Like so many dog trainers, I discovered the science of dog training after having a really ‘bad dog’.
Amelia Airedale came to me at six months old a total mess. She lived outside in a kennel with her parents her entire life. She never went inside the house. She never ventured outside the yard. She knew nothing. Not a doggone thing. Housetraining, leash walking, and basic requests (like sit, down, and stay) were all completely foreign to her.
The more I worked to solve Amelia’s problems so that she could function in the world, the more I learned about:
- Dog behavior
- Dog training
- Positive Reinforcement
- Socialization
- Learning theory
- Behavior modification
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
I knew in my heart that I could never punish my dog into being good and looked for a better way. So, I harnessed the tools of positive reinforcement to change how Amelia understood her world and my expectations.That was some 25 years ago. To make a long story short, I made a career of it.
Today, I love:
- Helping dogs and their people learn to communicate and minimize frustration and “bad” behavior – on both ends of the leash.
- Watching dogs improve their life skills and emotional well-being.
- Seeing families uncover the dog they want, hidden inside the dog they have.