years ago I built a home for my sister and her husband. The house is still standing today and never leaked, I was 'successful'. Today if a skilled carpenter dismantled the home, I'm sure they'd be amazed at some aspects of my more 'creative' construction methods. My point here is that successful and optimal can be very different things. I can successfully change the channel on the TV by throwing shoes at it until I hit the right button. Successful but far from an optimal way of doing so. Wack at a nail inaccurately, throw shoes at a TV, or botch your attempt at fixing your lawn mower, the down side is apparent but not profound. Botch or otherwise poorly apply a training program that utilizes pressure to enforce [or teach] commands to your dog and just who is on the sharp end of that stick?
The justification most of the time for harsh and sometime just plain abusive training is mostly the same, it has to be done........that's the way XYZ does it.....it's successful.......they can take it........the dog is difficult.
The dog, it's almost always the dog. In an effort to justify training methods and how a person views themselves, either placing the blame on the dog or removing themselves from culpability [that's how it's done, everyone does it] some trainers are blind to how they are actually training. Others have little intellectual curiosity into the training process. Dogs in, dogs out, cash the checks.
My foremost goal is to train each and every dog to the fullest of its ability using the least amount of pressure while ensuring the dog has the proper foundation to preform the required tasks and lay the foundation for future/more advanced training. My training methods are tailored to each dogs and the result of my ever evolving understand of the training process and my ability to read individual dogs. All things being equal, the end result of less pressure can only be beneficial even if only based on the moral argument of not causing our dogs undue/unnecessary/inappropriate and many times to counterproductive levels of training pressure.
I've always comfortable thinking/working/looking outside the box. The training methods I'm most proud of are the ones that I've discovered or adopted that reduce training pressure. Many are related to the questions formed during my initial introduction to the formal doctrine I learned 20+ years ago [and still widely popular today].
I don't follow my program because so and so trains the same way, nor do I because it's "successful." The way I train is a result of my understanding it is the best way I know how to train a dog to a [proven] highly proficient level while retaining and enhancing the dogs love of the work.
A lot of training related pressure questions are met with responses such as:
That's the way it has to be done.
That's the way so and so does it and they're World Champ.
The book [DVD] or program I'm following show this technique.
It's the way I've always do it, it's successful so why would I change?
"Successful", that's a word I hear often in regard to training programs or application. Over 30 years ago I built a home for my sister and her husband. The house is still standing today and never leaked, I was 'successful'. Today if a skilled carpenter dismantled the home, I'm sure they'd be amazed at some aspects of my more 'creative' construction methods. My point here is that successful and optimal can be very different things. I can successfully change the channel on the TV by throwing shoes at it until I hit the right button. Successful but far from an optimal way of doing so. Wack at a nail inaccurately, throw shoes at a TV, or botch your attempt at fixing your lawn mower, the down side is apparent but not profound. Botch or otherwise poorly apply a training program that utilizes pressure to enforce [or teach] commands to your dog and just who is on the sharp end of that stick?
The justification most of the time for harsh and sometime just plain abusive training is mostly the same, it has to be done........that's the way XYZ does it.....it's successful.......they can take it........the dog is difficult.
The dog, it's almost always the dog. In an effort to justify training methods and how a person views themselves, either placing the blame on the dog or removing themselves from culpability [that's how it's done, everyone does it] some trainers are blind to how they are actually training. Others have little intellectual curiosity into the training process. Dogs in, dogs out, cash the checks.
My foremost goal is to train each and every dog to the fullest of its ability using the least amount of pressure while ensuring the dog has the proper foundation to preform the required tasks and lay the foundation for future/more advanced training. My training methods are tailored to each dogs and the result of my ever evolving understand of the training process and my ability to read individual dogs. All things being equal, the end result of less pressure can only be beneficial even if only based on the moral argument of not causing our dogs undue/unnecessary/inappropriate and many times to counterproductive levels of training pressure.
I've always comfortable thinking/working/looking outside the box. The training methods I'm most proud of are the ones that I've discovered or adopted that reduce training pressure. Many are related to the questions formed during my initial introduction to the formal doctrine I learned 20+ years ago [and still widely popular today].
I don't follow my program because so and so trains the same way, nor do I because it's "successful." The way I train is a result of my understanding it is the best way I know how to train a dog to a [proven] highly proficient level while retaining and enhancing the dogs love of the work.
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