New Age Of Dog Training
Dogs and all other animals generally function under the "what can I gain from this" or "how can I avoid this" principle. A pet owner's job is to make sense of what these objectives are from the dog's perspective. In essence, dog training is really about communication, yet most people don't know dogs have a sophisticated verbal and a highly complex non-verbal language.
Dog language is understood from the perspective of behaviour. Each species use behaviour in order to exchange information; therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise when science confirms dogs understand our physical and emotional states. As science discovers just how much dogs can exchange with us, it becomes our responsibility to make sure we understand them in turn.
In the Dog Behaviour Photos and Dog Behaviour Videos pages, you will see examples of dog language. I urge people to learn dog language which will facilitate training and better the human-dog relationship. Understanding dog behaviour is a fundamental step in reducing dog bites and serious attacks. At the Dogue Shop, we believe education should be mandatory for all pet owners.
Dog training is not about dominance, it's not about punishment, it's not about stuffing dogs with cookies or food. Dog training is about communicating an idea and reaching an agreement. My father used to say "Dogs are like children, if you want them to do something, you better make sure you ask clearly." Dogs do indeed understand human requests when asked clearly. as mentioned above, science based dog training incorporates the latest information. The Dogue Shop uses all learning theories at developmental processes which apply to our dogs: behaviourism (conditioning), cognitivism, social-cognitivism, imitation, and attachment.
New Age of Horse Training
As mentioned above, all animals, humans included, spend their lives trying to gain or avoid something; horses are not exempt from these principles. What is new is our perception, understanding, and training philosophies regarding horse training. In many instances, Horse training is still accomplished through negative reinforcement and positive punishment. As you may have read throughout these pages, we strongly believe in science based training; therefore, we train horses using the latest scientific discoveries.
Horse training at the Dogue Shop is accomplished through communication, reinforcement, social learning, and rewards such as food, social contact, or allogrooming. We never force the animal to do something it doesn't want. Conversely, we focus our horse training approach on what the animal wants. If an animal is uncomfortable, we train the horse to relax and trust; if the horse is fearful, we focus on building his confidence via simple exercises; if the horse if foot reactive, we concentrate on peaceful touches and eventually foot offers through desensitisation.
The Dogue Shop staff strongly believes horse training will experience the same shift dog training underwent in the 1990s and 2000s. Thus, we are happy to say, we train horses with positive, scientifically sound, methods. If you wish to change training methods, please contact a training that not only speaks with scientific terms but can explain and apply them. If you need help, please contact us, we'll be happy to answer your questions.
