What is balanced dog training?
How we train and why.
At Transition dog training we don’t believe in putting all dogs in the same “box” of what will or will not work for them. Every dog is an individual, the way they learn and what motivates them will differ from dog to dog. One thing does apply to all dogs though, clear communication between owners and dogs creates a more harmonies life together.
Using a balanced training approach, we use motivational techniques such as food, play and affection to teach new behaviors. Once the dogs understand what we are asking of them we hold them accountable to those behaviors.. My goal is not only to train dogs to follow basic commands but to create a thorough line of communication between dogs and their owners.
If we look at who communicates best with dogs, we quickly see it is other dogs. No one understands a dog better than another dog. If we look even closer at dogs communicating with each other, we see most of it comes in the form of tactile language, pressure being applied and released. A puppy playing too rough and pushy with an adult dog can quickly lead to the adult dog putting physical pressure on the puppy by holding them down. As soon as the puppy calms down the adult dog releases that pressure and play resumes with the puppy now understanding that for the play to continue, they cannot become overly aroused.
Since we are not dogs, we often find ourselves struggling to find ways to communicate with our dogs. Humans mainly rely on verbal communication and dogs rely on communication that is tactile before verbal. A lack of ways to communicate leaves us with a major gap in our communication and over time starts to show through in the form of undesirable behaviors. Thankfully there are tools that can help us bridge that gap. Using modern and high-end training tools such as E-collars, prong collars, and Starmark collars to apply and release pressure we create a language that dogs can understand easily.
Drawing from my years of experience in dog training we create custom training plans for each individual dog and owner. Taking a whole picture approach that addresses not only the behaviors your dog is struggling with but the root of those behaviors your dog will not only behave better but feel better.