TRAINING TECHNIQUES

Having a proactive and non-reactive approach to training allows us to have a higher sense of empathy, which creates long-lasting results in our training. A sense of empathy stems from understanding your dog's motivations and limitations. To create a strong foundation we need to support a dog's needs and meet them where they're at.

Dogs communicate with body posture, facial expressions, behaviors, noises etc.. By understanding how our dog communicates, we learn what our companion needs & how to best support them.

Intentional Animalship uses balanced dog training techniques to create an empowered and structured relationship between a human and their dog. The first step to training is understanding your dog and what they are communicating to you. The next step is teaching owners reliable and sustainable techniques to support their dog, through a clear marker system. We always start with relationship building, followed by basic obedience, which creates a sustainable result. We apply our training to healthy socialization and exposure to new environments to help our dogs' generalize behaviors.

We think of three M's when it comes to training; modification, maintenance and management.

1. Modification: changing or replacing behaviors to behaviors that are more productive.

2. Maintenance: modifying a dog's behavior or teaching a dog is not a quick or one time fix.

Maintenance is setting your dog up for success by following through with training.

3. Management: techniques that are used to protect and prevent your dog from failure.

The energy we put in is the energy we will receive.

PILLARS OF TRAINING

Clipart of a person petting a dog on the head

We establish commands through reinforcements & corrections.
If we say a command over and over again without the proper follow through, it will lose it's value.

Our dogs do not know the human language. Our words only hold value when we create value through actions; encouragement and follow through. If your dog isn't offering a behavior, it's normally not out of defiance, it's due to lack of guidance.

Clipart of a person kneeling down to interact with a dog

In order to create a reliable relationship, our dog(s) need to be held accountable.
If we allow our dogs to complete a task at 90%, that will quickly turn into 75%, 50%, and eventually 0%.

Boundaries are key in any relationship. Reliable & safe relationship are created by understanding your dog's ability and supporting them accordingly.

Clipart of a person playing fetch with a dog

Observe the setting and honor the current capability of your dog - make both of your successes easy.
Exposure is key in creating a stable dog but your expectations may change in new settings.

While my dog may be successful in low distraction settings, that may change in new environments. In those newer settings, I may ask less and allow curiosity while still keeping my dog safe.

a visual of the progression of dog training

TRAINING TECHNIQUES

PILLARS OF TRAINING

We establish commands through reinforcements & corrections.

If we say a command over and over again without the proper follow through, it will lose it's value.

Our dogs do not know the human language. Our words only hold value when we create value through actions; encouragement and follow through. If your dog isn't offering a behavior, it's normally not out of defiance, it's due to lack of guidance.

In order to create a reliable relationship, our dog(s) need to be held accountable.

If we allow our dogs to complete a task at 90%, that will quickly turn into 75%, 50%, and eventually 0%.

Boundaries are key in any relationship. Reliable & safe relationship are created by understanding your dog's ability and supporting them accordingly.

Observe the setting and honor the current capability of your dog - make both of your successes easy.

Exposure is key in creating a stable dog but your expectations may change in new settings.

While my dog may be successful in low distraction settings, that may change in new environments. In those newer settings, I may ask less and allow curiosity while still keeping my dog safe.