Training

Pet CPR, First Aid Class Aug 17th

https://pettech.net/classes/petsaver-pet-cpr-first-aid-care-1112/

Trusted and Effective Classes in Oakfield, ME

At RnR Kennel & Klip, every pet is treated like family.

Services for the Perfect Companion

Can I share just a little bit about the history of dog training in the past century and how it has changed? Normally, I wouldn’t go into such details, but I am still seeing people using old techniques that don’t work or do irreversible damage to their dogs.

Let’s just start with the 1940’s. William Koehler (US) and Konrad Most (Germany), with an approach used for training military dogs, believed that negative reinforcement and punishment were the ways to motivate a dog to perform. True, these methods of discomfort and pain worked, but I am not, nor ever will be, going to train guard dogs. Unfortunately, the compulsion-based methods became the “traditional methods” of training. Which can still be found and used by trainers today. Perfect examples of this are using shock collars, prong collars, choke collars, jerking the lead if the dog pulls, and rubbing their nose in feces if the dog poops in the house, just to name a few.

In the 1980s, research started to show that reward-based methods outperformed all the old “traditional-based methods.”

Ok, now let’s look at the misinformation about the Alpha dog and controlling the Alpha dog. Research done by David Mech. In human-speak, the whole “alpha dog” is misinformation. The human population LOVES this theory because it works in our lives but does not live in our K-9 population. We need to stop trying to force our pups to speak human. We need to learn how to speak K9. The type of training methods I use are referred to as Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive (LIMA). I also support the Fear Free training methods.

The types of training I do are Basic Obedience and socialization, and what I have found the most needed is Leash/Lead walking. I also teach Pet First Aid and CPR.