FurBabies & Friends Positive Reinforcement Dog Training with a Force Free Dog Trainer

*  What influences you to work harder?  Money, vacation time, recognition of legacy?
*  Find your dogs motivators makes training rewarding and fun.
     >  Most dogs love to make us happy; foster this desire with rewards.
*  Rewards are not always food, although most dogs respond favorably.
     >  Rewards are whatever your dog enjoys like toys or affection.
     >  Dogs living in stress responses like fight or flight are unable to learn.
     >  Moreover, a dog in a stress response is not thinking about food.
     >  If your dog is not food motivated, do some investigation.  
         >  More than likely they are fearful, blocking engagement or desire for rewards.
*  A positive dog training approach helps your dog learn faster, retain cues, and increases engagement.

*  According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise is scientifically proven to help numerous symptoms in humans.
     >  Such as weight, sleep, energy, mood, and overarching health conditions.
*  If exercise is beneficial for humans, it is for dogs too, why not do it together?
*  Dogs are social pack animals that are used to traveling miles a day.
     >  Depending on breed and size, consider if you are fulfilling your dogs purpose.
     >  How much time does the dog stay at home alone?
     >  Have you ever been sick and cooped up in the house for too long & feel anxious? Could this be happening to your dog?
*  Many common behaviors are directly correlated to having too much pent up energy:
     >  Zoomies, chasing tail, barking, digging, destructive behavior or chewing 
     >  Dogs make decisions that are instinctively best for them, regardless of the impact to the human.

*  Socialization needs to take place from puppy hood through senior years.
*  Socializing your dog is critical as it creates confidence, builds dog language skills, increases exposure.
*  These activities equip your dog to handle people, places or things productively.
   > Proper socialization includes the following:
        > Locations – get your dog out to multiple different places
        > Surfaces – floors, rocks, pavement, carpet, water etc...
        > People – age, gender, ethnicity
        > Obstacles – cones, boxes, posts, umbrellas
        > Noises – firetrucks, motorcycles, clapping, lawnmowers.

*  Just like rewards, dogs and people work harder when interactions are positive
   > Ask yourself, do you work harder after positive feedback or constructive feedback?
   > Don't you feel better about yourself when you've received positive feedback?
*  Human positivity comes out through tone of voice, body language, and internal energy.
   > A dog can sniff out fake positivity and see right through you.
*  Positive dog training makes you and your dog feel genuinely happy yielding long term returns.

*  Punctual with Reward Based Dog Training Timing:
    > Correct timing on reward and recognition is crucial to training success.
    > Slight delays in timing can end up "marking" or rewarding a wrong behavior.
    > Pick a key word, hand gesture, or clicker along with a reward for training.
    > Ensure the reward delivery happens at the exact moment the dog completes a behavior.
*  Punctual with ongoing interactions:
   > Dogs have about a 3 second recollection window.
   > Rewarding or "scolding" outside of this window produces no results.
*   Continually praise proper behavior as this reinforcement solidifies your training and bond.

*  Patience is not everyone's signature strength but necessary for successful training.
*  Think about the last time you had to learn something new, like a language, computer program, or math equation.
   > Now imagine you had to do it in a foreign language?
   > How hard would that be???
   > In reality, this is exactly what we ask of our dogs when we are training.
   > Hence, patience is key!
   >  As a more evolved species, it is our job to be patient and figure out best communication.
*  Remember, your body language and tone of voice are ques to your dog.
   > When training, check in on how you are feeling, if you're tired, frustrated, or distracted, stop training.
   > Be in tune with where the dog is at energy wise. 
   > Maybe the dog is tired or having an off day, stop training to keep the relationship strong.
*  Keep dog training sessions between 20-40 minutes and 10-20 minutes for puppies.

*  Energy level is critical both for humans and for dogs:
   > Human: if your mind is not ready, focused, and positive, results are hard to achieve.
   > Dog: if a dog doesn't have enough energy or vice a versa, the dog will not be in the best mental shape to retain training.
*  Every dogs energy level is different, find out the right energy level for your dog to obtain optimal results.
    > Being positive is important, however, mismatched energy is counterproductive.
     # Trick: For easily overstimulated dogs, stay positive, but lower your energy level and voice.
     # Trick:  For mellow dogs, index your energy up to get your dog engaged and active.

*  Remember, your dog has to learn from another species and language.
     >  Consistency is key in ensuring long term training success with your dog.
*  Training method consistency is imperative for all involved in the dogs training.
*  Ensure everyone understands hand signals, words, and reading your dogs energy.
*  Reinforce the need for punctuality in timing of reward delivery.
*  Stay positive and only train with your dog when your are both in the right state of mind.
     >  This creates positive memories and keeps future training productive and FUN!

*  Trust is the pinnacle for a happy, healthy and balanced relationship with a dog.
*  Just as you want to trust they will perform according to their training, they want to know you will watch out for, protect and love them.
*  As a LIMA trainer, Kristie must take the Least Intrusive and Minimal Aversive course of dog training.
     >  Kristie understands a dog who feels threatened or unsafe will not respect the handler.
*  Similar to a humans physical consent boundary, dogs also have this same boundary.
     >  When a person invades that space without the dogs consent, trust is lost.