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 it 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 and frolicking. 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.​ Using natural dog behaviour and applying that to the human environment, I can form a bridge between what dogs want and need; and how we can fit that in to the lives of the people they live with.

 

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 effective and 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!​​