What is Reward-Based Balanced Training?
In essence, reward-based balanced training is communicating to your dog when they’ve done something right and when they’ve done something wrong.
Like everything at K9 Academy, we tailer our approach to suit your dog’s individual needs. Is your dog obsessed with food? Are toys and playing their #1 love? Whatever their thing, we use their motivations to positively reinforce and encourage good behaviours. After all, training is work for dogs, and we want them to feel validated and excited to listen and heed commands.
But unlike purely-positive trainers, we do not believe in ignoring bad (and oftentimes dangerous) behaviours. Only teaching your dog what is “good” and neglecting to establish what is “bad” leaves a gaping hole in their understanding of how to navigate our human world. We ask so much of our dogs to suit our lifestyle—“walk at my side”, “don’t eat that”, “stop barking at that dog”— how can we expect them to succeed if they don’t know the rules?
Let us establish here and now that the tools and corrections we use are in no way harmful to your dog. The correction is always relative to the negative behaviour exhibited.
Become the pack leader your dog needs
As pack animals, dogs always look to their alpha for guidance. But if your dog doesn’t perceive you as their pack leader, they assume that role. This means they will react and make decisions as they see fit in any given situation. They cross paths with another dog that could be a threat? He’s lunging and barking to demand space and communicate he is not to be messed with. Why? Because he does not yet trust your leadership to handle the situation on his behalf.
At K9 Academy, we teach you how to earn your dog’s focus and trust, so when that next situation arises, your pup is calm and secure knowing her human has her back.