Dog Training With Calgary Dog Trainer Nancy Johansen

Serving Calgary, Canmore & Banff, Alberta

Over the years I’ve learned that very few companion dog owners are looking for “Lassie” results. They're not interested in geometric patterns around pylons, they don’t want to learn special hand signals, and they could care less whether their dog stares up at them when heeling. They don’t want to have to carry treats with them all the time either. They just want their arms to be the same length at the end of a walk as they were at the beginning of the walk. They want a dog that comes when called. Really comes, not just if they remembered to bring a treat. They want a dog that’s capable of staying on a mat when someone comes to visit, or while they’re having dinner.

It’s not a lot to ask really, but the truth is we don’t see many dogs like that even after “graduating.” The reason for that is simple. There has been an inexplicable trend in North America where almost all dog trainers offer solely all-positive treat based training methods. Inexplicable because there really isn’t any model in nature that bases teaching and learning on treat training, let alone the idea of all-positive-all the time, any more then there is a model for teaching and learning that is based on all-negative teaching. Given enough time, a highly controlled environment and a skilled technician; treat based training can work but it is not a natural teaching or learning method.

In the real world the truth is whether it’s a mother dog, wolf, ape, or human; lessons are taught with a balance of positive and negative. Parents have always guided their youngsters with both love and discipline. Certainly in the human world we see the negative consequences of all-positive or all-negative parenting. There is no reason to believe that dogs are the sole species on the planet that must be taught differently.  Real and useful results form when parents, teachers and mentors share their lives and experience through reward and consequence. The more diligent they are, the more the student experiences reward over consequence. Balanced parenting, teaching and training produces fewer and less significant mistakes which in itself is a significant reward. It is with this methodology since time began that we have been taught to think for ourselves and exert self control, as opposed to being taught to look for the sole and immediate gratification of a “treat.”  Certainly with dogs this harnesses only a very small part of what their brains are capable. It is irrefutable that whether the sons and daughters are dog, wolf, ape or human they have always developed the skills to survive and thrive in the real world with both positive and negative reinforcement.

Dogs and their owners live in the real world and need a real world training methodology if they are ever going to share the real world. This can only come through balanced training. At Mind Your Manners that is precisely the philosophy we embrace and as a result we are able to truly reconnect owners with their dogs.

If you want to learn how to provide your dog with a balanced message so you can finally take it on more enjoyable walks, allow it off leash so it can benefit physically and mentally from natural, real exercise and stay put long enough for you to greet your guests properly and then greet them calmly itself, then Mind Your Manners is where you want to bring your dog.

Call: Nancy Johansen - 403-861-1052

Or Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it