As children head back to school, you may consider sending your four legged “child” to classes, too. If so, please be sure to research the instructors. Advertisements can be confusing or downright misleading, as some behavioral professionals are not what they seem. Be aware of what’s happening behind the scenes. There are no requirements for dog trainers, nor are they licensed (although voluntary certification groups do exist).

The most important thing to remember in training your dog, or in hiring a trainer, is the word positive. Reward-based training works. Punishment-based, assertive training may also succeed, but at what cost? Many unwanted behaviors are driven by fear. Dominance based techniques create more fear and anxiety. If you think about it, treating anxiety or fear with more anxiety and fear doesn’t make sense. Dominance and punishment based training have been shown to make aggressive behaviors much worse, ultimately resulting in euthanasia. Why take this chance when reward based training has been proven to be effective?

From an energetic perspective, all words, actions and situations have an energy, or feel, to them. We’ve all experienced this when we’ve walked into an argument or uncomfortable situation. What’s the familiar saying? The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. How can we feel someone else’s tension? We sense it through the electromagnetic (energy) field that emanates from every living thing.

When we reward our pets, we are coming from a kind place — hence our energy field will feel good to them. If we’d really like to take it up a notch, we can thank them for their good behavior! After all, when they behave, our lives are easier, so why not approach training with appreciation? The instinctive feeling that accompanies gratitude is heads and tails above hearing “good job”. Our canine companions are just like us. Respect is something every being inherently desires.