My Training Ethos

I have spent a lifetime observing animals interacting with each other and living the life they would choose to live. This has allowed me to build a blueprint of what most dogs need and want, which I then use to create a life they are happy to be in and a human companion they would choose to be with.​ I place a strong emphasis on dogs becoming confident and independent, able to function really well without their people. I see a good deal of trainers endlessly enhancing the dog's focus on their people, which creates needy, incompetent dogs, unable to function without people around.

 

I use communication dogs naturally understand, coupled with teaching them some English words so they know exactly when to do what. I have found that dogs who have been taught where to be and when, tend to be very confident in their lives and become very flexible and open to change.​ A large part of this is teaching dogs what is safe to ignore, and what involves them, which I see a lot of trainers getting backwards.

 

For the most part, dogs want to lead an interesting life filled with friends, food, freedom, frolicking and other, much ruder words starting with F.

I concentrate on teaching dogs how to live in human society so they can live as freely and reliably as possible. I do this using the animal training methods I learned during my postgrad study of animal behaviour, and also from natural horsemen who are very skilled at teaching horses how to live with people.​

 

Dogs enjoy people they don't have to fear, who understand them and who don't really care if they make mistakes. I don't use any harsh training techniques at all, but am perfectly capable of being comically irate, which dogs and people are pretty safe to ignore in an emergency.​

 

Fear has no place in training and no place in my life!​​