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The ultimate goal at K9 Confidence is
to create happy and lasting relationships between people and their
dogs. There is no greater joy we receive than passing on what we
have learned over the years, and watching a deeper relationship
develop between human and canine. Through better education, we want
to raise the bar in the understanding of the human-K9 bond. The
individual success and satisfaction of every client is our purpose
as well as our promise.
Unlike a lot of other facilities, we really do work in the best
interest of your dog, and when they are happy, well behaved and a
pleasure to be around, so are their people - which is what we are
setting out to achieve.
There are many different methods of dog training in
use today ranging from shock collars and other highly corrective
techniques to 100% positive reinforcement with no correction. All
these methods can achieve a certain degree of success, however, we
do not believe highly corrective techniques are humane. This
shocking, yanking, pinching and hitting type training destroys the
bond with your dog. A fearful dog does not look forward to working
with you. We love and respect our dogs and treat our clients' dogs
just as we would our own.
Then there is 100% positive training that ignores
distractions and corrections. The dog must be bribed or begged with
a food or toy reward to do anything. You see this type of training
in many of the large pet warehouse type retail stores that use only
head halters and clickers. Often, not always, this is poor and
ineffective training. There is nothing wrong with clickers (marker
training), food, toys, or many of these training techniques. But,
since they ignore distractions and corrections in training, they
severely limit the training possibilities with dogs.
Take this scenario into account: You have worked
hard at obedience training with your dog using treats. You call your
dog, he comes, you give him a treat. You then put him in a down/stay
and he does, you give him a treat. You have conditioned him to the
treat. - Now, you are somewhere new, and were busy doing something
and your dog wandered and explored his surroundings. Next thing you
know, your dog is across the street. Traffic is coming, and your dog
is about to cross the road to come back to you. You give the signal
and holler for him to down. What is this dog going to do? That's
right, he is going to come to you to get that treat, heading full on
into traffic.
Not only does treat/bribery training give dogs the
opportunity to be selective in if they will listen, this training
can sometimes create pushy, dominant behavior in your dog and even
aggression along with a few other behavioral problems. In our
opinion, bribery does not give the handler the respect that is
needed to carry on past basic obedience and does nothing for solving
long term behavioral issues.
So what works best?
We believe the answer is finding balance between
motivation and correction. Every dog is different, just as every
human is different. A good dog trainer has the ability to read a
dogs mental well being through an understanding of dog psychology,
pack structure, and body language. A good dog trainer will then
adjust their training to maintain and promote that state of mental
well being in your dog, and show you how to do that too. Training
should be fun and rewarding for both you and your dog!
Our training programs utilize positive reinforcement
partnered with discipline. What does this mean? It means we create a
learning environment that allows for more motivation and praise than
correction. This training promotes enthusiasm in your dog's
obedience and behavior with reliable control. Treats are given at
the end of a training sessions, as well as play time; Rewarding for
a job well done! We all want a well balanced dog we can be proud of!
Picture credits: Tanner, available for adoption
with German
Shepherd Rescue of BC
Please take your time viewing our site and
services, and contact us to discuss your situation and how we can help you
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